jJtflY  OF  rmcETo^ 


Logical  sev^ 


DC  111   .B7  1845 

Browning,  William  Shergold, 

d.  1874. 
A  history  of  the  Huguenots 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/historyofhuguenoOObrow 


A 

HISTORY 

OF 

THE  HUGUENOTS. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 
CONTINUED  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


W.  S.  BROWNING. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
LEA    &  BLANCHARD. 

18  45. 


PREFACE. 


The  volume  now  presented  to  the  Public  comprises  the  History  of  the  Hugue- 
nots during  the  Sixteenth  Century,  (published  in  1829,)  and  the  continuation  of 
the  same  subject  to  1838,  which  appeared  within  the  last  year.  The  whole  has 
been  carefully  revised,  with  considerable  additions. 

Yet  although  no  pains  have  been  spared  to  render  this  Publication  complete,  it 
is  obvious  that  its  very  nature  excluded  minute  detail  on  incidents  not  connected 
with  the  general  history.  Many  episodes  concerning  the  biography  of  eminent 
Huguenots  might  have  been  interwoven,  but  for  the  limits  which  the  Author  had 
laid  down  for  his  undertaking.  His  views  are  amply  explained  in  the  original 
Preface,  (which  is  reprinted,)  and  in  the  following  passages  which  introduced  his 
last  work. 

"  The  vicissitudes  which  befell  the  French  Protestants,  during  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  embrace  a  series  of  most  affecting  incidents,  which  have 
tended  to  produce  important  political  results;  and  in  addition  to  the  innate  inte- 
rest of  the  occurrences,  a  connected  narrative  has  an  additional  claim  on  atten- 
tion, from  the  almost  general  silence  of  French  authors.  Before  the  Revolution 
of  1789,  a  succinct  history  of  the  Huguenots  would  assuredly  have  been  branded 
as  libellous,  and  the  few  works  composed  in  reference  thereto  were  either  printed 
clandestinely,  or  in  foreign  countries. 

"With  respect  to  the  violence  and  persecutions  of  1815,  the  difficulty  expe- 
rienced by  the  Author  in  procuring  exact  information"  proves  the  want  of  a  gene- 
ral detail,  and  renders  the  present  publication  more  necessary,  the  events  of  that 
terrible  period  being  known  to  very  few  persons.  Even  among  well-informed 
Frenchmen,  there  are  many  whose  knowledge  of  the  troubles  of  Nismes  is  limited 
to  a  few  striking  incidents. 

"  In  composing  the  accounts  of  that  comparatively  recent  time,  the  Author  has 
been  favoured  with  ihe  acquaintance  and  correspondence  of  several  inhabitants  of 


iv 


PREFACE. 


Nismes — both  Catholic  and  Protestant — some  of  them  victims  of  what  has  been 
often  represented  as  the  effect  of  political  reaction.  He  has  also  enjoyed  the  in- 
appreciable advantage  of  submitting  his  statement  to  individuals,  qualified  by  their 
official  experience  to  correct  any  erroneous  assertions. 

"  Conscious  of  an  honest  endeavour  to  relate  the  truth  impartially,  unbiassed  by 
national  or  religious  prejudice,  the  Author  is  nevertheless  aware  that  his  uncere- 
monious strictures  upon  certain  functionaries  will  ensure  him  the  animadversions 
of  a  powerful  party.  The  interesting  narrative  of  the  events  of  Nismes  in  1830, 
by  the  pastor  Frossard,  although  composed  with  studied  moderation,  has  been  dis- 
dainfully treated  as  a  libel — the  present  volume  therefore  can  hardly  escape  cen- 
sure. The  most  careful  investigations  may  have  left  the  Author  in  some  instances 
under  a  wrong  impression ;  but  if  errors  exist  in  consequence,  they  are  uninten- 
tional. Amenable  to  the  tribunal  of  criticism,  he  Will  respect  its  verdict ;  and  if 
any  admirer  of  those  principles,  which  desolated  the  south  of  France  in  1815,  will 
indicate  mis-statements,  and  assist  in  establishing  the  facts,  his  suggestions  shall  be 
cheerfully  attended  to,  in  the  event  of  a  future  edition." 

No  attempt  at  refutation  has  come  to  the  Author's  knowledge,  and  he  has  con- 
sequently no  justification  to  present  on  behalf  of  the  latter  period  of  his  history. 
But  with  respect  to  the  sixteenth  century,  he  feels  bound  to  offer  some  explana- 
tion, in  reply  to  a  charge  of  "careless  examination  of  authorities,"  advanced  in 
the  British  Critic  for  July,  1829. 

Three  particular  instances  are  indicated  by  the  reviewer.  The  first  relates  to 
the  apocryphal  character  of  Davila's  account  of  the  Legate  Morosini's  connivance, 
when  Henry  III.  proposed  to  murder  the  Cardinal  of  Guise;  which  the  critic  ob- 
serves "  has  been  adopted  without  giving  a  hint  that  his  story  is  naught."  To  this 
assertion  the  Author  invites  the  reviewer's  attention  to  the  volume  on  which  he 
was  passing  judgment,  and  he  will  find  a  note  containing  the  reasons  why  Davi- 
la's version  was  preferred  to  that  of  Maimbourg. 

The  second  article  in  the  indictment  is,  "  That  the  author  has  either  mistaken 
or  misrepresented  the  authority  on  which  he  relied,"  in  narrating  the  minor  cir- 
cumstances that  immediately  followed  the  battle  of  .Tarnac.  The  critic's  suscepti- 
bility is  wounded  by  its  appearing  in  these  pages  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  slept  at 
Jarnac,  in  the  same  house  where  Conde  had  lodged  the  preceding  night — and  in 
addition,  that  the  victor's  bearing  was  indecorous  and  cruel;  while  it  appears  that, 
according  to  Davila,  the  duke  entrd  la  medesima  sera  dtlla  giornata  viltoriosa  in 
Giarnacco,  without  stating  where  he  slept ;  and  with  respect  to  his  demeanour, 
non  permcsse  il  dnca  die  a'  cadaere  di  lui  fosse  asato  scherno.  To  this  the  Au- 
thor cannot  advance  a  direct  plea  of  not  guilty  ;  because,  unfortunately,  the  refe- 
rence to  Davila  appears  alone  in  the  copy.    The  fact  in  itself  is  so  trivial,  that  it 


PREFACE. 


V 


may  appear  pedantic  to  adduce  a  list  of  authorities.  De  Thou,  lib.  45,  sect.  4,  is 
more  laconic  than  Davila  : — "Jlndinus  victor  Jarnacum  venit ;"  leaving  it  doubtful 
whether  he  reposed  there  or  not:  but  that  author  describes  the  duke  as  juvenili- 
ter  exu/tans,  and  afterwards  alludes  to  the  current  report  quasi  ipsius  jussu  in- 
terfeclus  essef.  The  Author  is,  however,  of  opinion  that,  having  Brantome  con- 
stantly before  him,  his  statement  was  borrowed  from  the  facetious  Abbe,  and  that 
he  inadvertently  omitted  to  place  his  name  in  the  margin.  Brantome  is  well  known 
to  have  considered  a  warrior's  death  one  of  the  themes  most  worthy  of  contem- 
plation ;  and  being  a  well-placed  contemporary,  his  account  is  worth  perusal.  It 
is  as  follows : — "  Pour  tourner  &  Monsieur  le  Prince,  estant  mort,  Monsieur  n'en 
fut  nullement  marry,  mais  tres  joyeux;  car  il  avoit  opinion  qu'il  luy  en  eust  fait 
faire  de  mesme:  car  d'ennemy  a  grand  ennemy  il  n'y  a  que  se  garder.  Monsieur 
le  voulut  voir  apres  la  battaille  achevee;  et  son  corps  fut  charge  sur  une  vieille 
asnesse  qui  se  trouva  la  apropos,  plus  par  derision  que  pour  autre  sujet,  et  fut 
porte  ainsi,  bras  et  jambes  pendantes,  a  Jarnac,  en  une  salle  basse  sous  celle  de 
Monsieur  et  la  chambre,  on  le  dit  prince  le  jour  avant  avoit  loge.  Quel  change- 
ment !  comme  a  Courtras  le  roy  de  Navarre  logea  en  la  chambre  de  Monsieur  de 
Joyeuse,  ou  il  avoit  couche  le  soir  auparavant,  et  l'autre  estoit  estendu  mort  des- 
sous.  Si  on  leur  eust  dit  a  tous  tels  revers  de  fortune,  ils  ne  l'eussent  pas  cru.  Le 
dit  prince  demeura  assez  en  spectacle  a  tous  ceux  du  camp  qui  le  voulurent  aller 
voir." —  Vie  di  M.  le  Prince  de  Conde. 

The  third  instance  adduced  by  the  critic  arose  from  an  error  in  copying;  for  in 
this  instance,  the  missing  reference  existed  in  the  original  MS.,  and  the  omission 
was  discovered  before  the  criticism  was  published.  The  reviewer  observes  (page 
189)  that,  "  unless  the  author  has  relied  on  other  authorities  than  De  Thou  and 
Brantome,  (and  he  has  not  cited  any  other,)  he  has  fallen  into  very  great  inaccu- 
racies in  his  transcription."  In  the  statement  thus  commented  upon,  the  Author 
had  consulted  also  Le  Discours  du  Hoi  Henri  J  If.  a  un  personnage  d'honneur, 
&c.  (Miron.)  This  piece  is  preserved  in  the  Memoires  d'Etat  de  Villeroy;  and 
mentions  large  pictures,  in  which  les  execution*  de  la  Saint  Barthelemi,  failes  a 
Paris  el  autres  lieux,  etoient  peintes  an  vif,  et  lea  figures  representees  apres  le 
nalurel,  §-c. 

The  other  strictures  have  been  received  with  due  deference,  and  if  all  the  de- 
fects have  not  disappeared,  it  is  less  from  a  refractory  feeling,  than  from  the  im- 
possibility to  re-write  a  long  work. 

The  Author  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  his  acknowledgments  to  several 
friends  for  their  assistance  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  history.  He  is  particularly 
indebted  to  the  pastors  Juillerat  and  Monod,  for  the  details  respecting  Paul  Rabaud 
and  his  sons:  through  their  kindness,  he  has  had  the  benefit  of  Madame  Rabaut- 

1* 


VI 


PREFACE. 


Pomier's  recollections;  and  some  interesting  facts  have  been  supplied  by  Madame 
.luillerat,  who  received  her  religious  instruction  from  Rabaut  St.  Etienne. 

The  Reverend  Charles  Cook,  of  Nismes,  has  also  rendered  the  Author  very  va- 
luable assistance,  by  making  inquiries  concerning  1815,  of  M.  Cavalier,  at  that 
time  Procureur-General,  and  subsequently  Mayor  of  Nismes.  His  official  charac- 
ter gave  him  great  facility  for  being  well  acquainted  with  the  events  of  that  time : 
and  he  kept  a  regular  journal,  writing  by  night,  at  great  peril  of  his  life,  the  facts 
of  each  day,  in  the  hope  that  some  of  the  criminals  might  be  brought  to  justice. 
But,  unsupported  as  he  was  by  the  authorities,  with  the  gens-d'armes  abetting  the 
assassins,  he  could  do  nothing.  Two  individuals,  who  successively  filled  his  post, 
applied  to  M.  Cavalier  for  a  copy  of  his  journal,  but  neither  made  any  use  of  it. 
M.  Cavalier's  generous  defence  of  the  persecuted  Protestants  is  the  more  praise- 
worthy, as  he  is  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  had  two  brothers  priests  at  the  time.  His 
testimony  in  favour  of  Lauze  de  Peret's  statement  justifies  the  frequent  reference 
to  that  work  in  these  pages;  and  his  readiness  to  communicate  the  rich  stores  of 
his  memory  gives  him  a  lasting  claim  on  the  Author's  gratitude. 

Paris.  January,  1840. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

In  the  vast  range  of  subjects  for  the  pen  of  the  historian,  one  of  the  most  inte- 
resting presents  itself  in  the  violent  disputes  which  have  from  time  to  time  occur- 
red among  the  public  teachers  of  religion.  Their  conflicting  opinions  have  pro- 
duced effects  of  such  magnitude,  that  centuries  have  rolled  away  while  they  were 
still  in  operation.  The  partisans  of  opposite  systems  have  considered  it  their  duty 
to  condemn,  often  to  misrepresent,  each  other;  strong  efforts  have  been  made  to 
c  all  the  public  feelings  into  action,  and  a  difference  which  ought  to  have  been  set- 
tled in  a  cloister  or  a  consistory,  has  generally  ended  in  the  desolation  of  a  king- 
dom. The  more,  therefore,  we  enlarge  the  sphere  of  our  information  upon  this 
important  subject,  we  shall  be  the  more  inclined  to  cultivate  that  enlightened 
humanity  which  inculcates  indulgent  sentiments  towards  every  creed :  such  at 
least  will  be  the  consequence  with  all  reflecting  minds. 

The  work  now  submitted  to  the  public  is  one,  which  in  its  progress  offered  end- 
less opportunities  for  polemical  discussion ;  but  for  the  writer  to  have  availed  him- 
self of  them  would  have  been  at  once  imprudent  and  unwise.    While  recording 


PREFACE. 


vii 


the  wild  rage  of  religious  persecution,  and  the  (rightful  excesses  of  religious  zeal, 
he  has  abstained  from  partiality  and  controversy :  his  duty  has  been  to  narrate 
the  truth  without  becoming  the  accuser  or  the  champion  of  either  of  the  contending 
parties,  whose  disputes  no  good  mind  can  reflect  upon  without  wishing  they  should 
be  set  at  rest  for  ever. 

The  Author  has  in  no  case  been  tempted  by  prejudice  or  party  feeling  to  give 
a  colouring  to  facts  which  the  truth  would  not  warrant:  he  has  laid  them  before 
the  reader  with  that  attention  to  accuracy  which  can  alone  give  value  to  history, 
and  the  want  of  which  can  never  be  compensated  by  any  charms  of  eloquence,  or 
flights  of  imagination.  Unhappily  there  is  enough  in  the  history  of  religious  fac- 
tions to  excite  the  reader's  indignaton  without  any  effort  to  that  purpose  on  the 
part  of  the  writer.  In  contemplating  these  events,  we  must  make  due  allowance 
for  the  barbarous  period  when  they  occurred ;  congratulate  ourselves  that  we  live 
in  an  era  of  religious  liberty ;  and  rejoice  in  the  progress  of  those  principles  which 
give  assurance,  that  the  altar  of  the  God  of  mercy  will  never  again  be  reddened 
by  the  brand  of  the  bigot,  nor  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  martyr. 

The  period  which  occupies  these  volumes  has  engaged  the  attention  of  many 
writers.  The  sixteenth  century  is  justly  styled  the  Age  of  Persecution:  indi- 
vidual experience  was  at  that  time  very  eventual ;  and  contemporaries,  in  their 
private  memoirs,  have  left  abundant  materials  for  examination  and  inquiry.  The 
century  that  followed  was  the  Age  of  Controversy.  Numerous  works  upon 
ecclesiastical  history  then  made  their  appearance;  and  the  auto-biographies  of  the 
preceding  times  beheld  a  progeny  of  histories  of  particular  events,  persons,  and 
parties. 

But  those  histories  were  written  in  a  controversial  spirit ;  and  it  is  therefore  pre- 
sumable that  an  account,  divested  of  all  theological  discussion,  would  be  both 
useful  and  interesting. 

The  object  of  this  work  is  to  give  a  clear  detail  of  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  troubles  generally  called  the  religious  wars  of  France.  Those  events 
are  interwoven  with  our  own  history,  and  are  frequently  referred  to  in  the  present 
day.  Among  the  many  works  which  relate  to  the  Huguenots,  there  is  scarcely 
one  that  comprises  the  whole  in  a  connected  narrative ;  and  not  one,  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  at  least,  that  is  exclusively  historical. 

The  facts  prove  (and,  therefore,  the  assertion  is  not  partial)  that  the  church  of 
Rome  both  instigated  and  promoted  the  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots.  If  we 
compare  the  preaching  of  the  Reformation  in  England  with  its  introduction  into 
France,  we  cannot  fail  to  observe,  that  though  the  circumstances  of  those  king- 
doms were  widely  different  the  consequences  were  the  same;  similar  in  character, 
though  differing  in  degree.    The  priests  were  unwilling  to  resign  their  authority. 


viu 


PREFACE. 


and  persecutions  arose  in  butli  countries;  but,  happily,  the  struggle  which  our 
forefathers  had  to  maintain  was  shortened  by  the  difference  between  Henry  VIII. 
and  the  Pope,  and  the  circumstances  which  sprang  out  of  that  quarrel.  Had 
so  powerful  a  stimulus  operated  on  the  sovereigns  of  France,  the  Vatican  could 
not  have  had  such  influence  on  their  decisions;  and  the  troubles  of  that  country 
would  have  been  settled  without  difficulty,  at  any  rate  without  the  delay  of  half  a 
century. 

/Wis,  March.  1*29 


CONTENTS. 


Page , 

Preface   .       .       .       .  iii  I 

Contents   ix 

Chap. 

I.  Containing  an  Outline  of  the  early 
History  of  the  Refi  >rmation  ;  Ac- 
count of  the  Paulicians,  Vau- 
dois,  Lollards,  Hussites,  &c.  &.c.  13 

II.  The  Reformation  preached  in 
France — The  Huguenots,  or 
Protestants,  are  persecuted  by 
Francis  I. — Massacres  at  Me- 
rindole  and  Cabrieres.      .       .  20 

III.  Reign   of    Henry  .  II. — Divided 

State  of  his  Court — Revolt  in 
Guyenne — Peace  between  Eng- 
land and  France      .       .  .24 

IV.  Persecution  under  Henry  II. — 

Edict  of  Chateaubriant — War 
with  the  Emperor — Siege  of 
Metz — Abdication  of  Charles  V.  26 

V.  Increase  of  the  Protestants — Mat- 

thew Orri  appointed  Inquisitor 
— Seguier's  Speech  to  the  Coun- 
cil— Attack  of  the  Populace 
on  the  Protestants — Renewal 
of  Hostilities — Inquisition  esta- 
blished  29 

VI.  Treaty  of  Cateau  Cambresis — 

Meetings  at  the  Pre-aux-Clercs 
— Du  Bourg  and  five  other 
Counsellers  arrested — Death  of 
Henry  II.        .•  .  .32 

VII.  Accession  of  Francis  II. — Re-es- 

tablishment of  the  Guises — Ex- 
ecution of  Ann  Dubourg  for 
heresy    .       .       .       .  .36 


Chap.  Page 
VIII.  Conspiracy  of  Amboise      .       .  39 

IX.  Death  of  the  Chancellor  Olivier, 
who  is  succeeded  by  Michael 
de  l'Hopital — Assembly  of  the 
Notables  at  Fontainebleati — 
Slates-general  at  Orleans — Ar- 
rest and  condemnation  of  the 
Prince  of  Conde — Death  of 
Francis  II  43 

X.  Reign  of  Charles  IX. — Assembly 

of  the  States-general — Forma- 
tion of  the  Triumvirate — Edict 
of  July  47 

XI.  States-general  at  Pontoise — Con- 

ference of  Poissy — The  King  of 
Navarre  deserts  the  Protestant 
party      .       .       .-  .51 

XII.  Edict  of  January,  1562 — Discon- 

tent of  the  Catholics — Massa- 
cres at  Vassy,  Tours,  and  Sens — 
Guise  enters  Parisin  triumph — 
The  Triumvirs  seize  the  king's 
person     .       .       .       .  .55 

XIII.  The  Protestants  take  Orleans  and 

other  Towns; — They  negotiate 
for  Assistance  from  Abroad — 
Conferences  of  Toury  and  Talsy 
— IWugoncy  taken  and  Plun- 
dered  60 

XIV.  Hostilities   between  the  Catho- 

lics and  Huguenots — Sieges  of 
Bourges  and  Rouen — Death  of 
the  King  of  Navarre — Battle  of 
Dreux — Sieges  of  Orleans  and 
Caen      .       .       .       .  .65 

XV.  Assassination  of  the    Duke  of 

Guise  72 


X 


CONTENTS. 


Chap.  Page 
XVI.  Edict  of  Amboise — Havre 
taken — Charles  IX.  declared 
of  age — Coligny  accused  of 
the  murder  of  Guise — Pius 
IV.  excommunicates  the 
Queen  of  Navarre  and  some 
Bishops — Encroachments  on 
the  liberty  of  the  Protest- 
ants      ....  77 

XVII.  Conclusion  of  the  Council  of 

Trent — Secret  arrangements 
made  for  the  destruction  of 
heresy — Arrest  of  Charles 
de  Moulin — Journey  to  Bay- 
onne — Interviews  between 
Catherine  and  the  Duke  of 
Alva — Plot  for  seizing  the 
Queen  of  Navarro  and  her 
son    .       .       .       .  .81 

XVIII.  Affair  between  Marshal  Mont- 

morency and  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine — The  Attempts  to 
assassinate  Coligny — Perfi- 
dious conduct  of  Charles  IX.  85 

XIX.  Project  for  suppressing  the 

protestant  religion — Attempt 
to  seize  the  King  at  Meaux 
— Battle  of  St.  Denis — 
Death  of  the  Constable       .  89 

XX.  Protestants  advance  to  meet 

the  ReUtres — General  contri- 
bution of  the  Army  to  pay 
their  Allies — Capture  of  Or- 
leans and  Rochelle — Peace 
of  Longjumeau — Settlement 
of  the  Protestants  in  Ame- 
rica— Bold  enterprise  of 
Dominic  de  Gourges  .       .  94 

XXI.  Plan  for  seizing  the  Protest- 
antleaders — Flight  ofCondfl 
and  Coligny  from  Noyers — 
Renewal  of  the  war.  .       .  97 

XXII.  Battle  of  Jarnac—  Death  of 

the  Prince  of  Conde   .       .  101 

XXIII.  The  Prince  of  Bean,  pro- 

claimed chief  of  the  Pro- 
testant party — Arrival  of  re- 
enforcements  from  Germany 
— Attackon  Laroche-Abeille 
—Letters  of  Pius  V.  .       .  105 

XXIV.  Siege  of  Poictiers— Defeat  of 

the  Protestants  at  Montcon- 

tour  Ill 

XXV.  Sieges  of  Niort  and  St.  Jean 
d'Angely — The  Princes  and 
Coligny  retire  into  Beam — 
Battle  of  Arnay-le-Duc — 
Peace  of  St.  Germain-en- 
Laye  117 


Chap.  Page 
XXVI.  Artifices    of  the   Court  to 
draw  the  principal  Protest- 
ants to  Paris — Death  of  the 
Queen  of  Navarre      .       .  123 

XXVII.  Review  of  the  proofs  of  a  pre 

meditated  attack  upon  the 
Protestants — Attempted  as- 
sassination of  Coligny        .  129 

XXVIII.  Massacre  of  the  Saint  Bar- 

tholomew ....  135 

XXIX.  Massacres  in  the  Provinces  .  148 

XXX.  Conversion  of  Navarre  and 
Conde — Execution  of  Brique- 
maut  and  Cavagnes — Fourth 
civil  war — Siege  of  Rochelle 
— Conspiracy  of  the  Poli- 
liques— Death  of  Charles  IX.  159 

XXXI.  Capture    and    execution  of 

Montgomery — Flight  of  Hen- 
ry III.  from  Poland — Death 
of  the  Princess  of  Conde  and 
of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  .  169 

XXXII.  The  Duke  of  Alengon  es- 

capes from  court  to  join  the 
malcontents — Defeat  of  the 
Reitresat  Dormans — Escape 
of  the  King  of  Navarre       .  174 

XXXIII.  Rise  of  the  League — Estates 

of  Blois— War  of  1576       .  180 

XXXIV.  Edict  of  Poictiers— Death  of 

the  king's  minions — Treaty 
of  Nerae — Attempt  on  Li- 
mnoes — The  Lovers'  war — 
Taking  of  La  Fere,  Mon- 
taign  and  Cahors        .       .  18? 

XXXV.  Ill-jiidgeil  deportment  of  Hen- 
ry HI.— Death  of  fire  Duke 
of  Anjou — Revival  of  i lit? 
League — Notice  of  the  Ji- 
suits  .       .       .       .  .193 

XXXVI.  The    Cardinal  of  Bourbon 

head  of  the  League — Treaty 
of  Philip  II.  with  the  League 
— Treaty  of  Nemours — Ex- 
communication of  Navarre 
and  Conde  by  Sixtu,  V.      .  199 

XXXVII.  Unsuccessful  attempt  of  the 
Duke  of  Mercosur  against 
the  Huguenots — Siege  of 
Brouage — Enterprise  on  An- 
gers— Capture  and  defence 
of  Oleron — Conferences  be- 
tween the  Queen-mother 
and  the  King  of  Navarre — 
Renewal  of  the  War — Bat- 
tle of  Courtras    .       .       .  205 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


Ciiap.  Page 

XXXVIII.  Tumult  at  St.  Severin— 
Defeat  of  the  Germans  at 
Vimory  and  Auncau — In- 
creased insolence  of  the 
League — Meeting  at  Nancy 
— Death  of  Conde — The 
Barricades  ....  214 

XXXIX.  Flight  of  Henry    III.  from 

Paris — Deputations  to  Char- 
tres — Edict  of  union — At- 
tack on  the  Duke  of  Epernon 
— States-general  of  Blois — 
Death  of  the  Duke  and  the 
Cardinal  of  Guise       .       .  222 

XL.  Death  of  Catherine  de  Medicis 
— Conclusion  of  the  States- 
general — Violence  of  the 
League  in  Paris — Mayenne 
appointed  Lieutenant-gene- 
ral  232 

XLI.  Review  of  the  Affairs  of  the 
Huguenots — Meeting  at  Ro- 
chflle — Reconciliation  be- 
tween Henry  III.  and  the 
King  of  Navarre — Attack 
upon  Tours  by  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne — Paris  invested 
by  the  Royal  Armies  .       .  238 

XLI  I.  Assassination  of  Henry  III. 
by  Jacques  Clement — Acces- 
sion of  Henry  IV.       .       .  243 

XLIII.  Rejoicings  of  the  League  at 
the  death  of  Henry  III. — 
Battle  of  Arques — Attack  on 
the  suburbs  of  Paris    .       .  250 

XLIV.  Henry  IV.  takes  Vendome — 
Is  acknowledged  by  the  se- 
nate of  Venice — Sieges  of 
Falaise  and  Honrleur — Ar- 
rival of  the  Legate  Cajetan 
— Defence  of  Meulan        .  256 

XLV.  Battle  of  Ivry  and  Siege  of 

Paris .       .  .  .261 

XLVI.  Death  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon  and  Sixtus  V. — At- 
tack on  St.  Denis — Siege 
of  Chartres — Edict  of  Nantes 
— President  Jeannin  sent  to 
Spain — Conspiracy  of  the 
young  Cardinal  of  Bourbon 
—Siege  of  Noyon      .       .  268 

XLVII.  Murder  of  the  President  Bris- 
son  and  others — Siege  of 
Rouen  .  .274 
XLVIII.  Negotiation  for  a  peace— As- 
sembly of  the  States-general 
at  Paris — Conference  at  Su- 
resne — Abjuration  of  Henry 
IV  284 


Chap.  Page 
XLIX.  Barriere  meditates  an  attempt 
on  the  King's  life — Reduc- 
tion of  Paris — John  Chatel 
stabs  the  King — Banishment 
of  the  Jesuits     .       .       .  289 

L.  Henry  absolved  by  the  Pope 
— Battle  of  Fontaine  Fran, 
cjaise — Ham  taken  by  Hu- 
mieres — Capture  of  Dour- 
lens  and  Cambray  by  the 
Spaniards — Sieges  of  La 
Fere  and  Calis — Assembly 
of  Notables  ai  Rouen — Siege 
of  Amiens — Edict  of  Nantes 
— Peace  with  Spain    .       .  295 

LI.  Condition  of  the  Huguenots 
under  Henry  iV. — Biron's 
conspiracy — Restoration  of 
the  Jesuits ....  303 

LI  I.  Death  of  La  Treinouille — 
D'Aubigne's  conversation 
with  the  King — Meeting  at 
Chatellerault — Reduction  of 
Sedan— Death  of  Henry  IV.  310 

L1II.  Regency  of  Mary  de  Medicis 
— Assembly  at  Saumur — 
States-general — Insurrection 
of  1616     ....  320 

LIV.  Condc  arrested — Death  of 
Marshal  D'Ancre — Ri-esta- 
blishment  of  the  Romish  rr. 
Jigion  in  Beam — Notice  of 
D'Aubigne        .       .       .  329 

LV.  Assembly  at  Rochelle — Riots 
at  Tours — St.  Jean  D'Ange- 
ly  subdued — Siege  of  Mon- 
tauban — Violence  of  a  mob 
in  Paris     .       .       .  .335 

LVI.  Military  movements  in  the 
south — Expedition  to  the  Isle 
of  Ries,  tinder  Soubise — La 
Force  submits  to  the  King 
— Sieges  of  Negrepelisse 
and  Montpellier — Richelieu 
named  Prime  Minister       .  340 

LVII.  Siege  of  Rochelle        .  .347 

LVIII.  Conde's  expedition  against  the 
insurgents — Rohan's  treaty 
with  Spain — Sack  of  Privas 
— Pacification  of  1629 — 
Synod  at  Charenton — Death 
of  Rohan,  Montmorency,  and 
Urban  Grandier  .  .  .  354 
LIX.  Mazai in's  administration — 
Encroachments  on  the  edicts 
by  Louis  XIV.— Madame 
de  Maintenon's  influence — 
Commencement  of  the  dra- 
gonnades  ....  361 


xu 


CONTENTS. 


Chap.  Page 
LX.  Letters  of  Christina,  ex-Queen 
of  Sweden — Sufferings  of 
Jean  Migaull — General  per- 
secution of  the  Huguenots — 
Forced  conversions     .       .  371 

LXI.  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 

Nantes      ....  378 

LXII.  Troubles  in  the  Vivarais — 
Notice  of  Claude  Brousson 
— Severities  at  Orange — 
Remarks  on  the  intendant 
Basville,  and  on  the  emigra- 
tion of  the  Huguenots        •  385 

LXIII.  Commencement  of  the  Ca- 
misard  War  under  the  Count 
de  Brosrlie  .       .       .  .390 


Chap.  Page 
LXIV.  Continuation  of  the  Camisard 
war  under  Marshal  Montre- 
vet 


LXV.  Conclusion  of  the  Camisard 
war  under  Marshal  Villars  . 

LXVI.  Reigns  of  Lou  is  XV.  and  XVI. 
LXVII.  Restoration  of  Louis  XVIII. 

— Troubles  at  Nismes  and 
environs  . 

LXVIII.  Administration  of  M.  de  Cazes 
— Intrigues  of  the  Ultras — 


309 

405 
412 


420 


Appendix 


Revolution  of  1830 — Present 
condition  of  the  Protestants  434 

.  441 


A 

HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

Containing  an  Outline  nf  the  early  History  of  the  Re- 
f'irinalion;  Account  of  the  Paulicians,  Vauclois,  Lol- 
lards, Hussites,  &x.,  &c. 

An  almost  general  consent  has  fixed  upon 
the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury as  the  era  of  the  Reformation;  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Protestant  religion: 
but  its  origin  is  of  a  far  more  ancient  date ; 
although  the  invention  of  printing,  which 
took  place  about  fifty  years  previous  to 
that  period,  enabled  Luther  and  Calvin  to 
triumph  over  obstacles  which  had  pa- 
ralyzed the  energies  of  Wickliffe,  and 
brought  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  to 
the  stake. 

So  early  as  the  year  660,  an  inhabitant 
of  Mananalis,  near  Samosata,  named  Con- 
stantine,  having  obtained  a  copy  Of  the 
New  Testament,  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  it,  as  the  rule  of  his  faith.  The 
society  which  he  formed  took  the  name  of 
Paulicians,  from  the  circumstance  of  their 
endeavouring  closely  to  imitate  St.  Paul: 
they  went  so  far  as  to  assume  the  names 
of  the  apostle's  companions;  and  as  a  si- 
milar practice  had  been  adopted  by  the 
Manichaians  in  the  third  century,  that  epi- 
thet was  applied  to  them,  and  they  were 
soon  doomed  to  experience  the  persecu- 
tions with  which  that  sect  had  been  visited. 
The  Paulicians,  however,  condemned  the 
opinions  of  the  Manichaeans,  and  the  ap- 
plication of  the  term  was  considered  an 
act  of  injustice. 

Their  form  of  worship  was  very  simple, 
and  the  unceremonious  manner  with 
which  they  freed  themselves  from  relics, 
images,  and  saint  worship,  bears  a  great 
resemblance  to  the  Reformation  preached 
by  Knox.  As  novelty  captivates  the  mul- 
titude, it  is  not  surprising  that  Constantine, 
2 


who  assumed  the  name  of  Sylvanus,  be- 
held an  increase  of  his  followers.  He 
pursued  his  apostolical  career  for  twenty- 
seven  years,  when  he  fell  a  victim  to  per- 
secution. The  most  cruel  decrees  were 
issued  against  him  and  his  flock;  and  one 
Simeon  was  sent  from  Constantinople, 
armed  with  every  power  to  reclaim  the 
wanderers  and  punish  their  leader.  The 
unfortunate  Constantine  was  placed  in 
front  of  his  disciples,  who  were  command- 
ed by  Simeon  to  murder  their  spiritual 
teacher,  as  the  price  of  their  own  pardon : 
but,  with  the  exception  of  an  individual 
named  Justus,  they  all  refused  to  perpe- 
trate so  foul  a  crime. 

One  circumstance,  however,  renders 
this  persecution  very  remarkable:  Simeon, 
whose  commission  was  to  destroy  or  bring 
back  the  Paulicians,  himself  adopted  their 
opinions,  and  after  putting  their  leader  to 
death,  became  a  martyr  for  their  cause. 
They  endured  persecutions  during  a  pe- 
riod of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  but 
were  roused  to  revolt  in  845.  Carbeas 
was  their  leader;  his  father  had  been  im- 
paled by  the  Catholic  inquisitors,  and  a 
desire  to  be  avenged  of  that  circumstance 
might  urge  him  on,  as  well  as  the  wrongs 
of  his  fellow-worshippers.  Being  joined 
by  five  thousand  of  his  brethren,  he  re- 
nounced all  connexion  with  Rome;  and 
sought  and  obtained  the  protection  of  the 
Saracens.  The  city  of  Tephrice,  in  Ar- 
menia, then  became  the  head  quarters  of 
the  Paulicians,  and  a  war  was  maintained 
against  the  eastern  emperors  till  880. 
Their  society,  without  a  leader,  remained 
scattered  among  the  mountains  till  970, 
when  John  Zimisces  conducted  a  number 
of  them  to  Thrace,  whither  some  Pauli- 
cians had  emigrated  during  the  persecu- 


14 


rAULICUNS,  VAUDOIS. 


tion  in  the  seventh  century.  They  were 
joined  by  numbers  of  the  Bulgarians ;  es- 
tablished themselves  in  Macedonia,  Epirus, 
Croatia,  and  Dalmatia;  and  in  course  of 
time  spread  into  Italy  and  France.* 

Gregory  VII.  was  elevated  to  the  papal 
throne  in  1073:  he  is  well  known  in  his- 
tory as  Pope  Hildebrand,  and  a  more  au- 
dacious, proud,  and  fiery  priest,  was  never 
elected  to  that  office.  Under  such  a  pon- 
tificate, it  can  be  readily  imagined  that  the 
disciples  of  St.  Paul  would  meet  with  that 
sort  of  treatment  most  likely  to  prevent 
the  publication  of  their  opinions;  their  ex- 
istence, therefore,  as  a  society  was  kept 
secret,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  the  Pauli- 
cians.  But  Gregory's  conduct  towards 
the  emperor  Henry  IV.,  and  the  insolence 
of  his  decrees,  raised  such  a  stormfcgainst 
him,  that  he  was  forced  to  flee  from  Rome, 
and  died  at  Salerno.f  The  avarice  and 
despotism  of  the  priests,  the  corruptness 
of  their  manners,  and  the  grossness  of  the 
superstitions  which  were  rapidly  in- 
creasing with  every  succeeding  council, 
all  combined  to  prepare  the  minds  of 
many  for  embracing  a  purer  form  of  wor- 
ship, whenever  it  should  be  held  out  for 
their  adoption.  The  clergy  were  so  much 
detested  by  all  classes  during  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries,  that,  according  to 
an  unquestionable  authority,  it  was  com- 
mon, in  condemning  an  action,  to  say,  "I 
would  rather  be  a  priest  than  have  done 
it."| 

An  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  of  celi- 
bacy on  the  clergy,  was  the  means  of 
keeping  alive  this  germ  of  the  Reformation. 
~Sot  long  before  Gregory's  death,  several 
ecclesiastics  of  Milan  refused  to  put  away 
their  wives.  They  withdrew  from  the 
communion  of  Rome,  and  held  assemblies 
in  a  place  called  Patara.  Their  numbers 
increased  very  considerably,  and  they 
formed  that  society  known  by  the  several 
names  of  the  Vaudois,  Waldenses,  and 
Albigenses.  The  fact  of  Peter  Valdo,  a 
rich  citizen  of  Lyons,  devoting  his  time 
and  property  to  comforting  the  poor,  and 
circulating  the  Scriptures,  has  caused  an 
idea  that  he  was  their  founder;  but  erro- 
neously, for  he  flourished  in  1 170,  and  the 
term  Vattdis  occurs  in  a  book  written  in 


*  Spe  Appendix,  No.  I. 
f  241  h  May,  10S5.    Bayle,  art.  O 
din   Hist.  Eccles. 
I  D  Vuiss 


'regory  VII.  and  Tur- 

:.  Eccles. 

lissetts,  I.'ist.  de  Langutioc,  vol.  iji.  p.  129. 


the  year  1 100.*  The  epithet  Manichaeans 
was  also  applied  to  them  by  their  enemies, 
but  without  a  shadow  of  reason,  for  their 
confession  of  faith,  which  is  given  by 
Lampe  in  his  Church  History,  is  pure  pro- 
testantism, and  would  have  obtained  the 
approbation  of  Calvin  or  Beza.  That  their 
morals  were  good,  we  have  the  testimony 
of  an  anonymous  writer,  reported  by 
Gretzer,  a  Jesuit,  who  laments  that  the 
clergy  should  give  such  examples  of  pride, 
avarice,  incontinence,  anger,  envy  and 
drunkenness,  because  it  makes  them  (the 
Vaudois)  place  more  faith  in  their  heresi- 
archs,  who  give  them  good  examples  of 
humility,  chastity,  sobriety,  peace,  bro- 
therly love,  and  other  virtues. t 

Popery,  uniform  in  its  hatred  of  every 
attempt  to  restore  Christianity  to  its  ori- 
ginal simplicity,  was  not  backward  in 
hurling  its  thunders  at  these  unoffending 
people.  The  third  council  of  Lateran 
was  held  in  1179,  under  Alexander  III.: 
the  twenty-seventh  canon  of  that  council 
calls  upon  all  princes  to  wage  war  against 
them,  and  promises  indulgence  to  those 
who  obey  the  call,  while  a  severe  curse  is 
threatened  against  "  whoever  shall  give 
any  of  them  shelter,  protect  them  on  his 
estates,  or  have  any  commerce  with  them." 
The  persecution  which  followed  tended 
only  to  increase  their  zeal,  and  their  dis- 
persion caused  a  great  dissemination  of 
their  doctrines ;  their  opinions  spread  over 
Languedoc  and  Provence,  and  the  Pyre- 
nees at  last  became  the  limits  of  the  re- 
formed church. 

In  the  year  1198,  Lothaire,  son  of  the 
Count  of  Signia,  was  elected  Pope,  and 
took  the  title  of  Innocent  III.  Matthew 
Paris  says  of  him,  that  he  was  the  proud- 
est and  most  ambitious  of  all  mortals,  and 
the  history  of  his  pontificate  verifies  the 
assertion.  He  gave  orders  for  conferences 
to  be  held  in  the  canton  of  Albi  and  other 
parts  inhabited  by  these  heretics,  with  a 
view  to  lead  them  back  to  orthodoxy:  but 
finding  persuasions  ineffectual,  he  sent  two 
legates  in  1204,  to  reduce  them  by  vio- 
lence and  terror.  Raymond  VI.,  Count 
of  Toulouse,  felt  indignant  at  a  foreign 
power  setting  up  a  tribunal  in  his  domi- 
nions. The  sufferings  of  his  grandfather 
during  the  crusades  had  destroyed  in  him 
that  blind  and  infatuated  obedience  to  the 


*  Appendix,  No.  II. 

t  Lampe,  Hist.  Eccles.  p.  246—249. 


PAULICIANS,  VAUDOIS. 


15 


see  of  Rome  which  had  induced  the  com- 
panion of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  to  gather 
barren  laurels  on  the  Syrian  shore.  He 
therefore  paid  no  attention  to  the  general 
call,  and  was  so  far  from  joining  in  the 
persecution,  that  he  afforded  an  asylum  to 
the  sufferers.  Nothing  more  was  want- 
ing for  his  denunciation  as  a  heretic :  and 
from  that  time,  the  church  waited  only  for 
a  favourable  opportunity  of  wreaking  her 
vengeance  upon  him,  for  his  boldness  in 
daring  to  hesitate  when  she  required  his 
aid,  and  for  his  impiety  in  showing  com- 
passion to  those  whom  she  had  doomed 
to  misery. 

The  Count  of  Toulouse  was  still  desi- 
rous of  avoiding  a  rupture  with  the  holy 
see,  and  took  skilful  measures  of  modera- 
tion, to  heal  the  differences  which  had 
been  made  known.  But  Peter  Castelnau, 
who  was  the  pope's  chief  legate  at  the 
time,  conducted  himself  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  prevent  any  kind  of  reconciliation ; 
he  was  proud,  inflexible,  and  averse  to 
every  concession.  He  threatened  Ray- 
mond in  his  own  dominions;  and  required 
him  to  proscribe  his  own  subjects.  The 
count,  disgusted  with  his  behaviour,  and 
indignant  at  his  demands,  sent  him  away : 
as  he  was  returning  to  Rome,  he  was 
assassinated,  and  Innocent,  resolved  to' 
avenge  his  legate's  death  on  Raymond, 
put  his  estates  under  an  interdict.*  The 
clergy,  docile  instruments  of  the  pontifical 
power,  called  on  the  King  of  France  to 
assist  the  church.  Philip  Augustus,  on 
his  side,  was  well  pleased  at  having  an 
opportunity  of  confiscating  the  domains  of 
the  Count  of  Toulouse:  he  raised  four 
thousand  men  at  arms,  whom  he  sent  into 
Languedoc,  and  authorized  the  preaching 
of  a  crusade  in  his  kingdom. 

The  approach  of  more  than  fifty  thou- 
sand crusaders,  who  were  in  arms,  and 
ready  to  destroy  every  one  of  his  subjects, 
alarmed  Raymond ;  he  endeavoured  to 
allay  the  storm  which  was  ready  to  burst 
over  him,  by  telling  the  legate,  that  he 
was  willing  to  make  a  public  penance. 
He  appeared  in  his  shirt  at  the  door  of  a 
church,  and  made  a  solemn  abjuration  of 
his  errors.  The  legate  passed  his  stole 
over  his  neck,  and  drew  him  to  the  altar, 
where  he  promised  entire  obedience  to 


*  15th  Jan.  1208.  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  liv.  76.  Du 
Haillan,  Hist,  de  France,  liv.  10,  p  510.  Pierre  de  Vaulx 
Cernay,  Hist,  des  Albigeois.  Dan  Vaissette,  Hist  de  Lan- 
guedoc, vol.  iii.  p.  153. 


the  court  of  Rome,  and  was  relieved  from 
his  excommunication,  on  his  engaging  to 
fight  against  his  own  subjects.  The  cru- 
saders then  ravaged  Languedoc,  and  put 
every  thing  to  fire  and  sword.  At  Be- 
zieres  alone  thirty  thousand  persons  are 
said  to  have  been  killed  by  the  crusaders, 
under  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester ;  and 
seven  thousand  persons  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  churches,  were  not  allowed 
the  benefit  of  the  sanctuary,  respected  for 
every  crime  at  this  period,  but  were 
cruelly  put  to  the  sword.* 

Wherever  the  Vaudois  were  seized, 
they  were  burnt  alive ;  and  many  were 
murdered  who  fled  to  England  and  Ger- 
many. It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  hor- 
rors of  this  continued  massacre;  the  fana- 
ticism of  an  ignorant  soldiery  was  worked 
upon,  to  make  them  think  they  were  act- 
ing in  a  meritorious  manner ;  but  what 
language  can  be  strong  enough  to  charac- 
terize the  horrible  councils  of  Rome — of 
that  church  which  arrogates  to  itself  the 
attribute  of  infallibility,  and  which  not 
only  excited  this  persecution,  but  canon- 
ized two  monsters,  who  were  the  most 
active  in  the  work  of  murder  and  devas- 
tation ?  They  were  Dominick  Gusman, 
and  Francis  d'Assise,  who  each  of  them 
founded  an  order  of  monks  called  after 
their  respective  names.  The  Dominicans 
have  zealously  imitated  their  founder,  and 
we  find  that  the  offices  of  the  Inquisition 
have  almost  always  been  filled  by  them. 
"I  can  never  admit,"  says  Pasquier  in  a 
letter  to  the*  President  Brulart,  "  that  the 
material  arms  of  Montfort  would  have 
overcome  the  Albigenses,  without  the  holy 
exhortations  and  preachings  of  St.  Domi- 
nic, who  was  with  him  throughout  the  ex- 
pedition."! 

While  Languedoc  was  being  laid  waste, 
Raymond  went  to  find  the  pontiff  at  Rome, 
and  entreated  him  to  put  an  end  to  the 
work  of  destruction.  The  pope  sent  or- 
ders to  his  legate  to  suspend  hostilities, 
but  his  commands  obtained  no  attention. 
Raymond  then  became  indignant,  and 
hastened  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  Albigen- 
ses, invoking  the  support  of  the  Emperor 
Otho,  then  suffering  papal  excommunica- 
tion. That  emperor  paid  no  attention  to 
his  prayer,  but  Peter  II.  of  Arragon,  his 


*  In  July  1209.  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  liv.  76.  De  Thou 
liv.  6. 

f  (Euvres,  vol.  ii.  p.  268. 


1G 


LOLLARDS,  HUSSITES,  &C. 


kinsman,  came  with  an  army  to  his  as-i 
sistance*  At  the  siege  of  Toulouse,  in 
1218,  Simon  Montfort,  the  barbarous  chief 
of  the  crusaders,  was  killed,  by  which 
event  Raymond  was  enabled  to  recover 
most  of  his  estates.  But  it  was  not  till 
six  years  afterwards  that  the  pope  could 
be  induced  to  restore  the  title  to  the  fa- 
mily; for  he  had  made  the  cruel  Montfort 
Count  of  Toulouse,  during  Raymond's 
excommunication.  The  latter  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century  was  occupied  with  the 
struggles  between  the  Guelph  and  Ghibe- 
line  factions,  which,  added  to  another  cru- 
sade in  the  East,  left  the  Vaudois  in  com- 
parative obscurity,  and  their  persecution 
abated. 

John  Wickliffe,  an  Englishman,  was 
the  next  who  entered  the  lists  for  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  His  first  at- 
tacks were  directed  in  1360,  against  the 
abuses  of  the  mendicant  friars  ;  he  after- 
wards preached  against  the  errors  of 
popery  in  general.  He  earnestly  recom- 
mended the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
translated  the  Bible  into  English.  The 
powerful  protection  which  he  received 
from  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
alone  preserved  him  from  the  severe  pu- 
nishment which  the  enraged  monks  would 
have  inflicted  on  him.  He  died  at  Lutter- 
worth, on  the  31st  of  December,  1387; 
thirty  years  after,  by  order  of  the  council 
of  Constance,  his  body  was  dug  up  from 
the  grave,  burned,  and  the  ashes  thrown 
into  a  neighbouring  stream.  His  follow- 
ers were  called  Lollards  or  Wickliffites, 
and  they  very  soon  began  to  experience 
persecution.  Lord  Cobham,  who  had 
professed  their  doctrines,  was  hung  up  by 
a  chain  round  his  waist,  and  was  burned 
or  rather  roasted  to  death.  About  the 
same  time,  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of 
Prague  were  burned  alive  for  the  same 
opinions:  Huss  had  obtained  a  safe  con- 
duct from  the  emperor,  before  he  would 
answer  the  summons  to  appear  ;  but  the 
council  of  Constance  refused  to  recognise 
it,  declaring,  "  that  faith  need  not  be  kept 
with  heretics."! 

Although  it  is  not  clear  that  any  of  the 
Vaudois  were  able  to  establish  themselves 
in  England;  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  that 
a  considerable  portion  of  Wickliffe's  he- 

*  Peter  of  Arrajon  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Muret 
in  1213  Fleury, Hist,  t  ccles.  Iiv.77.  Du  Haillan,  liv.  10. 

t  John  Huss  suffered  15th  July,  1415.  Jerome  of 
Prague,  30th  May,  1416.   Lord  Cobham  in  1416. 


resy  was  acquired  when  he  was  sent  by 
Edward  III.  on  different  missions  to  the 
popes  of  Rome  and  Avignon,  for  at  that 
time,  the  church  had  two  infallible  heads. 
At  that  period,  the  unfortunate  Vaudois 
were  burned  whenever  they  were  taken ; 
and  their  opinions  having  been  once  de- 
scribed, his  acute  intellect  was  thenceforth 
occupied  in  inquiring  whether  they  were 
not  right,  and  if  the  church  herself  was 
not  wallowing  in  heresy.  A  great  many 
of  the  Vaudois  took  refuge  in  Bohemia, 
and  different  parts  of  Germany;  and  when 
Wickliffe's  preaching  and  writings  were 
made  known,  they  rallied,  and  resumed 
existence  as  a  reformed  church. 

A  war  ensued,  which  lasted  thirteen 
years.  The  Hussites  were  headed  by 
John  Zisca,  who  led  them  to  repeated  vic- 
tories, which,  we  must  confess,  were  ac- 
companied at  times  with  cruelty  and 
fanaticism.*  He  died  in  1424,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Procopius,  who  was  equally 
serviceable  to  them.  By  a  well-timed 
concession  respecting  the  use  of  the  cup 
by  the  laity  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Slipper,  the  church  of  Rome  regained  its 
authority  over  a  considerable  number  of 
the  Hussites.  The  rest  remained  firm,  and 
in  the  succeeding  age  were  among  the 
first  to  join  the  followers  of  Martin  Luther. 

There  were  still  some  Vaudois  in 
France  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XII.,  and 
those  of  Cabrieres  and  Merindole  sent  de- 
puties to  plead  their  cause  before  that  king : 
they  obtained  a-n  audience,  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  the  clergy.  Having  declared 
that  they  received  and  adopted  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Decalogue, 
and  the  Sacraments,  but  that  they  did  not 
believe  in  the  pope,  nor  in  his  doctrines, 
the  king  sent  persons  to  inquire  on  the 
spot  if  their  assertions  were  true.  The 
commissioners,  on  their  return,  reported, 
"that  in  those  parts,  baptism  was  admi- 
nistered ;  the  articles  of  faith,  and  the  ten 
commandments  were  taught ;  the  Sabbath 
was  solemnly  observed ;  and  the  word  of 
God  expounded  :  and  that  as  to  the  forni- 
cations and  poisonings  of  which  they  were 
accused,  there  was  no  instance  of  it  to  be 
found."  The  king,  on  hearing  this,  de- 
clared, "  these  people  are  much  better  than 
myself,  and  all  the  rest  of  my  Catholic* 
subjects."! 

*  Lenfant,  Hist,  dc  la  Ouerre  des  Hussites  et  du  Coa- 
cile  de  Bale. 
t  Lanipe,  Hist.  Eccles  p.  231. 


REFORMATION   IN  GERMANY. 


17 


At  the  begirtning  of  the  sixteenth  cen-jof  penance  enjoined  by  the  church,  they 
tury,  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  was  filled  by  preached  them  as  celestial  favours,  which 
three  popes  in  succession,  (for  the  ponti-  by  themselves  abolished  the  most  enor- 
ficate  of  Pius  III.  lasted  only  twenty-six  mous  crimes;  and  at  the  suggestion  of 


days,)  whose  characters,  though  widely 
different,  contributed  to  discredit  the  holy 
see,  and  to  ensure  success  to  the  preach- 
ers of  a  reformation.  Roderic  Borgia, 
who  assumed  the  title  of  Alexander  VI., 
is  so  well  known  in  history,  that  his  very 
name  inspires  horror;  he  died  in  1503. 
Julian  de  Rovero,  or  Julius  II.,  after  pro- 
curing his  election  by  presents  and  pro- 
mises, filled  Europe  with  wars  and  fac- 
tions. To  such  a  degree  did  he  annoy 
Louis  XII.,  King  of  France,  that  although 
styled  the  eldest  son  of  the  church,  he  re- 
solved on  attempting  to  destroy  the  pa- 
pacy.* So  undisguised  was  this  pope's 
passion  for  arms,  that  when  Michael  An- 
gelo,  who  was  employed  in  making  a 
statue  of  him,  asked  if  he  would  not  like 
to  have  a  book  placed  in  his  hand,  he  an- 
swered, "  Rather  a  sword,  for  I  should 
know  better  how  to  make  use  of  it."f 

Julius  II.  died  in  February,  1513,  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  Cardinal  John  de 
Medicis,  who  took  the  name  of  Leo  X. ;} 
a  man  insatiate  of  luxury  and  splendour: 
when  he  was  asked,  in  what  style  he 
would  be  treated;  he  answered,  "As  a 
great  prince."  Highly  gifted  by  nature, 
he  became  the  chief  ornament  of  his  own 
court,  and  the  acting  statesman  of  his  own 
cabinet.  He  was  a  great  patron  of  let- 
ters, and  thus  promoted  the  means  of  at- 
tacking superstition  ;o  he  was  a  great  friend 
to  the  arts,  and  was  by  that  means  led 
into  expenses,  which  brought  about  the 
memorable  sale  of  indulgences  for  the  re- 
plenishment of  his  treasury.  The  Domi- 
nican monks,  who  were  commissioned  to 


Cardinal  Pucci,  the  power  of  the  indul- 
gences was  extended  even  to  the  dead, 
whose  souls  were  released  from  purgatory 
directly  after  the  money  was  paid* 

The  people  of  Germany  received  these 
pardon-mongers  in  a  manner  very  differ- 
ent from  the  inhabitants  of  Italy,  France, 
and  Spain;  they  had  suffered  too  much 
from  the  quarrels  between  the  emperors 
and  popes,  to  entertain  much  veneration 
for  the  Roman  hierarchy.  Besides,  every 
one  who  was  sufficiently  qualified  by  edu- 
cation, occupied  himself  with  the  discus- 
sions which  had  followed  the  preaching 
and  the  persecution  of  the  Hussites;  and 
but  little  was  requisite  to  excite  a  violent 
feeling  against  the  indulgences. 

Among  the  preachers  who  exerted 
themselves  to  display  the  folly  of  the  in- 
dulgences, and  the  profaneness  of  the  Do- 
minican monks,  the  most  conspicuous  was 
Martin  Luther,  a  young  theologian  of 
Wittenberg,  in  Saxony:  his  bold  philip- 
pics struck  them  into  absolute  discredit. 
Had  the  Dominicans  been  withdrawn 
from  Germany,  the  discussion  would  have 
been  forgotten,  and  Luther's  name  would 
have  been  scarcely  known;  but  the  loss 
of  what  had  been  reckoned  upon  as  sure 
profit  made  the  Dominicans  outrageous, 
and  abuse  was  directed  against  the 
preacher  by  all  who  had  expected  to  share 
in  the  spoil.  Having  once  excited  the 
hatred  of  the  Dominicans,  and  rendered 
himself  obnoxious  to  the  Vatican,  Luther 
could  easily  perceive  that  his  only  chance 
of  safety  was  in  a  complete  victory,  in  a 
thorough  reform.  He  was  well  acquainted 
sell  them,  abused  their  trust,  and  defeated  '  with  the  state  of  Rome  under  Alexander 


its  very  object;  instead  of  announcing 
them  as  pardons  proper  for  the  remission 


*  Louis  XI  I.  had  a  medal  struck  with  i Ins  inscription 
•'  Perdam  babylonis  nomen." — Turretin,  Hist  Eccles. 

t  Arniand  Smiles,  Portraits  Historiuvcs  efes  Pu]>rs. 

I  Guicciardini,  Pa'ulua  Jovius,  and  Fra  Paolo  S.irpi 
have  each  described  the  character  of  thia  pope;  ami  rhey 
all  differ  in  their  account  of  his  ruling  passion  Guic- 
efcrdini  represents  him  as  influenced  hy  political  craft. 
Paulus  Jovius  declares  pride  anil  vanity  to  have  ope- 
rated on  his  resolutions  ;  and  Fra  Paolo  describes  him 
as  a  voluptuary,  passionately  fond  of  pageantry,  and 
willing  at  all  tunes  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  the 
church,  in  order  to  gratify  his  own  desires.  It  is  possi 
hie  that  all  three  characters  may  he  true,  if  his  life  be 
examined  at  different  periods. 

§  He  was  so  anxious  that  his  briefs  should  be  well 
written,  and  free  from  the  barbarisms  which  abounded 
in  those  of  his  predecessors,  that  he  look  for  his  secre- 
taries Hemlio  ami  Sadolet,  Ihe  two  best  writers  of  the 
ajje.    Varillas,  /list.  sec.  de  la  Muison  de  Medicis,  liv.  G 

2 


VI. ;  he  knew  to  what  extent  every  kind 
of  vice  was  encouraged  by  the  example 
of  the  superior  clergy;  and  he  boldly  at- 
tacked the  papacy  with  all  the  force  of  his 
satire  and  his  indignation. 

Leo  X.  receiving  the  homage  of  men 
of  science,  and  beholding  the  great  im- 
provements which  his  fostering  care  had 
produced  in  the  fine  arts,  at  first  would 
hardly  condescend  to  notice  the  audacity 
of  this  monk,  whose  object  was  to  over- 
turn his  government ;  to  free  modern  Eu- 


*  Histoire  du  Concile  de  Trcvte,  par  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  p. 
4,  traduction  de  Houssaje.  Edit.  4to,  Amjtedam,  1G8C>. 


18 


REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY. 


rope  from  rites  more  superstitious  than 
those  of  Paganism ;  and,  in  a  word,  to  re- 
store Christianity  to  Christendom.  But 
when  the  pontiff  found  that  Luther's 
preaching  produced  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  several  princes,  and  that  the  old 
heresy  of  the  Hussites  was  rekindled  by 
him,  he  summoned  Luther  to  appear  at 
his  tribunal,  and  give  an  account  of  his 
conduct.  The  unhappy  fate  of  Savona- 
rola, who  was  burned  for  having  expa- 
tiated on  the  vices  of  Alexander  VI.  was 


church  is  traced  in  a  chain  of  descent 
from  the  Paulicians  to  the  Vaudois,  Lol- 
lards, Hussites,  Lutherans,  and  Hugue- 
nots, our  attention  will  be  confined  to  the 
long  and  arduous  struggle  which  the 
French  Protestants  had  to  maintain,  not 
only  for  their  social  and  religious  exist- 
ence, but  also  for  the  preservation  of  their 
lives. 

1.  Germany  being  the  scene  of  Lu- 
ther's operations,  it  is  natural  that  his  doc- 
trines should  produce  an  earlier  effect  in 


too  recent  an  example  for  Luther  not  to j that  country,  than  in  any  other;  we  have 
take  warning  by;  he  refused  to  appear, [already  seen  that  he  was  cited  to  Rome, 
and  proceeded  in  his  labours  with  the  i  but  refused  to  go.  Having  a  great  friend 
more  earnestness,  as  the  pope  had  become  in  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  interest  was 
his  declared  enemy.  made  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  an- 

It  is  possible,  that  if  the  Augustine  ,swer  the  accusation  in  Germany:  heap- 
monks  had  been  appointed  to  sell  the  in-!peared,  in  consequence,  at  Augsburg,  be- 
dulgences  instead  of  the  Dominicans,  the  fore  Cardinal  Cajetan,  the  pope's  legate, 
former  community  would  not  have  been  j  As  Luther  refused  to  renounce  his  opi- 
the  first  to  attack  their  utility ;  and  conse-  [  nions,  Leo  X.  issued  two  bulls,  one  to  con- 
quently  Luther  would  not  have  been  j  firm  and  recommend  the  indulgences,  the 
raised  from  privacy,  to  perform  the  emi-  j  other  to  condemn  Luther's  doctrine  as  im- 
nent  part  he  afterwards  undertook.  But; pious  and  heretical;  at  the  same  time  or- 
to  assume  that  if  Luther  had  remained  j  dering  his  books  to  be  burned,  arid  Luther 
quiet,  the  Reformation  would  not  have  (himself  to  be  excommunicated  and  pro- 
been  preached,  is  an  hypothesis  which  can 'scribed,  if  he  did  not  return  to  his  duty 
never  be  acceded  to;  and  it  is  therefore  within  two  months.*  Luther  appealed  to 
no  argument  against  Protestantism,  to  as-  a  general  council,  and  publicly  burned  the 
sert  that  disappointed  avarice  was  its  prin-  Pope's  bull  at  Wittenberg.  In  1521,  Lu- 
cipal  cause.*  The  numerous  body  of  ther  attended  the  diet  at  Worms,  having 
learned  men  who  were  living  at  that  time  previously  been  furnished  with  a  safe  con- 
could  not  all  have  remained  silent;  and  (duct.  Pie  was  sent  away  in  safety,  but 
the  only  difference  would  have  been  a! immediately  after  was  proscribed,  and 
trifling  postponement  of  the  date,  and  a 'would  certainly  have  been  overpowered 
change  in  the  name  of  the  Reformer.  In-!  by  his  enemies,  but  for  the  protection  of 
deed  we  are  informed  that  Zuinglius  com-J  the  elector  Frederic,  who  concealed  him 
menced  preaching  in  Switzerland  in  1516, |nine  months  in  the  castle  of  Westberg. 
the  year  before  Luther  began  his  attack.tj  On  his  enlargement,  he  prosecuted  his 
The  history  of  Luther's  labours  does  preaching  and  writing  with  great  success, 
not  belong  to  our  subject ;  he  is  too  well  j  His  followers  were  first  called  Protestants 
known  as  the  leading  Reformer,  to  re- 1  in  1529,  when  the  diet  of  Spire  having  for- 
quire  any  further  account  of  him;  a  mere! bidden  the  abolition  of  the  mass,  several 
outline  of  the  progress  of  his  doctrines  is! princes  protested  against  the  decree,  and 
therefore  all  that  is  necessary  to  form  a  I  formed  the  league  of  Smalcalde.  That 
just  opinion  of  the  succeeding  history. 'appellation  now  includes  all  who  protest 
We  shall  mark  their  establishment  in  Ger- ;  against  the  authority  of  the  pope  and  the 
many,  Switzerland,  Sweden,  and  Den- (councils,  whatever  may  be  their  particular 
mark, Great  Britain, Holland  and  France; 'tenets.  After  a  long  struggle,  the  treaty 
and  when  once  the  original  Christian  [of  Passau,  decreed  in  July  1552,  and  con- 
firmed at  Augsburg  in  1555,  assured  tran- 
quillity to  the  Protestants,  who  by  that 
time  amounted  to  one  half  of  the  German 
population.  Martin  Luther  died  18th  of 
February,  1546,  aged  sixty-three  years. 


*  Even  Cardinal  Pallavicini  refutes  this ;  for  lie  states 
that  it  was  not  customary  to  employ  t lie  Augustine 
monks  on  "rich  occasions  :  the  Fra  nciscans,  nominicans 
and  Teutonic  knights  having  had  that  privilege,  with- 
out any  claim  being  put  in  hy  the  Augustines.  hist. 
Omeilli  Tridentini,  lib.  J,  c.  3. 

t  Turretin,  Hist.  Ecclcs.  Beside!?  which  there  is  the 
preaching  of  John  Weselius,  or  de  VVesel,  a  Fleming, 
uliuse  doctrines  were  condemned  in  1478. 


Dated,  15  June,  \5!t).  Hist,  du  Coneile  de  Trente,  p  10- 


REFORMATION  IN  SWITZERLAND,  SWEDEN  AND  ENGLAND.  10 


2.  Switzerland  was  prepared  by  Zuin- 
glius,  CEcolnmpadius,  and  others,  to  em- 
brace with  eagerness  the  Reformation. 
Bernardin  Samson,  a  Franciscan  monk, 
was  employed  to  sell  the  indulgences  in 
that  country  ;  and  his  avidity  and  impu- 
dence outdid  Tetzel,  the  Dominican,  who 
had  excited  Luther's  indignation  in  Sax- 
ony. He  promised  the  remission  of  every 
crime,  whatever  it  might  be,  to  those  who 
brought  him  their  money;  and  declared 
that  such  was  his  power  over  purgatory, 
that  at  his  wish  alone  the  souls  were  re- 
leased.* The  whole  country  was  a  fer- 
ment, and  the  monks  complained  of  the 
preaching  of  Zuinglius;  the  senate  thought 
it  best  to  have  the  case  publicly  argued; 
and  Zuinglius  maintained  his  opinion  by 
the. Scriptures  in  opposition  to  traditions, 
councils,  &c.  so  that  he  overcame  all  op- 
position, and  found  himself  supported  by 
the  magistracy  of  Zurich.  This  was  in 
1523.  The  reform  made  great  progress  : 
at  first  processions  were  prohibited  ;  the 
tombs  said  to  contain  relics,  &c.  were 
afterwards  opened,  and  their  contents, 
which  consisted  of  bones  and  rubbish, 
were  buried;  the  images  were  then  re- 
moved from  the  churches;  and  in  April, 
1525,  the  mass  was  abolished.  '  The  ex- 
ample of  Zurich  was  followed  by  Berne, 
Bale,  Schaffhausen,  St.  Gall  and  Geneva; 
Fribourg,  Soleure,  and  the  small  cantons, 
not  only  adhered  to  popery,  but  made 
war  with  Zurich  and  Berne.  The  Pro- 
testants were  defeated  at  Cappel,  the  1 1th 
of  October,  1531,  when  Zuinglius  was 
killed.  His  death  was  afterwards  avenged, 
and,  after  a  sanguinary  struggle,  all  the 
cantons  united  in  proclaiming  toleration. 

3.  The  Reformation  was  preached  in 
Sweden  by  Olaus  Petri,  who  had  heard 
Luther  in  Germany.  The  change  of  re- 
ligion was  effected  with  great  facility  in 
this  kingdom,  as  it  was  a  question  of  in- 
dependence rather  than  theology.  Gus- 
tavus  Vasa  encouraged  it,  secretly  at  first, 
but  when  he  found  the  clergy  would  not 
contribute  a  portion  of  their  revenues  to- 
wards the  necessities  of  the  state,  he  sent 
to  Wittenberg  for  preachers  to  assist  Olaus 
Petri:  the  Protestant  religion  was  esta- 
blished by  law  in  1527.  In  Denmark, 
the  opposition  was  very  trifling;  the  so- 
vereigns of  that  country,  particularly 
Christian  III ,  giving  their  protection  to 


the  Lutheran  preachers;  but  it  was  esta- 
blished in  Denmark  rather  later  than  in 
Sweden,  although  introduced  at  the  same 
time  into  both  countries. 

4.  When  Luther  began  to  preach  the 
Reformation,  the  throne  of  England  was 
occupied  by  Henry  VIII.,  a  man  whose 
abilities  would  have  rendered  him  con- 
spicuous, had  he  been  born  in  a  private 
station;  as  a  king,  he  would  have  been 
memorable  for  his  violence  and  rapacity, 
even  if  his  reign  had  not  been  so  much 
connected  with  this  most  important  era 
of  our  history.  The  first  news  of  Lu- 
ther's attack  on  the  church  of  Rome 
kindled  his  zeal  to  such  a  degree,  that  he 
wrote  a  Defence  of  the  Seven  Secraments, 
for  which  he  was  rewarded  by  the  pope 
with  the  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith.* 
But  so  liable  are  all  men  to  yield  to  cir- 
cumstances, when  their  interests  or  pas- 
sions are  concerned,  that  Henry,  on  the 
pope's  refusing  him  a  divorce,  threw  off 
his  allegiance  to  the  see  of  Rome,  and 
declared  himself  head  of  the  church  in  his 
own  dominions.  The  ice  being  once 
broken,  his  impetuosity  could  not  be  re- 
strained; he  robbed  the  monasteries  to 
raise  funds  for  his  extravagance,  and  at- 
tacked the  papacy  in  every  possible  man- 
ner, because  it  thwarted  his  views ;  but 
the  advantage  which  accrued  to  the  Re- 
formation was  never  contemplated  by  him. 
A  well  known  writer  has  so  ably  defined 
his  character  and  conduct,  that  I  shall 
quote  his  words:t  "The  Reformation 
owed  nothing  to  the  good  intentions  of 
King  Henry:  he  was  only  an  instrument 
of  it  by  accident;  nor  doth  he  appear, 
throughout  his  whole  reign,  to  have  had 
any  other  views  than  those  of  gratifying 
his  insatiable  love  of  power,  cruelty,  op- 
pression, and  other  irregular  appetites. 
!  But  this  kingdom,  as  well  as  many  other 
j  parts  of  Europe,  was  at  that  time  gene- 
rally weary  of  the  corruptions  and  im- 
positions of  the  Roman  court  and  church; 
and  disposed  to  receive  those  doctrines 
which  Luther  and  his  followers  had  uni- 
versally spread.  Cranmer,  Cromwell, 
and  others  of  the  court,  did  secretly  em- 
brace the  Reformation;  and  the  king's 
abrogating  the  pope's  supremacy,  made 
the  people  in  general  run  into  new  the 


*  Turret! n,  Hist  Eccles. 


*  Leo  at  the  same  time  conferred  indulgence  on  all 
who  peruseil  the  king's  work  —  Hallavicini, lib. 2, c.  1. 

t  Swift,  Preface  to  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury's  Intro- 
duction. 


20 


HUGUENOTS  PERSECUTED  BY  FRANCIS  I. 


doctrine  with  greater  freedom,  because 
they  hoped  to  be  supported  in  it  by  the 
authority  and  example  of  their  prince, 
who  disappointed  them  so  far,  that  he 
made  no  other  step,  than  rejecting  the 
pope's  supremacy  as  a  clog  upon  his  own 
power  and  passions,  but  retained  every 
corruption  besides,  and  became  a  cruel 
persecutor,  as  well  of  those  who  denied 
his  own  supremacy,  as  of  all  others  who 
professed  any  Protestant  doctrine.  Nei- 
ther hath  any  thing  disgusted  me  more 
in  reading  the  histories  of  those  times, 
than  to  see  one  of  the  worst  princes  of 
any  age  or  country,  celebrated  as  an  in- 
strument in  that  glorious  work  of  the  Re- 
formation." 

On  his  death,  in  January,  1547,  the 
sceptre  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  son, 
Edward  VI.,  then  only  nine  years  of  age. 
He  had  been  educated  as  a  Protestant, 
and  had  he  lived  to  manhood,  he  would, 
in  all  probability,  have  perfected  what  his 
guardians  had  begun  during  his  youth. 
But  his  premature  death  in  July,  1553,  al- 
lowed the  bigotted  venom  of  his  sister 
Mary,  who  became  queen,  to  wreak  itself 
on  the  Protestants,  and  her  reign  of  five 
years  is  one  continued  tale  of  blood.  None 
have  more  cause  to  lament  this  reign  than 
the  Roman  Catholics,  for  the  persecution 
she  excited  has  left  such  a  deep  remem- 
brance, that  the  popish  religion  has  ever 
since  been  detested  by  the  nation. 

Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry  VIII.  by 
Anne  Boleyn,  would  naturally  encourage 
the  Reformation  when  she  succeeded  to 
the  crown.  Her  reign  lasted  forty-five 
years,  and  the  Protestant  religion  was 
firmly  established.  The  church  of  Eng- 
land combines  some  of  Luther's  doctrines, 
with  others  of  Zuinglius  and  Calvin:  the 
most  eminent  divines  of  the  age  were  em- 
ployed in  organizing  the  new  church,  and 
so  careful  were  they  to  follow  the  doctrines 
of  the  Bible,  that  there  are  very  few  Pro- 
testant dissenters  who  do  not  approve  of 
the  thirty-nine  articles,  although  they  may 
reject  the  discipline  and  liturgy  of  the 
church. 

5.  In  Scotland,  like  most  countries,  the 
priests  would  not  resign  their  authority 
without  a  struggle,  and  the  early  preach- 
ers of  the  Reformation  became  martyrs. 
But  the  vehemence  of  John  Knox,  who  re- 
ceived his  notions  from  Calvin,  added  to 
the  confusion  which  followed  all  the  three 


marriages  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  ena- 
bled the  Reformers  to  effect  a  more  com- 
plete change  than  had  been  made  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  latter  country,  the  monarch 
directed  the  reform,  in  Scotland  the  people 
did  it  all;  and  that  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  difference. 

6.  The  Netherlander,  in  addition  to  the 
effects  of  Luther's  preaching,  were  excited 
to  revolt  by  the  tyranny  of  Philip  II.  and 
the  cruelty  of  the  Duke  of  Alva;  the  new 
doctrines  had  been  received  there  in  1550, 
and  the  Lutherans  were  rather  numerous 
at  that  time.  After  an  arduous  struggle, 
they  not  only  succeeded  in  establishing  the 
rights  of  conscience,  but  also  obtained  a 
national  independence. 

There  remains  yet  to  be  described  the 
preaching  of  the  Reformation  in  France ; 
and  we  approach  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  history. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Reformation  preached  in  France — The  Huguenots, 
or  Protestants,  are  persecuted  hy  Francis  I. — Massa- 
cres at  Merindole  and  Cabiieres. 

At  the  eventful  period  which  now  occu- 
pies our  attention,  two  illustrious  women 
were  very  instrumental  in  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  Reformation;  they  were 
Renee,  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  daughter  of 
Lewis  XII. ;  and  Margaret,  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, sister  of  Francis  I.,  and  mother  of 
the  celebrated  Jane  d'Albret. 

The  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  with  a  vigo- 
rous mind,  indulged  in  the  prevailing  sub- 
ject of  inquiry,  and  listened  with  attention 
to  the  preachers  of  the  new  doctrines. 
But  the  vicinity  of  her  husband's  domi- 
nions to  Rome,  made  him  fearful  of  ex- 
citing the  temporal,  as  well  as  the  spiritual 
wrath  of  his  neighbour,  and  the  duchess 
was  compelled  to  dissemble  her  sentiments 
during  his  life.  When  she  became  a 
widow,  she  resolved  on  returning  to 
France;  she  resided  at  the  castle  of  Mon- 
targis,  not  far  from  Paris;  and  in  the  midst 
of  their  persecution,  she  constantly  afford- 
ed an  asylum  to  the  Huguenots* 

The  Queen  of  Navarre,  without  em- 
bracing openly  the  new  opinions,  con- 
tented herself  for  a  long  time  with  pro- 

*  Gibbon.  Antiquities  of  the  House  of  Brunswick ;  atvd 
Brantome,  vol.  i.  p.  3'i8. 


HUGUENOTS  PERSECUTED  BY  FRANCIS  I. 


21 


tecting  the  learned  men  of  that  party,  and 
giving  them  shelter  in  her  states  from  the 
cruel  death  which  awaited  them  in  France. 
By  degrees,  however,  she  changed  her 
opinions  so  much,  that  the  constable  Mont- 
morency, discoursing  with  Francis  upon 
the  means  of  extirpating  heresy,  had  no 
hesitation  in  saying,  "  that  if  he  wished  it 
to  be  exterminated,  he  must  begin  with 
the  court  and  his  relatives,  naming  the 
queen,  his  sister."  Francis  answered, 
"  Do  not  speak  to  me  upon  that  matter, 
she  loves  me  too  well  to  think  otherwise 
than  I  approve  of."* 

It  was  under  such  auspices  that  John 
Cauvin,  or  Calvin,  began  to  preach  the 
gospel.  He  was  born  at  Noyon,  in  Pi- 
cardy,  in  1509,  and  was  ordained  a  priest 
at  sixteen  years  of  age:  he  had  received 
his  religious  instruction  principally  from  a 
relation  named  Olevitane,  who  inhabited 
one  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  had 
translated  the  Scriptures  into  French  in 
1520.  Bucer  and  Melancthon  had  visited 
France  just  before,  and  created  a  taste  for 
reform. f  A  Protestant  congregation  was 
established  at  Meaux  the  following  year, 
and  the  doctrines  of  the  Huguenots,f  (the 
name  by  which  they  were  subsequently 
called,)  made  so  much  progress,  that  the 
clergy  were  alarmed,  and  made  such  re- 
presentations to  Francis  I,  that  from  being 
rather  favourably  inclined  towards  the 
Reformation,  they  persuaded  him  to  be- 
come a  cruel  persecutor. 

An  edict  against  the  heretics  was  pub- 
lished the  9th  of  June,  1523,  and  the  con- 
gregation of  Meaux  was  dispersed.  Some 
fled  to  Metz,  others  to  Switzerland,  and 
their  minister,  John  Leclerc,  became  a 
martyr :  he  was  tortured  in  a  most  horri- 
ble manner,  and  his  mangled  body  was 
then  burned. 

The  Jesuit  Fleury  mentions  this  perse- 
cution, in  the  following  unfeeling  terms: — 
"  From  time  to  time  some  false  prophet 
appeared  upon  the  scene,  to  publish  his 
fanaticism,  or  sound  the  disposition  of  the 
court.  But  repression  was  prompt:  it 
cost  dear  to  one  Berquin  of  Arras ;  to  Jean 
Leclerc,  a  wool-carder  of  Meaux  ;$  and  to 

*  Biantome,  vol.  i.  p.  335  (fie  de  Margaret!) 

t  Maimbnurg  complains  of  Ihese  pretended  doctors 
taking  the  insolent  liberty  of  interpreting  Hie  Bible  in 
a  sense  different  from  the  Catholic  church.— Hist,  du 
Calvanisme,  liv.  1,  p.  10.    Paris  1682. 

t  See  Appendix,  No.  III. 

§  Leclerc  was  banished  from  Meaux  for  calling  the 
pope  Antichrist;  he  was  burnt  at  Metz,  in  1523,  for 
breaking  an  image;  Berquin  suffered  at  Paris,  152U. 
Benoit,  Hist,  de  I' Edit  de  JfanUs'  vol.  i.  p.  8. 


Jacques  Pavane,  a  clothier  of  Boulogne, 
for  having  spoken  under  pretended  inspi- 
ration. They  were  all  burnt  alive ;  and  a 
dread  of  the  fire  silenced  the  spirit  of  se- 
veral oracfts.  History  mentions  these 
despicable  names,  doubtless  to  perpetuate 
the  reproach  of  their  birth  or  their  impiety, 
rather  than  to  celebrate  these  vile  found- 
ers of  the  Calvanistic  church."* 

These  martyrdoms  were  followed  by 
many  others ;  and  such  havoc  was  made 
among  the  Huguenots,  that  an  annual 
procession  was  instituted  to  render  thanks 
to  the  Almighty  that  they  had  got  rid  of 
the  heretics.  It  would  be  a  painful  task 
to  give  an  account  of  the  many  examples 
of  constancy  on  one  side,  and  Satanic 
rage  on  the  other;  so  numerous  were  the 
cases  which  occurred,  that  to  describe 
them  would  convert  this  work  into  a  mar- 
tyrology ;  one  circumstance,  however, 
cannot  be  passed  in  silence,  as  it  shows 
what  encouragement  was  personally  af- 
forded to  the  murderous  zeal  of  the  priests 
by  Francis  I.  When  Dymond  Levoy 
was  burned  with  five  others  in  1528,  that 
king  went  bare-headed  to  witness  the  exe- 
cution, and  was  accompanied  by  a  proces- 
sion of  priests  and  monks.f 

Francis,  Cardinal  de  Tournon,  Arch- 
bishop of  Lyons,  was  at  this  period  the 
king's  principal  adviser.  He  is  celebrated 
as  a  negotiator  and  statesman,  but  espe- 
cially as  a  persecutor.  Born  in  1489,  at 
Tournon,  in  the  Vivarais,  he  entered  an 
Augustine  monastery  at  the  age  of  twelve; 
and  in  his  twenty-eighth  year  was  elevated 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Embrun.  During 
the  captivity  of  Francis  I.  he  was  frequently 
consulted  on  public  affairs,  and  was  com- 
missioned to  negotiate  for  that  monarch's 
liberty:  from  that  time  he  possessed  the 
king's  entire  confidence.  He  passed  suc- 
cessively to  the  sees  of  Bourges,  Auch,  and 
Lyons ;  and  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
cardinal  in  15304 

He  was  long  employed  in  attempts  to 
reconcile  the  King  of  England  with  the 
pope ;  and  was  subsequently  engaged  in 
negotiations  with  Charles  V.  But  when 
the  return  of  peace,  in  1538,  gave  him 

*  Hist,  du  Cardinal  de  Tournun,  par  le  P.  Charles  Fleu- 
ry, de  la  compagnie  de  Jesus,  p  215.  Paris,  1728.  This 
violent  writer  must  not  be  confounded  with  Claude 
Fleury,  author  of  the  Hist.  Eccelsiastique. 

t  See  Beza,  D'Aubigne,  and  De  Thou  for  an  account 
of  these  martyrdoms.  Even  Maimbourg  adds  his  testi- 
mony to  the  "  rigouis  exercised  against  these  pretended 
martyrs."— Hist,  du  Calvanisme,  liv.  1. 

t  Biographie  Umverselle,  art.  Tournon. 


22 


HUGUENOTS  PERSECUTED  BY  FRANCIS  I. 


leisure  to  attend  to  the  internal  affairs  of 
France,  all  his  efforts  were  devoted  to  the 
suppression  of  heresy ;  which  object  he 
pursued  to  the  end  of  his  life,  although  the 
decease  of  his  patron  Franeis,  deprived 
him  of  the  means  of  entirely  accomplish- 
ing, it. 

The  influence  of  such  a  man  was  unfor- 
tunate for  the  Protestants,  who  were  re- 
covering from  the  consternation  caused  by 
the  first  persecution.  The  Q,ueen  of  Na- 
varre openly  encouraged  the  Reformation, 
and  gave  the  Protestant  ministers  a  refuge 
in  Beam:  she  even  appointed  a  Calvanist, 
named  Roussel,  to  the  bishopric  of  Oloron; 
and  united  her  influence  with  that  of  the 
Duchess  d'Estampes,  to  give  the  king  a 
favourable  impression  of  the  reformed  re- 
ligion.* By  their  persuasions,  Francis 
was  induced  to  hear  a  sermon  preached 
by  Lecoq,  curate  of  St.  Eustache.  He 
publicly  professed  Catholicism  and  a 
hatred  of  Luther;  "  but,"  observes  Maim- 
bourg,  "  he  preached  the  doctrines  of  Zu- 
inglius,  and  the  king  could  not  at  first 
discern  the  venom  concealed  in  his  fine 
phrases."  The  cardinals  of  Lorrainf  and 
Tournon  compelled  Lecoq  to  make  a  pub- 
lic recantation  of  his  errors;  but  the  Queen 
of  Navarre  was  not  discouraged;  she  ex- 
tolled the  merits  of  Melancthon,  and  per- 
suaded the  king  to  invite  him  to  a  confe- 
rence with  the  French  divines,  upon  the 
best  means  of  restoring  harmony  in  the 
church.f 

Melancthon  being  renowned  for  learn- 
ing and  .eloquence,  the  Catholic  clergy 
were  alarmed  in  the  same  degree  that  the 
Protestants  were  elated  at  the  prospect  of 
his  visit.  Tournon,  however,  succeeded 
in  changing  the  king's  opinions,  by  a 
scheme,  described  by  Maimbourg,  as 
worthy  of  immortality.  He  entered  the 
royal  apartment,  reading,  or  pretending  to 
read,  a  work  of  St.  Irenaeus.  Francis  in- 
quired what  book  engaged  him,  and  the 
cardinal  instantly  directed  his  attention  to 
a  page,  where  Irenaeus  had  given  full 
scope  to  his  feelings  against  heretics; 
showing  that  the  apostles  would  not  even 
frequent  any  public  place  where  they  were 
admitted.  Tournon  then  expressed  his 
grief  that  with  such  examples,  the  eldest 
son  of  the  church  should  have  sent  for  an 

*  Mirapnu,  Hist,  des  Troubles  de  Beam,  p.  107. 
t  John,  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  brother  of  Claude,  Duke 
of  Guise. 

X  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  1.  p.  26. 


heresiarch,  the  most  celebrated  of  Luther's 
disciples.  His  observations  produced  the 
intended  effect :  Francis  revoked  the  invi- 
tation of  Melancthon ;  protested  upon  oath, 
that  he  would  never  desert  the  Catholic 
faith ;  and  issued  orders  to  prosecute  the 
heretics  with  rigour.  Upon  which  the 
learned  father  observes: — "This  sudden 
and  generous  resolution  was  like  a  thun- 
derbolt to  the  Protestants,  who  had  no 
idea  of  such  a  reverse  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Q.ueen  of  Navarre."* 

In  the  meanwhile,  Calvin  was  diligently 
employed  preaching  at  Bourges  and 
Ligneres ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  danger 
was  most  imminent  that  he  retired  from 
■France.  He  took  refuge  in  Italy  with  the 
Duchess  of  Ferrara,  but  persecution  fol- 
lowed him,  and  he  went  into  Germany. 
Passing  through  Geneva,  in  1536,  he  was 
induced  to  remain  there  by  the  persua- 
sions of  William  Farel,  who,  like  himself, 
had  been  compelled  to  quit  his  native  land, 
on  account  of  his  religion.  Calvin  became 
the  head  of  the  church  at  Geneva,  and 
wrote  there  his  Christian  Institutes, 
which  he  dedicated  to  Francis  I.,  im- 
ploring his  compassion  for  the  Protest- 
ants.t  Cardinal  Tournon  represented  to 
that  monarch,  that  the  dedication  of  such 
a  work  was  an  outrage  on  the  royal  ma- 
jesty, and  the  religion  of  his  ancestors. 
The  book  tended  to  increase,  rather  than 
to  diminish  the  rage  of  persecution  in  the 
king's  breast ;  influenced  by  the  cruel  sug- 
gestions of  the  clergy,  he  gave  fresh  orders 
for  punishing  the  Calvinists  wherever  they 
could  be  found,  and  persons  were  em- 
ployed to  hunt  after  them :  it  was  even  de- 
clared a  crime  to  pray  in  French. :f  Num- 
bers of  pious  men  and  women  were  burned 
alive  ;  and  as  the  speeches  delivered  by 
the  martyrs  at  the  stake  became  a  power- 
ful means  of  conversion,  measures  were 
taken  to  prevent  them  from  addressing  the 
spectators. 

Tournon's  orders  were  rigorously  exe- 
cuted. To  use  his  biographer's  expres- 
sion, "  it  was  as  dangerous  to  converse  in 
secret,  as  to  discuss  in  public.  Nothing 
escaped  this  great  man,  who  seemed  to 


*  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  1,  p.  29. 

t  The  Abbe  Anquetil,  in  his  work  entitled  Esprit  dc 
la  Ligue,  considers  this  publication  as  the  grand  support 
of  the  heresy,  for  it  systematized  the  doctrines  of  the 
Protestants,  and  enabled  the  different  congregations  to 
keep  together,  even  if  their  minister  were  taken  from 
them. 

X  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trenle.  p.  95. 


MASSACRE  AT  MER1ND0LE. 


23 


multiply  himself,  in  order  to  discover  arti- 
fice or  punish  temerity;  so  that  foreign 
princes  were  accustomed  to  say,  that  he 
alone  was  equal  to  an  inquisition  in 
France."* 

But  cruel  as  was  the  general  persecution 
of  the  Huguenots  throughout  France,  it 
appears  almost  nothing  compared  with  the 
massacre  of  the  inhabitants  of  Merindole 
and  Cabrieres.  They  were  the  descend- 
ants of  the  ancient  Vaudois,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  different  countries,  and  amongst 
others  in  the  mountains  of  Dauphiny; 
where  they  procured  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence by  unwearied  industry.  Directly 
they  heard  of  the  Reformation  in  France, 
they  declared  the  Huguenots  to  be  their 
brethren;  and  the  identity  of  their  faith 
drew  upon  them  the  same  kind  of  ven- 
geance. They  were  summoned  by  the 
parliament  of  Aix  on  account  of  their  re- 
ligion, but  were  restrained  from  appearing 
by  the  imminent  danger  which  would  at- 
tend their  compliance.  It  was  then  de- 
creed that  they  should  be  exterminated  as 
rebels,  their  goods  confiscated,  their 
houses  destroyed,  and  that  even  the  trees 
of  their  plantations  should  be  dug  up.t 
During  the  life  of  the  President  Chassante 
this  horrible  sentence  was  not  executed ; 
but  his  successor,  the  Baron  d'Oppede,  ob- 
tained from  Francis  I.  permission  to  car- 
ry it  into  execution,  which  he  did  with  the 
troops  returning  from  Italy ;  and  to  pre- 
vent the  charge  of  having  highly  coloured 
this  tale  of  wo,  the  account  is  taken  from 
a  Catholic  writer,  who  will  not  be  sus- 
pected of  exaggeration.} 

"  Uninterrupted  executions,  however, 
did  not  arrest  the  progress  of  the  seduc- 
tion ;  the  innovators  continued  to  increase, 
although  the  sword  of  justice  was  constant- 
ly hanging  over  their  heads;  at  length,  in 
1545,  Francis  I.  gave  permission  to  em- 
ploy the  aid  of  arms  against'  them.  It 
was  granted  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Ba- 
ron d'Oppede,  first  president  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Aix,  a  violent  and  sanguinary 
man,  who  revived  against  the  Vaudois, 
assembled  in  the  vaileys  of  the  Alps  on 
the  side  of  Provence,  a  decree  of  that  par- 
liament given  five  years  before.  Every 
thing  was  horrible  and  cruel,  says  the 
historian  De  Thou,  in  the  sentence  pro. 

*  Charles  Fleury,  ut  antca,  p.  214. 
t  Decree,  dated  Idlh  November,  1540,  Hist,  du  Calvin- 
ismc.  liv.  2. 

J  Abbj  Anquetil,  Esprit  dela  I.igue,  vol.  i.  p.  14,  ctsrq 


nounced  against  them,  and  every  thing 
was  still  more  horrible  and  more  cruel  in 
the  execution.    Twenty-two  towns  or  vil- 
lages were  burned  or  sacked  with  an  in- 
humanity, of  which  the  history  of  the 
most  barbarous  people  hardly  presents 
examples.    The  unfortunate  inhabitants, 
surprised  during  the  night,  and  pursued 
from  rock  to  rock  by  the  light  of  the  fires 
which  consumed  theirdwellings,  frequently 
escaped  one  snare  only  to  fall  into  another ; 
the  pitiful  cries  of  the  old  men,  the  women, 
and  the  children,  far  from  softening  the 
hearts  of  the  soldiers,  mad  with  rage  like 
their  leaders,  only  set  them  on  following 
the  fugitives,  and  pointed  out  the  places 
whither  to  direct  their  fury.  Voluntary 
surrender  did  not  exempt  the  men  from 
execution,  nor  the  women  from  excesses 
of  brutality,  which  make  nature  blush.  It 
was  forbidden  under  pain  of  death,  to  af- 
ford them  any  refuge.    At  Cabrieres,  one 
of  the  principal  towns  of  that  canton,  they 
murdered  more  than  700  men  in  cold 
blood  ;  and  the  women  who  had  remained 
in  their  houses,  were  shut  up  in  a  barn, 
filled  with  straw,  to  which  they  set  fire: 
those  who  attempted  to  escape  by  the  win- 
dow were  driven  back  with  swords  and 
pikes;  finally,  according  to  the  tenor  of 
the  sentence,  the  houses  were  razed,  the 
woods  cut  down,  and   the  fruit  trees 
pulled  up;  and  in  a  short  time  this  country, 
so  fertile  and  so  populous,  became  unin- 
habited   and    uncultivated.  Historians 
agree  that  on  this  occasion  the  orders  of 
Francis  were  exceeded ;  and  many  add 
that  this  prince  when  dying,  enjoined  his 
son  severely  to  punish  the  guilty."* 

De  Thou,  in  his  history,  states  more 
than  has  been  related  by  the  Abbe  An- 
quetil,  for  he  says  that  previous  to  per- 
mitting this  horrible  affair,  Francis  com- 
manded William  Du  Bellay,  to  make 
inquiry  respecting  the  doctrines  and 
morals  of  these  people,  and  that  he  had 
sufficient  evidence  of  their  innocence  and 
piety,  with  the  exception  of  their  holding 
in  horror  the  superstitions  of  the  church 
of  Rome.  But  what  was  the  result  of 
this  inquiry  and  report?  only  a  delay  of 
three  months,  which  was  allowed  them  to 
amend  themselves  in  ;  with  the  threat,  that 
if  they  still  persisted  in  their  error  at  the 

*  Maimboiirp,  in  describing  this  massacre,  says,  thai 
above  '.MM  persons  were  killed,  and  !)0il  houses  were 
plundered,  and  ihen  destroyed.  Hist.  du.  Cahintimt, 
liv.  i. 


24 


REIGN  OF  HENRY  II. 


expiration  of  that  period,  the  punishment 
would  be  inflicted  on  them.* 

The  following  account  of  this  persecu- 
tion is  from  a  source  beyond  suspicion — 
a  report  to  the  Jicademie  des  Inscriptions, 
on  the  preliminaries  of  the  execution  at 
Cabrieres  and  Merindole.f  The  Vaudois 
of  the  latter  place  had  petitioned  the  par- 
liament of  Aix.  The  perusal  of  this  docu- 
ment, observes  the  reporter,  brought  tears 
into  our  eyes;  we  notice  at  the  commence- 
ment, a  confession  entirely  Calvinistic; 
such  doctrine  having  been  either  derived 
from  Valdo,  or  communicated  by  the 
preachers  of  Geneva.  The  Vaudois  of- 
fered to  renounce  all  opinions  contrary  to 
the  Scriptures;  but  the  parliament  replied, 
that  as  they  were  notorious  heretics,  they 
must  abjure ;  for  there  was  no  alternative. 

The  parliament  was  anxious  to  be 
spared  the  severe  measures  which  would 
be  forced  upon  them,  if  the  Vaudois  did 
not  change  their  opinions:  an  endeavour 
was  made  to  soften  their  obstinacy,  but 
in  vain.  Among  them  were  several  Ca- 
tholics, who  were  involved  in  their  fate. 
The  report  states,  "  God  offered  to  spare 
a  criminal  city,  if  ten  righteous  persons 
were  to  be  found  there;  but  a  greater 
number  of  orthodox  Christians  could  not 
save  Merindole.  Unfortunately  the  presi- 
dent Chassanee  died  about  this  time. 
(1542.)  His  death  did  not  appear  natu- 
ral ;  it  was  believed  to  be  the  work  of 
those  who  meditated  the  sanguinary  exe- 
cution, of  which  Oppede  was  the  principal 
instrument." 

The  people  of  Cabrieres  were  subjects 
of  the  pope  ;  while  their  brethren  of  Me- 
rindole were  engaged  in  parleys  about 
abjuration,  they  resorted  to  arms;  and 
drove  up  the  papal  troops  to  the  gates  of 
Avignon.  The  pontiff  implored  assistance 
from  the  King  of  France,  who  ordered  the 
Count  de  St.  Grignan  to  employ  the  mili- 
tary against  the  rebels.}: 

The  excesses  committed  were  fully  sub- 
stantiated on  the  trial  before  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  which  occupied  no  less  than 
fifty  sittin«s.§  The  Baron  d'Oppede's  de- 
fence, which  is  deemed  an  extraordinary 
specimen  of  eloquence,  admits  the  accu- 
sation in  full,  but  justifies  the  deed  by  the 


Divine  command,  and  casts  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility on  the  precise  orders  of  the 
king:*  he  was  acquitted ;  but  Guerin,  ad- 
vocate-general of  the  parliament  of  Aix, 
was  beheaded  at  the  Greve.  He  had 
acted  under  the  instructions  of  Cardinal 
Tournon;f  but  the  terrible  influence  of 
that  ecclesiastic  had  been  greatly  dimi- 
nished in  the  interval  previous  to  the  pro- 
ceedings; or  he  would  unquestionably 
have  prevented  their  being  instituted. 
Justice  was  demanded  of  Francis,  imme- 
diately after  the  commission  of  such  atro- 
cities ;  but  the  representations  of  the  par- 
liament of  Aix,  induced  him  to  give  a  let- 
ter of  approval,  with  orders  to  continue 
the  prosecution  of  the  remaining  heretics. 
And  it  was  only  the  approach  of  death, 
that  caused  him  to  enjoin  a  scrupulous 
inquiry  upon  his  son.J  » 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  French 
Protestants  at  the  death,  of  Francis  I. 
which  took  place  the  31st  of  March,  1547; 
he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Henry  II. ; 
but  so  divided  was  the  court  at  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne,  that  the  Protestants 
obtained  considerable  support  and  protec- 
tion. Many  nobles,  and  even  some  princes 
of  the  blood,  gave  them  countenance;  the 
motives  of  most  of  whom  might  have 
originated  in  court  intrigue,  but  the  great- 
er part  finished  by  embracing  the  Pro- 
testant religion  from  absolute  conviction. 


*  l)e  Thou,  liv.  6. 

t  Mem.  de  I'AcaU.  des  Inscriptions,  torn,  xviii.  p.  375. 
t  Ibid.  p.  3£3. 

§  Cause  deferred  to  Parliament  of  Paris,  17th  March, 
1551. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Reign  of  Henry  II. — Divided  State  of  his  Court— Revolt 
in  Uuyenne — Peace  between  England  and  France. 

On  the  accession  of  Henry  II.  every 
thing  seemed  to  promise  a  happy  and  a 
prosperous  reign ;  the  kingdom  was  at 
peace,  and  the  finances  were  in  good  or- 
der; the  state  being  not  only  free  from 
debts,  but  having  a  considerable  sum  in 
the  treasury.§  The  new  king  was  also 
of  an  age  to  induce  an  idea  of  experience 
in  him;  especially  as  his  father  had  early 
initiated  him  into  the  secrets  of  govern- 
ment, and  had  introduced  him  to  his 
councils.  Added  to  this  the  state  of  the 
forces  was  satisfactory ;  the  troops  being 


*  Maimbourg.  ut  anttn,  liv.  2. 
t  Charle-  Fleury.  p.  J52. 
i  Maimbourg, lit  supra. 
J  Brantome,  vol.  vn  p.  2. 


REIGN  OF  HENRY  II. 


23 


numerous,  well  disciplined,  and  command- 
ed by  skilful  generals. 

The  expectations,  however,  in  which 
the  nation  had  indulged,  were  soon  re- 
duced to  nothing.  The  court  became 
very  soon  divided  into  four  parties;  and 
their  mutual  opposition  and  jealousy  pro- 
duced the  long  series  of  wars,  with  which 
France  was  torn  during  the  remainder  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

The  party  first  in  importance  was  that 
of  the  constable  Montmorency,  who  had 
been  exiled  from  court  by  the  late  king, 
but  who  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the 
young  monarch,  and  possessed  very  great 
influence.  Francis  I.  had  cautioned  his 
son  against  recalling  the  constable  ;*  but 
Henry  paid  no  respect  to  his  father's  ad- 
vice, for  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  send 
a  courier  to  Montmorency,  ordering  his 
return.  The  constable  mounted  his  horse 
the  moment  the  courier  reached  him,  and 
soon  arrived  at  the  palace,  where  he  was 
kindly  received  by  the  king,  who  con- 
versed with  him  for  full  two  hours  in  his 
chamber.!  Such  marks  of  favour  were 
enough  to  make  his  friendship  sought  byj 
many  of  the  nobility,  and  even  some  ofj 
the  princes  of  the  blood,  who  loaded  him 
with  their  civilities. 

The  second  party,  which  was  equally 
powerful  with  the  former,  if  the  king's  fa- 
vour be  not  taken  into  the  account,  was 
that  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  generally 
called  the  Guises.t.  Francis  I.  had  viewed 
the  whole  of  their  conduct  with  a  suspi- 
cious eye :  he  considered  the  pitch  to  which 
their  ambition  might  carry  them,  and  the 
subsequent  history  of  France  has  justified 
his  fears  ;§  for  he  is  said  to  have  warned 
his  son  that  their  great  fortune  would 
create  troubles  in  France  ||     Henry  II. 


*  The  cause  of  this  dislike  was  Montmorency's  in- 
terfering when  the  Cardinal  Tournon  recommended 
Francis  to  make  Charles  V.  sign  a  promise  to  give  up 
the  Milanese.  The  constable  contended  that  the  empe- 
ror's word  was  sufficient.  Viellcuille,  vol.  i.  p.  284. 
Fleury.  Hist,  du  C.  Tournon.  p.  1-4 

t  Braniome.  vol.  vii.  p.  147.    Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  79. 

I  Claude  of  Lorrain.  Duke  of  Guise,  had  six  sons, 
viz.  1.  Francis,  who  succeeded  him  in  15.jl)  as  Duke  of 
Guise:  he  is  sometimes  called  Prince  of  Joinville,  some- 
times Count  d'Aumale.  2.  Charles,  Archbishop  of 
Rheims  and  Cardinal  of  Lorrain.  3.  Claude,  created 
Duke  of  Aumale  in  1.147.  4.  Louis,  Cardinal  of  Guise. 
5.  Fiancis.  Grand  Prior.    6.  Rene,  Marquis  d'ElbcBuf. 

5  The  following  quatrain  was  very  common  in 
France: 

Le  roy  Francois  ne  faillit  poin  t, 
Qnnnd  il  predtt  que  ceux  de  Guize, 
Mettroient  ses  enfans  en  pourpoint 
SLt  tous  ses  sujets  en  chemise. 

See  Mnn.  de  Condi,  and  Satyre  Menippie. 
D  Davila,  liv.  1,  traduction  de  Baudoin,  12mo.,  Paris, 
1066. 

3 


was  therefore  bound  to  keep  them  out  of 
power  as  much  as  possible.  This  party 
had  the  advantage  of  having  two  leaders, 
who  were  constantly  in  good  intelligence, 
because  they  could  not  become  each 
others  rival;  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  was 
at  work  about  the  court,  while  the  Duke 
of  Guise  was  in  the  field,  and  as  the  de- 
fence of  the  Catholic  religion  was  the  plea 
for  every  act  of  this  party,  the  clergy  were 
all  engaged  in  its  support. 

Diana  of  Poictiers,  Duchess  of  Valen- 
tinois,  the  king's  mistress,  was  at  the  head 
of  a  third  party.*  She  possessed  great 
influence  over  the  king  by  her  beauty  and 
her  wit ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  she 
abused  her  power.  Brantome  says  of 
her,  that  she  was  a  very  good  Catholic, 
and  bore  a  great  hatred  to  those  of  the 
relio-ion.j 

The  fourth  party  was  that  of  the  queen, 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  whose  character 
could  barely  show  itself  in  the  life-time  of 
her  husband,  but  who  afterwards  possessed 
supreme  influence  in  the  government  of 
France,  during  the  successive  reigns  of 
her  three  sons.  She  surpassed  Machia- 
velli  himself  in  political  craft :  by  constantly 
adjusting  the  equilibrium  of  the  contending 
parties,  she  prevented  each  from  over- 
whelming the  other;  and  by  prolonging 
the  sanguinary  struggle,  she  extended  the 
duration  of  her  own  power. 

These  four  parties  were  eagerly  looking 
out  for  the  means  of  increasing  their  influ- 
ence, and  enriching  themselves  and  their 
connexions ;  and  to  effect  their  object,  they 
made  use  of  every  kind  of  manoeuvre  to 
deceive  the  king,  whose  authority  was  in 
a  great  measure  laid  aside  during  the 
struggle.  J:  The  constable  plainly  saw  that 
his  only  strength  lay  in  coinciding  with 
the  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  and  flattering 
the  king's  passion  for  her.  The  dismissal 
of  Cardinal  Tournon,  and  other  ministers 
of  Francis  I.,  was  the  consequence. 

A  very  few  months  had  elapsed,  before 
the  internal  peace  of  the  kingdom  was  dis- 
turbed by  a  revolt  in  Guyenne  and  Sain- 
tonge.  Some  violence  had  accompanied 
the  collection  of  the  taxes  in  those  pro- 
vinces, and  the  people  made  loud  com- 
plaints. No  attention  being  paid  to  them, 
their  complaints  were  changed  into  threats 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  3. 

f  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  11.  {Vie  de  Henri  II. 
I  Vielleville,  vol.  l.  p  2113,  el  scq. 


26 


PERSECUTION  UNDER  HENRY  II. 


which  soon  produced  a  rebellion.  The 
public  indignation  was  very  great,  and 
fifty  thousand  men  were  assembled,  and 
fought  several  actions  with  the  king's 
troops.  The  magistrates  and  the  parlia- 
ment of  Bordeaux  succeeded  in  calming 
the  tumult  in  that  quarter,  and  thus  saved 
that  great  city  from  the  horrors  of  pillage. 
But  in  other  parts  the  insurrection  was 
quelled  with  more  difficulty.  Moneins, 
the  king's  lieutenant  in  Dauphiny,  was 
killed  by  the  insurgents.  Montmorency 
represented  to  the  king,  how  necessary  it 
was  to  make  some  severe  examples,  and 
by  the  most  rigorous  justice  prevent  any 
repetition  of  such  disorders.*  Two  divi- 
sions of  the  army  in  consequence  marched 
towards  these  provinces  ;  one  was  com- 
manded by  Francis  of  Lorrain,  afterwards 
Duke  of  Guise;  the  severe  constable  him- 
self commanded  the  other.  The  former 
commander  exercised  some  clemency,  and 
punished  only  the  leaders  of  the  sedition; 
but  Montmorency  made  preparations  for 
the  most  ample  vengeance.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Bordeaux  were  terrified  at  his 
approach,  and  sent  deputies  to  try  to  soften 
him ;  they  offered  him  the  keys  of  the  city, 
which  he  refused  to  receive  at  their  hands. 
"  Begone,"  said  he,  "  with  your  keys,  I  will 
open  your  gates  with  mine,  (meaning  his 
cannons;)  I  will  have  you  all  hanged;  I 
will  teach  you  how  to  rebel  against  your 
king,  and  to  kill  his  lieutenant  and  go- 
vernor, "t 

The  erection  of  a  tribunal  of  blood,  was 
the  consequence  of  Montmorency's  arri- 
val at  Bordeaux.  Executions  took 
place  without  intermission,  and  a  dreadful 
number  of  the  inhabitants  were  burned 
alive  or  hanged.  Bordeaux  was  treated 
like  a  town  taken  by  assault  by  a  foreign 
army ;  the  bells  were  taken  from  the 
churches  to  make  cannon;  the  Hotel-de- 
Ville  was  demolished ;  and  a  heavy  con- 
tribution levied  on  the  inhabitants.  The 
constable's  cruelty  was  not  however  sa- 
tiated by  ruining  one  great  city;  he  ra- 
vaged every  district  which  had  partici- 
pated in  the  revolt,  and  exercised  his  ven- 
geance on  those  towns,  which  had  even 
been  visited  by  the  other  division  of  the 
army.J 

"While  the  domestic  peace  of  France 
was  thus  affected  by  revolt,  Germany  was 

*  Vi'  lleville,  vol.  i.  p.  433.    De  Tliou,  liv.  5,  p.  343. 
t  Brantoine,  vol.  vii.  p.  87. 

j  Viellevi lie,  vol.  i.  p.  437,  et  seq.   Te  Thou,  liv.  5. 


the  scene  of  a  violent  struggle.  The  Pro- 
testants had  formed  a  union  called  the 
League  of  Smalcalde,  and  the  emperor 
Charles  V.  had  entertained  fears,  lest  he 
should  be  compelled  to  come  to  terms  with 
the  Lutheran  party.  The  battle  of  Muhl- 
burg,  which  was  fought  the  4th  of  April, 
1547,  put  an  end  to  the  war,  by  the  vic- 
tory which  he  gained  over  that  body. 
During  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  the  rivality 
between  that  king  and  the  emperor  be- 
came the  motive  of  considerable  assistance 
in  favour  of  the  German  Protestants. 
Henry  on  succeeding  to  the  crown  of 
France,  had  sent  Vielleville  to  London,  to 
propose  a  peace  with  Edward  VI. ;  that 
failing,  he  was  afterwards  absorbed  in  a 
plan  for  taking  Boulogne  from  the  English  ; 
and  by  discontinuing  the  reinforcements 
for  the  Protestants  of  Germany  he  insured 
success  to  the  emperor.  Henry  com- 
menced the  siege  of  Boulogne  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1549;  but  Charles  V.,  having  set- 
tled his  own  affairs,  was  ready  to  oppose 
him,  in  his  quality  of  guardian  of  the  young 
King  of  England  ;  and  he  remonstrated 
with  Henry  II.  against  the  siege  of  Bou- 
logne, which  was  raised  in  consequence. 
That  town  was  afterwards  redeemed 
from  the  English  for  four  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns,  besides  the  loss  of  all  the  ex- 
penses of  a  long  siege.  A  treaty  of  peace 
was  then  concluded  between  England  and 
France,  in  which  it  was  stipulated  that 
Edward  VI.  should  marry  the  princess 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry  II.* 

The  prospect  of  a  lasting  peace  with 
England  was  highly  gratifying  to  the  king, 
who  began  to  grow  weary  of  the  fatigue 
of  government,  and  longed  for  an  oppor- 
tunity of  indulging  his  bias  for  pageantry 
and  pleasure.  He  had  been  absent  from 
Paris  above  two  years,  and  his  return  was 
celebrated  by  the  most  splendid  fetes.t 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Persecution  under  Henry  II.—  Edict  of  Chateauhriant— 
War  with  the  emperor— Siege  of  Metz— Abdication  of 
Charles  V. 

The  system  of  persecution  which  had 
been  adopted  by  Francis  I.  as  the  means 
of  extirpating  heresy,  was  vigorously  con- 


*  Treaty  dated  24th  March,  1549-50. 
t  15th  May,  1550. 


WAR  WITH  THE  EMPEROR. 


27 


tinned  during  the  reign  of  his  successor.* 
But  the  Huguenots  were  not  to  be  de- 
terred from  following  the  dictates  of  their 
conscience  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  danger  of 
martyrdom,  while  it  excited  every  gene- 
rous feeling  in  the  breasts  of  the  sincere, 
became  a  preventive  to  desertion  with  the 
wavering,  who  though  willing  to  acknow- 
ledge themselves  persuaded  in  matters  of 
theology,  would  avoid  liability  to  an  accu- 
sation of  dreading  personal  danger.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  funeral  piles  were 
kindled  incessantly  in  every  town  in 
France  ;  the  Protestants  persisted  in  hold- 
ing their  assemblies,  and  making  a  profes- 
sion of  their  doctrines.  Henry,  to  add  to 
the  importance  of  the  executions,  went  in 
person  to  several ;  and  on  his  return  to 
Paris,  the  fires  were  kindled  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  At  one  of  these  piles,  an 
old  domestic  of  the  king's  was  dying  in 
the  flames  when  the  monarch  passed  by: 
he  was  seized  with  horror,  and  retired  im- 
mediately to  his  palace,  to  conceal  his  agi- 
tation and  remorse.f 

At  length  it  suited  the  political  views  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  to  arrest  so  horri- 
ble a  persecution ;  he  was  desirous  of  en-  j 
gaging  Henry  in  a  war  with  Charles  V., 
and  of  coining  to  an  arrangement  with  the 
Pope  Julius  W.fwho  had  joined  the  empe- 
ror in  attempting  to  expel  Octavius  Far- 
nese  from  his  duchy  of  Parma  ;  notwith- 
standing the  latter  had  married  Charles's 
natural  daughter.  None  of  the  princes  of 
Italy  would  dare  to  assist  Farnese,  and 
but  for  the  help  which  he  received  from 
France,  the  duke  must  have  been  over- 
whelmed. The  struggle  in  Italy  ended  by 
the  pope's  seeking  peace;  a  measure  to 
which  he  was  driven  by  an  edict  passed 
in  France,  forbidding  any  money  to  be' 
sent  to  the  court  of  Rome.  Another  edict 
was  published  at  the  same  time,  which 
stopped  in  some  degree  the  violence  of 
the  persecution,  by  placing  the  Calvinists 
under  the  secular  jurisdiction :  it  was 
called  the  edict  of  Chateaubriant.} 

A  new  war  was  preparing  in  Germany : 
Maurice  of  Saxony  and  Albert  of  Bran- 
denburg put  themselves  at  the  head  of  the 
Protestants,  and  marched  against  the  em- 1 
peror.  They  sent  an  embassy  to  Henry 
II.  reminding  him  of  his  engagements  and 


promises,  and  urging  him  to  establish  an 
alliance  with  them*  The  King  of  France 
could  not  recede  with  honour;  not  to  as- 
sist the  Protestants  would  be  imputed  to 
the  fear  of  Charles  V.,  and  the  war  was 
ardently  desired  by  the  young  nobles  of 
the  court,  who  demanded  an  opportunity 
of  exercising  their  valour.  The  most  la- 
vish flattery  was  bestowed  upon  the  king, 
who  was  excited  by  the  description  which 
was  given  of  his  father's  chivalry.  Still 
Henry  was  averse  to  renew  the  expedi- 
tions of  Francis  I. ;  he  preferred  the  image 
of  war  in  tournaments  to  the  honour  of 
undergoing  the  reality  with  arms  in  his 
hands.  The  deputies,  before  they  left 
Paris,  were  entertained  with  brilliant  fetes, 
in  October,  15514 

A  bed  of  justice  was  held  the  12th  of 
February,  1552,  when  the  king  announced 
to  the  parliament  the  motives  of  the  war, 
and  directed  the  measures  necessary  for 
supplying  the  funds  for  its  expenses.  The 
speech,  however,  which  Henry  addressed 
to  the  assembly,  contained  the  most  incon- 
gruous ideas;  he  justified  the  war  by 
showing  that  he  was  bound  to  assist  the 
Protestants  of  Germany,  and  at  the  same 
time  recommended  the  most  severe  mea- 
sures against  the  Protestants  of  France. 

The  taking  of  Metz  was  the  first  event 
in  this  war.  The  Constable  Montmorency 
gained  possession  of  that  town  by  a  stra- 
tagem which  excited  the  admiration  of 
Charles  V.  himself.}:  But  the  approach  of 
the  French  forces,  and  some  successes 
which  the  allies  had  gained,  induced  the 
emperor  to  take  other  measures.  He  be- 
gan to  be  tired  of  opposing  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  all  his  power  had  proved  un- 
able to  quell,  or  even  to  repress.  He 
perceived  that  he  was  fighting  the  battles 
of  Rome  at  his  own  cost;  and  he  proposed 
to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  to  hold  a  con- 
gress at  Passau,  the  26th  of  May,  and  that 
a  truce  should  be  kept  till  the  8lh  of  June.§ 

But  so  zealous  was  the  emperor  in  sup- 
port of  the  Catholic  religion,  that  he  could 
hardly  bring  him'self  to  relinquish  the 
struggle  with  heresy;  and  when  he  pro- 
posed the  truce,  he  most  likely  contem- 
plated the  advantage  which  might  be 
taken  of  the  interval,  in  sending  to  Italy 


*  Fra  Paolo,  Hist  du  Concile  de,  Trcnle,  p.  280. 
t  Hi9t.  lie  U  V jlle  de  Paris,  par  M   Fehbien,  vol.  ii. 
p.  103-2.    D'Aubigue,  I  I'm.  Univtrselle.  vol.  i.  p.  75. 
t  Dated  27th  June,  1551. 


*  Hist,  du  Cardinal  Granvelle,  p.  170.    Paris,  1761. 
t  Vielleville,  liv.  4. 

i  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  134.   Metz  was  taken  10th 
April.  1552. 
§  Hist,  du  Cardinal  Granvelle,  p.  178. 


23 


SIEGE  OF  METZ. 


for  fresh  troops.  However,  the  conduct 
of  the  pope  himself  decided  Charles;  di- 
rectly the  fortune  of  war  appeared  adverse 
to  his  party,  the  pope  took  measures  ac- 
cordingly, and  immediately  dissolved  the 
council  of  Trent.  The  treaty  of  Passau 
was  concluded  in  July,  1552,  and  the  pa- 
cification of  Germany  enabled  the  empe- 
ror to  direct  his  whole  force  against 
France.* 

Henry  was  very  much  vexed  at  having 
drawn  upon  himself  so  formidable  an  en- 
em}',  who  resolved  on  carrying  the  war 
into  the  heart  of  his  kingdom  :  he  would 
willingly  have  purchased  peace  by  the  res- 
titution of  the  places  he  had  taken,  but  the 
emperor's  anger  gave  no  opportunity  for 
an  accommodation.}  All  that  could  be 
done  was  to  put  strong  garrisons  in  those 
towns  which  the  emperor  would  probably 
attack  first.  Coligny  offered  to  defend 
Metz,  but  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  pre- 
ferred: there  was,  however,  employment 
for  him  elsewhere,  for  the  emperor  had  a 
hundred  thousand  soldiers,  besides  twen- 
ty-five thousand  which  he  had  in  Flanders, 
most  of  them  veteran  troops  who  had  as- 
sisted in  his  previous  campaigns.  The 
king  was  so  embarrassed  that  every  one 
expected  the  constable  would  be  disgraced, 
as  he  had  advised  the  king  to  go  to  war. 
Anthony  of  Bourbon,  Duke  of  Vendome, 
afterwards  known  as  King  of  Navarre, 
commanded  the  forces  sent  against  the 
army  of  Flanders ;  but  as  his  military 
judgment  was  not  very  highly  esteemed, 
he  was  accompanied  by  the  Admiral  Co- 
ligny.{  Meanwhile  the  emperor  was 
making  the  most  formidable  preparations 
for  the  siege  of  Metz.  He  had  collected 
around  him  all  his  most  skilful  generals; 
and  he  was  supplied  with  the  most  nume- 
rous train  of  artillery  ever  seen  at  any; 
siege.  On  reviewing  his  forces,  Charles  I 
exclaimed,  "  I  will  take  Metz,  or  I  will  pe- 
rish before  the  place."§ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  of  Guise 
was  resolved  to  defend  the  town  to  the 
utmost:  the  desertion  of  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg,  who  joined  the  emperor 
with  his  troops,  did  not  disconcert  him. 
The  breaches  were  repaired  as  soon  as 
made,  and  such  was  the  duke's  confidence 
in  his  garrison,  that  he  sent  a  letter  to  the 
king  with  the  assurance  that  he  would 

*  De  Thou.  Iiv.  2.  t  Vie  de  Coligny;  p.  125. 

J  Vie  ile  Coligny,  p.  12fi.   De  Thou,  liv.  2. 
§  Hist,  du  Cardinal  Grenville,  p.  193. 


answer  for  Metz,  and  that  the  troops  col- 
lected in  Champagne  and  Lorrain  might  be 
disposed  of  in  other  parts.*  Frequent 
sorties  were  made,  and  were  generally 
directed  against  the  quarters  of  the  treach- 
erous Elector  of  Brandenburg:  his  army 
was  by  that  means  almost  destroyed  in 
detail;  had  the  elector  himself  fallen,  it 
would  have  been  a  just  punishment  for  his 
ingratitude  to  a  king,  who  was  involved 
in  the  war  solely  by  serving  him. 

The  examples  of  bravery  were  so  fre- 
quent and  vigorous  on  the  part  of  the  be- 
sieged, that  when  a  general  assault  was 
ordered,  the  army  remained  mute.  The 
emperor  was  indignant,  and  after  losing 
thirty  thousand  men,  he  raised  the  siege 
and  retired  to  Brussels,  overwhelmed  with 
vexation,  and  resolved  to  effect  something 
to  remove  his  disgrace.t  Early  in  1553, 
he  attacked  Therouanne.  Henry  II.  was 
indulging  in  fetes  and  tournaments  when 
the  news  reached  him,  and  Coligny  was 
sent  with  assistance  immediately;  Francis 
de  Montmorency,  the  constable's  son, 
commanded  the  town,  but  was  obliged  to 
propose  a  capitulation.  Charles  seemed 
to  acquiesce,  and  while  the  garrison  were 
waiting  the  result  of  the  terms  they  had 
offered,  the  emperor  ordered  an  assault 
and  the  place  was  taken.  The  garrison 
were  put  to  the  sword,  and  the  town  was 
destroyed.} 

The  emperor  then  attacked  Hesdin  with 
success,  but  failed  in  his  attempt  upon 
Doullens,  where  the  admiral  Coligny  had 
the  command.     The  operations  in  the 
course  of  the  following  year  were  varied. 
The  battle  of  Renti,  fought  on  the  13th  of 
August,  1554,  was  the  only  event  of  con- 
sequence: both  parties  claimed  the  vic- 
,  tory,  but  the  emperor's  object  was  effected, 
j  He  wished  to  raise  the  siege  of  Renti, 
;  |  which  place  the  admiral  had  invested,  and 
the  battle  rendered  that  measure  neces- 
sary.§    Charles  was  nearly  made  prisoner 
i  on  the  occasion,  and  escaped  only  by  the 
•  excellence  of  his  horse.  || 
f     Both  parties  at  last  grew  tired  of  the 
■  war,  yet  neither  would  make, a  proposal 
for  peace,  and  the  war  was  carried  on 
;  until  the  accession  of  Philip  II.  in  February, 


*  [bid,  p.  194.  t  21st  Jan  1553. 

I  Hist,  du  Cardinal  Granvelle,  p.  200.  Mathieu,  Hist, 
des  Ouerres  enlre  les  Maisoiis  de  France  U  d'Espagne, 
p.  18. 

§  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  151.   Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  173, 
fo.  edit. 
||  Brantome,  vol.  iv.  p.  14. 


INCREASE  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


29 


1550.  In  the  interim  Pope  Julius  III.  died, 
on  the  23d  of  March,  1555;  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  but  little  abilities,  or  he  would 
have  contributed  to  disgrace  the  see  of 
Rome.  To  increase  his  superiority  over 
the  cardinals,  he  endeavoured  to  lower 
them  ;  perhaps  from  the  consciousness  of 
his  being  unable  to  elevate  himself:  he  be- 
stowed a  cardinal's  hat  on  a  boy  who  had 
the  care  of  a  monkey,  and  assigned  that 
as  a  reason,  when  the  college  remonstrated 
with  him  about  it.*  Marcellus  II.,  who 
succeeded  him,  survived  only  a  few  days, 
and  the  chair  was  then  filled  by  John 
Peter  Caraffe,  who  took  the  title  of  Paul 
IV.  As  Charles  V.  had  thrown  great  im- 
pediments in  the  way  of  his  election,  he 
was  desirous  of  being  avenged,  and  un- 
dertook to  drive  the  emperor  out  of  Italy. 
He  openly  espoused  the  interest  of  France, 
and  did  everything  to  excite  the  zeal  of 
Henry  Iff  He  promised  him  the  investi- 
ture of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  de- 
clared Charles  to  be  an  enemy  of  the 
church.  A  division  of  the  spoils  of  that 
monarch  was  projected  by  the  pontiff, 
who  distributed  crowns  and  territories  to 
those  who  would  join  his  cause.  But 
whilst  Europe  was  in  suspense  respecting 
the  turn  affairs  might  take,  the  monarch 
himself  retired  to  the  monastery  of  St. 
Just,  in  Estremadura,  abdicating  his  vast 
dominions,  and  resigning  all  his  riches, 
with  the  exception  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns  per  annum:  Charles  V.  died 
the  21st  September,  155&,  aged  fifty-eight 
years. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Increase  of  the  Protestants— Matthew  Orri  appointed 
Inquisitor— Siguier's  Speech  to  the  Council— Attack 
of  the  Populace  on  the  Protestants— Kenewalof  Hos- 
tilities—Inquisition  established. 

A  truce  for  five  years  between  France 
and  Spain  immediately  followed  the  abdi- 
cation of  Charles  V. :  neither  of  the  mo- 
narchs,  however,  intended  to  conclude  a 
peace  by  that  means;  they  only  reposed 
in  order  to  be  better  prepared  for  new 
combats.  Henry  took  the  opportunity  of 
fortifying  himself  in  his  new  acquisitions, 
while  Philip,  who  penetrated  Henry's  de- 
signs, was  equally  anxious  for  a  renewal 


*  Arniand  Saifites,  Portraits  Historiau.cs  des  Papcs. 
(  Mem.  de  TaVannes,  p.  192 


of  the  war;  an  event  which  the  pope  like- 
wise was  eager  to  bring  about.  The 
truce  was  at  length  broken,  but  the  state 
of  the  Protestants  in  France  requires  some 
mention  :  to  that  subject,  therefore,  we  now 
return. 

The  neighbourhood  of  Geneva  had  fa- 
cilitated the  introduction  of  the  reformed 
doctrines  at  Lyons,  and  the  spread  of  Pro- 
testantism was  very  rapid.  Tournon 
hastened  from  Rome  to  purify  his  diocess 
from  heresy :  he  found,  on  reaching  Lyons, 
that  the  Calvinistic  worship  was  regularly 
organized,  and  that  a  synod  was  soon  to 
be  held  in  that  city.  Five  ministers  were 
instantly  arrested  by  his  orders;  they 
were  tried  as  deserters  from  the  faith  of 
their  fathers — as  rebels  to  the  edicts  of 
their  prince ;  and  as  such  were  condemned 
to  be  burned.  This  severe  treatment  of 
the  pastors  struck  terror  into  their  flocks; 
and  the  measures  of  vigilance  adopted  for 
detecting  further  attempts  to  preach  the 
proscribed  tenets,  were  very  successful. 
"  The  archbishop's  cares  were  not  fruit- 
less," observes  his  eulogist ;  "  Lyons  pre- 
served its  faith  in  the  midst  of  contagion, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Babylon."* 

It  has  already  been  mentioned,  that  by 
the  edict  of  Chateaubriant.  the  crime  of 
heresy  was  made  cognizable  by  the  civil 
power.  The  parliament  of  Paris,  not- 
withstanding its  recent  degradation,  by 
the  creation  of  judiciary  charges,  which 
were  sold  to  replenish  the  treasury,  was 
still  a  respectable  body,  and  included 
among  its  numbers  many  men  eminent 
for  their  talents  and  virtue.  Thirty  years 
had  not  slackened  the  fires  of  persecution, 
while  the  priests  were  judges  of  the  here- 
tics; but  no  sooner  was  the  parliament 
entrusted  with  the  charge,  than  the  Pro- 
testants experienced  a  great  improvement 
in  their  condition.  The  inutility  of  the 
executions  became  evident  to  that  body., 
and  the  rigour  of  the  law  was  suspended. 
The  Calviriists  took  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunity to  strengthen  their  cause,  and 
in  1555  a  church  was  erected  for  the  re- 
formed worship.f  The  clergy  were  en- 
raged at  this  indulgence,  but  the  parlia- 
ment remained  firm  ;  the  enemies  of  tole- 
ration, finding  their  influence  was  decay- 
ing with  the  magistracy,  had  recourse  to 
every  machination  they  could  devise,  to. 


*  Fleury,  Wist,  da  Card.  Tournon,  pp.  274— 279. 
t  Beza,  hist.  Eccles.    Gartner,  Hist,  de  tranc;  vol.. 
xiv.  p.  3. 


30 


seguier's  speech  to  the- council. 


excite  the  hatred  of  the  populace,  and  the 
vengeance  of  the  government,  against  the 
followers  of  the  reformed  religion  ;  by  the 
influence  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  they 
obtained  an  edict  which  again  enabled 
them  to  wreak  their  bigotry  upon  the  Pro- 
testants.* 

One  method  of  depriving  the  Oalvinists 
of  an  indulgent  interpretation  of  the  edict 
of  Chateaubriant,  was  the  appointment  of 
an  Inquisitor  of  the  Faith  in  France, 
Matthew  Orri,  a  Dominican  monk,  had 
been  appointed  by  the  pope  to  that  office,  f 
He  was  authorized  to  cite  all  heretics  be- 
fore him,  to  interrogate,  and  condemn 
them ;  in  addition  to  which,  he  possessed 
the  power  of  penetrating  into  the  privacy 
of  families  by  means  of  a  secret  police, 
and  of  exercising  a  surveillance  over  the 
religious  opinions  of  every  one,  by  his  nu- 
merous band  of  spies.  Even  the  bishops 
themselves  were  disgusted  with  such  an 
investiture  of  authority,  and  remonstrated 
against  it ;  the  king's  council,  however, 
approved  of  the  plan,  and  it  was  very 
soon  presented  to  the  parliament  in  the 
form  of  an  edict. 

The  odious  tendency  of  the  proceeding 
excited  the  indignation  of  the  parliament. 
Seguier,  one  of  their  presidents,  was 
charged  to  declare  their  remonstrance,  in 
presence  of  the  council.!  In  his  speech, 
that  orator  traced  out  all  the  dangers  of 
the  proposed  measure;  he  also  dwelt  with 
great  force  upon  the  right  of  appeal,  which 
lie  invoked  for  the  accused.  "  We  abhor," 
continued  he,  "the  establishment  of  a  tri- 
bunal of  blood,  where  secret  accusation 
takes  the  place  of  proof;  where  the  accused 
is  deprived  of  every  natural  means  of  de- 
fence, and  where  no  judiciary  form  is  res- 
pected. .  Begin,  sire,  by  procuring  for  the 
nation  an  edict  which  will  not  cover  the 
kingdom  with  funeral  piles,  which  will  not 
be  wetted  either  with  the  tears  or  the 
blood  of  your  faithful  subjects.  At  a  dis- 
tance, sire,  from  your  presence,  bowed 
down  under  the  pressure  of  rural  labour, 
or  absorbed  in  the  exercise  of  arts  or  of 


*  De  Thou.  liv.  l(i.         t  heza.Hist  Eccles. 

X  Pierre  Seouier,  born  in  1.304,  died  1.580,  was  elevated 
tothe  rank  of  president  d  morlicr,  in  1554.  His  speerbes, 
which  are  remarkable  fur  tlieir  bold  sentiments  have 
been  collected  and  printed,  as  well  as  bis  treatise  De 
Cognititne  Dei.  Tin-  speech  in  question  is  one  of  the 
finest  lie  ever  made,  and  has  been  inserted  at  length  by 
Garnier.  Mai  aire  de  France,  vol.  xiv.  p.  2H.  Fleury  also 
gtvea  a  part  of  it  in  bis  Ecclesiastical  History.  The  ex- 
tract in  the  text  is  but  a  small  portion  of  the  speech, 
Abich  was  delivered  ltilh  OcloLer,  1555. 


trade,  they  are  ignorant  of  what  is  pre- 
paring against  them ;  they  do  not  suspect 
that  at  this  moment  it  is  proposed  to  sepa- 
rate them  from  you,  and  to  deprive  them 
of  their  natural  guardian.  It  is  for  them, 
it  is  in  their  name,  that  the  court  presents 
you  its  humble  remonstrances,  its  ardent 
supplications.  As  for  you,  sirs,"  said  he, 
turning  himself  towards  the  ministers  and 
counsellors  of  state,  "  you,  who  so  tran- 
quilly hear  me,  and  apparently  think  that 
the  affair  does  not  concern  you,  it  is  fit 
that  you  should  be  divested  of  that  idea. 
So  long  as  you  enjoy  favour,  you  wisely 
make  the  most  of  your  time;  benefits  and 
kindnesses  are  showered  on  your  heads: 
everybody  honours  you,  and  it  enters  the 
mind  of  no  one  to  attack  you ;  but  the 
more  you  are  elevated,  the  nearer  you  are 
to  the  thunderbolt;  and  one  must  be  a 
stranger  to  history,  not  to  know  what  is 
often  the  cause  of  a  disgrace.  Even  al- 
though this  misfortune  should  befall  you, 
you  would  retire  at  least  with  a  fortune, 
which  would  in  a  measure  console  you  for 
your  fall,  and  which  you  might  transmit 
to  your  heirs.  But  to  date  from  the  re- 
gistering of  this  edict,  your  condition 
would  cease  to  be  the  same ;  you  will  have, 
as  before,  for  successors,  men  poor  and 
hungry,  who,  not  knowing  how  long  they 
may  remain  in  office,  will  burn  with  a  de- 
sire to  enrich  themselves  at  once,  and  they 
will  find  a  wonderful  facility  in  so  doing: 
for,  certain  of  obtaining  your  confiscation 
of  the  king,  it  will  only  be  necessary  to 
make  sure  of  an  inquisitor  and  two  wit- 
nesses, and  though  you  may  be  saints,  you 
would  be  burned  as  heretics."  This 
speech  made  a  very  deep  impression  on 
the  council,  and  the  king  was  so  much  af- 
fected, that  he  remitted  the  affair  to  ano- 
ther examination. 

Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the 
government,  and  the  appointment  of  an 
inquisitor,  the  doctrines  of  the  Reforma- 
tion made  astonishing  progress.  A  simple 
and  reasonable  form  of  worship,  in  which 
the  preachers  expounded  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures in  their  vernacular  tongue,  and  as- 
sured the  congregation  that  their  worship, 
to  be  accepted,  must  proceed  from  the 
heart;  a  service  stripped  of  a  number' of 
unmeaning  ceremonies,  and  free  from  the 
gaudy  trappings  of  the  Roman  church,  I 
must  necessarily  make  converts  with  all 
I  who  dared  to  think  seriously  upon  the  sub- 


ATTACK  ON  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


31 


ject.  The  papists  denied  to  man  the 
right  of  thinking  for  himself;  they  asserted 
that  the  Scriptures  having  been  examined 
by  the  councils,  their  meaning  was  fixed, 
and  to  investigate  them  was  impious ;  the 
Protestants,  on  the  contrary,  invited  their 
congregations  to  search  the  sacred 
writings;  to  take  nothing  from  their  bare 
assertion,  but  to  try  their  sermons  by  the 
test  of  Scripture ;  an  immense  number  of 
converts  was  the  necessary  consequence 
of  the  difference. 

But  another  motive,  and  a  very  power- 
ful one  too,  contributed  to  increase  the 
number  of  Calvinists.  The  government 
had  declared  in  favour  of  the  Romish 
clergy,  and  had  shown  a  resolution  to 
support  the  Catholic  religion  in  every  pos- 
sible way ;  in  consequence,  every  one  who 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  ministry,  felt  in- 
duced to  join  the  ranks  of  its  declared  ad- 
versaries. While  the  enemies  of  the 
court  were  affected  by  the  disappointment 
of  their  hopes,  and  induced  to  join  the  Cal- 
vinists out  of  spite,  a  very  considerable 
number  of  the  nobility,  who  were  actually 
belonging  to  the  court  of  Henry  II.,  were 
stimulated  by  curiosity  to  attend  the  Pro- 
testant service,  principally  because  it  was 
forbidden.  Many  of  them  were  seriously 
affected  by  what  they  heard,  and  some 
openly  professed  themselves  Protestants. 
In  spite  of  his  severity,  Henry  II.  found 
himself  surrounded  by  Calvinists.* 

In  the  month  of  May,  1557,  a  tumult 
took  place,  which  sufficiently  announced 
the  hostile  disposition  of  the  Catholics. 
Four  hundred  Protestants  were  assembled 
one  evening  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, at  a  house  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques, 
opposite  the  College  Plessis.  The  oppor- 
tunity was  too  good  to  be  lost,  and  their 
enemies  collected  a  mob  around  the  house. 
No  effort  was  made  to  interrupt  the  ser- 
vice, but  when  the  Protestants  wished  to 
quit  the  place,  and  retire  to  their  respec- 
tive homes,  they  were  assailed  with  such 
abuse  and  threats,  that  they  could  plainly 
perceive  their  lives  were  in  danger.  The 
darkness  of  the  night  would  have  enabled 
most  of  them  to  escape  through  the  crowd, 
and  thus  avoid  the  fury  of  their  numerous 
enemies,  had  not  lanterns  been  placed  in 
the  windows  of  tiie  neighbouring  houses. 
Many  were  murdered ;  some  few  who  had 
arms  succeeded   in   cutting  their  way 


through  the  mob ;  but  there  remained 
some  old  people  and  women,  who  would 
certainly  have  been  massacred,  had  not  a 
magistrate  appeared,  accompanied  by 
some  soldiers,  who  took  them  into  cus- 
tody to  the  number  of  two  hundred;  the 
mob  then  dispersed.* 

Proceedings  were  immediately  com- 
menced against  the  prisoners,  among 
whom  were  persons  of  great  family  con- 
nexions. The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  de- 
manded the  condemnation  of  all  of  them ; 
but  the  parliament  was  not  so  blood- 
thirsty, and  after  a  long  process,  and 
great  delay,  five  Protestants  were  con- 
demned to  the  fire.t  Fortunately  for  the 
others,  the  king  required  some  levies  in 
Germany  and  Switzerland ;  the  Elector 
Palatine  solicited  the  enlargement  of  the 
prisoners;  and  as  it  would  have  been  in- 
convenient for  Henry  to  lose  the  friend- 
ship of  that  prince,  he  ordered  them  to  be 
treated  with  moderation,  to  the  infinite 
regret  of  Pope  Paul  IV.,  who  loudly  com- 
plained of  it  in  the  Consistory. f 

Hostilities  had  been  renewed  some 
time :  the  pope  flattered  Henry  with  a 
prospect  of  the  empire,  and  the  possession 
of  Italy.  The  Duke  of  Guise  took  the 
command  in  that  country,  where  he  was 
opposed  to  the  Duke  of  Alva  ;  but  no  ac- 
tion was  fought  in  that  quarter;  and 
though  he  took  Naples,  he  could  not  keep 
it.  On  the  side  of  the  Netherlands,  the 
Admiral  Coligny  made  an  attempt  on 
Douay;  he  ravaged  Artois,  which  be- 
longed to  the  King  of  Spain,  and  pillaged 
the  town  of  Lens.  The  English  taking 
part  with  Spain,  sent  reinforcements  to 
Flanders,  and  the  Spaniards  prepared  to 
take  St.  Quentin,  whither  Coligny  had 
retired.  On  the  1  Oth  of  August,  1557,  the 
Constable  Montmorency,  having  ad- 
vanced to  relieve  the  town,  contrary  to 
the  wish  of  Marshal  St.  Andre,  was  sud- 
denly attacked  by  the  enemy,  who  had 
treble  his  force.  The  event  was  most  dis- 
astrous: John  of  Bourbon,  brother  of  the 
King  of  Navarre,  was  killed;  St.  Andre 
and  Montmorency  were  taken  prisoners, 
all  the  baggage  was  lost,  and  six  hundred 
gentlemen  of  rank  were  left  upon  the  field 


*  Uarnier,  vol.  liv.  p.  33. 


This 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  19.   Pascjuier,  vol.  ii. 
writer,  however,  says  it  occurred  in  August. 

t  Tliey  were  burned  13th  September,  lo57.  Felibicn 
vol.  ii.  p.  106P. 

{  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente,  p.  338.  Soulier,  Hist,  du 
Calviaitme,  p.  15. 


32 


TREATY  OF    CATEAU  CAMBRESIS. 


of  battle.  Coligny,  however,  detained  the 
enemy  seventeen  days  before  the  feeble 
ramparts  of  St.  Quentin,  and  thus  pre- 
vented the  Spaniards  from  taking  the  full 
benefit  of  their  victory.*  The  king  was 
alarmed  at  the  news,  and  despatched  se- 
veral couriers  to  the  Duke  of  Guise,  or- 
dering him  to  come  with  his  army  from 
Italy.  The  duke  resolved  secretly  to 
avenge  the  disgrace  of  St.  Quentin  upon 
Calais,!  which  town  he  took  the  8th  of 
January,  1558,  after  it  had  been  in  posses- 
sion of  the  English  above  two  hundred 
years.  Vielleville  followed  up  this  success 
by  besieging  Thionville,  a  strong  town, 
from  which  the  Spaniards  frequently  dis- 
turbed the  French  territory ;  and  Guise 
arrived  with  his  forces  and  took  the  place.}: 
As  a  contrast  to  his  great  success,  Mar- 
shal Termes  was  defeated  at  Gravelines, 
and  taken  prisoner  by  the  Spaniards, 
when  a  great  many  persons  of  rank  were 
killed.  On  this  occasion,  also,  the  oppor- 
tune arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  pre- 
vented the  victor  from  pursuing  his  ad  van- 
tage. 5 

The  duke's  reputation  acquired  great 
lustre  from  the  success  of  his  operations. 
The  court  were  enraptured  with  him,  and  j 
his  influence  increased  considerably.  The  j 
use  which  was  made  of  it  was  injurious  to 
the  Protestants;  for  the  Cardinal  of  Lor-.j 
rain,  his  brother,  persuaded  the  king  tOj 
establish  the  Inquisition  by  edict.  Three 
inquisitors  general  were  appointed,  viz.,  [ 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  ;  the  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon,  brother  of  the  King  of  Navarre ; ; 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon.    They  had 
power  to  inflict  capital  punishment  on  all 
persons  found  guilty  of  heresy. || 

The  parliament  could  not  well  refuse  to 
register  this  edict,  as  it  proceeded  from 
the  king  himself  in  a  bed  of  justice;  but  i 
they  mitigated  its  severity,  by  allowing  all 
laymen  an  appeal  from  such  a  tribunal,  j 
The  power  of  life  and  death  was  once 
more  snatched  from  the  clergy,  although 
they  had  given  a  million  crowns  at  the 
states-general  to  induce  the  king  to  grant 

their  wishes.    But  on  the  other  hand,  an 

 I 

*  Vie  de  Coligny.  p.  1?0.    Vie  de  Crillon,  vol  i.  p.  1G  ' 
In:  Tliou,  liv.  19.    D  Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  20.  Brantome, 
vol.  v.  p.  101. 

t  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  76.  Mem.  de  Tavannes.  p.  203. 
De  Thou,  liv.  20. 

t  23d  June,  1558  Marshal  Strnzzy  was  killed  at  this 
siege.  Brantome,  vol.  v.  p.  320.  Vielleville,  vol.  iv.  pp. 
30  and  92. 

5  Brantome,  vol.  v.  p.  102.    D'Aubignu,  vol.  i.  p.  26. 
ij  Hist,  du  Coucile  de  Tiente,  p.  3D5. 


edict  was  published,  forbidding  the  judges 
to  commute  the  sentence  of  death  and  con- 
fiscation of  property  for  any  convicted, 
not  only  of  heresy,  but  also  of  having 
brought  into  France  books  printed  at  Ge- 
neva against  the  Catholic  religion.* 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Treaty  of  Cateau  Cambresis— Meetings  at  the  Pre-aux- 
Clercs— Du  linurg  and  live  other  Counsellors  arretted 
—Death  of  Henry  II. 

The  captivity  of  the  constable  had 
thrown  the  direction  of  affairs  into  the 
hands  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  and  the 
Guises  had  availed  themselves  of  the  eclat 
of  the  duke's  victories,  to  promote  the 
marriage  of  the  Dauphin  with  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots,  their  niece;  the  power  and  influ- 
ence of  that  family  was  paramount.  But 
the  king's  esteem  for  Montmorency  re- 
mained undiminished;  so  great  was  Hen- 
ry's attachment  to  him,  and  such  delight 
did  he  take  in  his  conversation,  that  he 
would  often  sleep  with  him.f  His  impri- 
sonment, therefore,  would  be  a  cause  of 
great  regret  to  that  monarch. 

On  the  other  hand,  Philip  was  well  in- 
formed of  Henry's  weakness ;  he  knew 
that  no  event  would  please  him  like  the 
constable's  liberation  ;  and  having  himself 
a  great  desire  for  peace,  he  craftily  allowed 
his  prisoner  to  have  an  interview  with  his 
sovereign.  A  conference  at  Cercamp  fol- 
lowed; plenipotentiaries  met  for  France, 
England,  Spain,  the  Empire,  and  Savoy. 
The  terms  offered  were  too  humiliating 
to  be  accepted,  the  negotiations  were 
broken  off,  and  Montmorency  went  back 
to  his  confinement.  At  length,  after  seve- 
ral ineffectual  attempts  at  a  treaty,  the 
King  of  Spain  consented  to  more  reason- 
able terms;  the  death  of  Mary  Queen  of 
England,  had  removed  a  considerable 
part  of  the  difficulty. 

Peace,  let  the  treaty  which  might  pro- 
duce it  be  ever  so  good,  would  do  away 
with  the  greater  part  of  Guise's  power,  and 
would  therefore  be  opposed  by  him;  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorrain  also  was  too  canning 
to  promote  a  measure  calculated  to  de- 
stroy his  authority.  But  in  vain  did  that 
party  exert  themselves  to  prolong  the  war, 

*  Maimbnurg,  Hist.  du.  Calcinisme  liv.  2 
t  Vie  de  Cohgny,  p.  102. 


MEETINGS  AT  THE  PRE-AUX-CLERCS. 


33 


for  the  resentment  of  the  Duchess  of  Val- 
entinois  counteracted  all  their  plans,  by 
using  her  influence  with  the  king  in  fa- 
vour of  the  constable.  The  cardinal  find- . 
ing  his  family  at  the  highest  pitch  of 
favour,  considered  he  had  no  further  oc- 
casion for  support.  Forgetful  of  his  great 
obligations  to  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois, 
he  began  to  think  it  a  humiliation  to  pay 
her  the  accustomed  deference.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  make  use  of  railleries 
against  her,  which  she  could  not  forgive. 
Her  influence  over  the  king  continued  in 
a  surprising  degree,  and  she  was  deter- 
mined to  show  him  that  she  would  not  be 
insulted  with  impunity,  and  that  she  had 
power  enough  to  shake  his  credit.  She 
resolved  to  get  back  the  constable,  and 
oppose  him  to  the  Guises.  She  was  able 
not  only  to  persuade  the  king  to  make 
peace,  but  even  to  appoint  Montmorency 
himself  as  the  negotiator.*  She  secretly 
informed  him  of  what  she  was  doing  in 
his  behalf;  and  to  unite  his  interests  more 
closely  with  hers,  she  proposed  the  mar- 
riage of  her  neice,  Henrietta  of  Bouillon, 
with  d'Amville,  his  second  son.f 

The  conferences  of  Cercamp  were 
again  resumed,  and  the  treaty  of  Cateau 
Cambresis  was  signed  the  3d  of  April, 
1559.  The  following  articles  were  agreed 
to,  among  others ;  that  Calais,  and  several 
other  towns  in  that  quarter,  should  be 
given  up  to  France ;  that  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  II.,  should  marry  the  King  of 
Spain ;  and  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  should 
have  Piedmont,  and  marry  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Francis  I. 

The  Guises  were  completely  stripped  of 
their  power  by  this  treaty.  The  cardinal 
sought  for  an  occasion  of  making  himself 
necessary  to  his  sovereign :  he  considered 
that  religion  was  the  subject  most  fertile 
in  circumstances,  calculated  for  his  object, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  an  occasion 
presented  itself.  At  this  time  the  most 
frequented  promenade  in  Paris  was  the 
Pre-aux-Clercs,  situated  where  a  part  of 
the  Faubourg  Saint  Germain  is  at  present. 
The  students  of  the  university  were  gene- 
rally in  favour  of  the  reformed  religion, 

*  Vie  de  Crillnn,  vol.  i.  p  30. 

f  Thi;  constable,  Annede  Montmorency,  had  five  sons, 
viz.  L  Francis,  generally  known  as  Marshall  Montmo- 
rency. 2.  Henry  J)uc  d'Amville,  also  a  marshal;  and  as 
his  brother  died  in  1570  without  issue,  he  look  the  title 
of  Montmorency;  he  was  constable  under  Henry  IV. 
3.  Gabriel,  Lord  of  Moritheron.  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Dreux.  4.  Charles,  Lord  of  Mem,  and  subsequently 
d'Amville.  5.  William,  Lord  of  Thore. 


and  not  only  made  a  profession  of  it,  but 
publicly  defended  its  principles.  They 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  at  this 
place  for  several  years,  and  the  monks  of 
the  abbey  St.  Victor  having  refused  to  let 
them  assemble  in  the  Pre-aux-Clercs,  a 
very  serious  affair  sprang  out  of  the  refu- 
sal, at  the  commencement  of  this  reign.* 
So  far  from  confining  their  dispute  to 
wrangling,  or  even  invective,  they  had  se- 
veral recounters  in  which  blood  was  shed. 
The  students,  being  the  more  numerous 
party,  carried  their  point;  the  monks  re- 
signed the  field  to  them,  and  the  Pre-aux- 
Clercs  was  more  than  ever  frequented. 
It  became  at  this  time  the  grand  rendez- 
vous of  all  the  Protestants,  who  would 
sing  Marot's  psalms  during  the  summer 
evenings.f  Such  numbers  giving  confi- 
dence, many  persons  declared  themselves 
Protestants  whyse  rank  had  hitherto  de- 
terred them  from  such  a  step.  Among 
such,  the  most  eminent  was  Anthony  of 
Bourbon,  first  prince  of  the  blood,  and  in 
right  of  his  wife,  King  of  Navarre.  The 
Bourbon  princes  had  been  kept  aloof  from 
court  as  much  as  possible,  during  the  late 
and  the  present  reigns :  the  example  of  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon  had  caused  it  to  be 
thought  dangerous  to  give  them  power :% 
this  circumstance,  added  to  the  hatred 
subsisting  between  them  and  the  Guises, 
explains  why  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  would  join  the  Huguenot 
party.  The  Queen  of  Navarre,  Jane 
d'Albret,  had  early  imbibed  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation  from  her  mother,  Mar- 
garet, sister  of  Francis  I. :  she  had  besides 
received  great  injuries  from  the  most  Ca- 
tholic King,  who  had  seized  upon  part  of 
her  dominions. 

At  length  the  public  attention  was  so 
much  drawn  to  this  assembly,  that  games 
and  dances  were  neglected  for  the  sake 
of  going  there.    Prohibition  only  served 


*  In  1548.  De  Thou,  liv.  5,  p.  337.  Felibien,  Hist,  de 
Paris,  vol.  ii.  p.  1005. 

t  Clement  Marot  had  recently  published  a  translation 
of  the  psalms  in  French  verse;  they  had  been  set  to 
music,  and  were  very  much  admired  by  the  king  and 
court.  But  when  the  Protestants  made  use  of  them  as 
part  of  their  worship,  these  psalms  were  considered  the 
characteristic  of  heresy,  and  were  consequently  forbid- 
den among  the  Catholics. 

J  The  Bourbons  descend  from  Robert,  fifth  son  of 
Louis  IX.,  commonly  called  Saint  Louis.  Charles  of 
Uourbon,  Count  de  Vendome  had  seven  sons,  viz.  1. 
Louis;  2.  Anthony,  King  of  Navarre;  3.  Francis,  Count 
d'Enghien  ;  4.  A  second  Louis;  5.  John,  killed  at  the 
battle  of  St.  Quentin  ;  ti.  Charles,  Archbishop  of  Rouen 
and  Cardinal;  7.  Louis,  Prince  of  Conde;  none  left  any 
issue  except  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde. 


34 


MEETINGS  AT  THE 


PRE-AUX-CLERCS. 


to  excite  a  desire  of  joining  the  Huguenots, 
and  exhortation  upon  its  dangerous  ten- 
dency was  unheeded.  Every  day  pro- 
duced some  new  writing  either  to  defend 
the  reformed  doctrines,  or  to  attack  the 
errors  of  popery.  The  Catholics  pub- 
lished replies;  but  discussion  tended  to  in- 
crease the  mischief  still  more,  for  the  re- 
plies being  serious,-instead  of  persuading, 
produced  only  disgust  and  ennui,  while 
the  satire  awakened  attention,  and  forti- 
fied prejudice. 

The  evil  pervaded  every  condition  ;  the 
court  and  the  army,  the  cities  and  the 
country  places,  and  even  the  tribunals, 
hitherto  inaccessible  to  heresy.  The  Ca- 
tholic clergy  could  be  restrained  no  longer ; 
they  resolved  to  do  something  which 
should  stay  the  moral  pestilence;  and  the 
Cardinal  Bertrand  denounced  the  assem- 
bling at  the  Pre-aux-Clercs,  as  factious 
and  seditious*  The  parliament  could  not 
entertain  a  question  which  would  accuse 
many  of  its  own  members  of  heresy,  and 
Bertrand's  summons  produced  no  effect, 
notwithstanding  the  powerful  appeal  made 
to  their  fanaticism,  by  Bourdin,  the  attor- 
ney-general.f 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  was  indignant 
at  such  a  want  of  bigotry  in  the  parlia- 
ment, and  persuaded  the  king  to  hold  a 
bed  of  justice,  when  he  might  appear  to 
consult  the  counsellors  on  the  measures  to 
be  taken  with  the  heretics ;  but  that  the 
different  persons  should  be  minutely  ob- 
served, and  if  possible  their  secret  senti- 
ments ascertained  :  he  proposed  also  that 
some  measure  should  be  submitted  to 
their  consideration  and  judgment,  which 
might  draw  from  them  avowals,  proving 
their  own  heresy.  Montmorency,  instead 
of  dissuading  the  king  from  such  black 
treachery,  approved  of  the  cardinal's  ad- 
vice in  the  council.  Vielleville  alone 
raised  his  voice  against  it,  as  a  measure 
degrading  the  royal  dignity.  To  induce 
the  king  to  adopt  his  proposal,  the  cardinal 
is  said  to  have  expressed  himself  as  fol- 
lows:— "Sire,  although  it  should  serve 
for  nothing  more  than  to  show  the  King 
of  Spain  that  you  are  firm  in  the  faith, 
and  that  you  will  not  suffer  in  your  king- 
dom any  thing  whatsoever  which  may  dis- 
parage your  excellent  title  of  Most  Chris- 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  20 

t  La  vraye  Hisloire  de  la  fansse  Procedure  contre 
Anne  Dubour;;,  &c.  first  printed  in  1501,  republished  in 
Mem.  de  Condi,  vol.  i. 


tian  King,  still  you  ought  to  proceed 
about  it  boldly  and  with  great  courage; 
you  must  gratify  all  these  grandees  and 
nobles  of  Spain  (who  have  accompanied 
the  Duke  of  Alva  for  the  solemnity  and 
honour  of  their  king's  marriage  with  your 
daughter)  by  ordering  half  a  dozen  coun- 
sellors of  the  parliament  to  be  burned  in 
the  public  place,  as  Lutheran  heretics, 
which  indeed  they  are.  By  so  doing  we 
shall  preserve  the  body  of  the  parliament. 
But  if  you  do  not  take  these  measures  of 
precaution,  the  whole  court  will  be  infected 
and  contaminated  with  it,  even  to  the 
clerks,  attorneys,  and  tipstaves."  As 
Vielleville  was  averse  to  the  Lorrain  party, 
he  may  have  exaggerated  the  cardinal's 
proposition ;  but  he  declares,  that  when  it 
was  his  turn  to  speak  upon  the  subject,  he 
opposed  the  measure  to  the  utmost,  and 
told  the  king  to  his  face,  "  that  he  was 
going  to  take  upon  himself  the  office  of  an 
inquisitor  of  the  faith,  and  that  the  cardi- 
nal's proposal  would  entirely  destroy  the 
joyous  feeling  of  the  public."* 

The  cardinal's  opinion,  however,  pre- 
vailed, and  on  the  15th  of  June,  1559,  the 
king,  accompanied  by  the  constable,  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  the  Cardinals  of  Lorrain 
and  Bourbon,  and  a  crowd  of  the  nobility, 
went  to  the  parliament  unexpectedly,  and 
opened  a  bed  of  justice  without  any  pre- 
paration having  been  made  for  that  so- 
lemnity. The  palace  had  been  given  up 
for  the  fetes  of  the  royal  marriages  about 
to  take  place,  and  the  parliament  was  at 
this  time  sitting  at  the  convent  of  the  Au- 
gustins,  which  on  the  king's  arrival  was 
immediately  surrounded  with  soldiers.t 

The  counsellors  were  then  engaged  in 
framing  certain  regulations  respecting  the 
judgments  to  be  given  against  the  Protest- 
ants. The  king's  arrival  not  only  created 
surprise,  but  even  great  uneasiness  among 
them:  which  perceiving,  the  monarch  en- 
deavoured to  conceal  his  violent  indigna- 
tion, and  tried  to  assuage  their  alarm  by 
mild  and  courteous  observations.  He  de- 
clared himself  free  from  every  kind  of  an- 
gry feeling  against  those  counsellors  who 
had  adopted  the  new  religion,  and  begged 
them  all  to  speak  their  opinions  freely,  and 
to  recommend  what  to  each  seemed  best 
calculated  to  pacify  the  kingdom. 

The  counsellors  readily  fell  into  the 


*  Vielleville,  liv.  7,  c.  24. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  22. 


0 


PU  BOURG  AND  FIVE   OTHER  COUNSELLORS  ARRESTED.  35 


snare.  For  they  were  invited  to  speak 
openly  and  candidly  by  their  sovereign ; 
and  that  sovereign  too  the  son  of  Francis 
I.,  who  considered  the  word  of  a  gentle- 
man the  most  binding  obligation ;  and 
whose  usual  adjuration  was  to  that  effect, 
foi  de  gmtilhomme .' 

Many  of  the  counsellors  urged  the 
cause  of  justice  and  humanity ;  and  while 
they  recommended  a  milder  legislation  for 
the  Protestants,  they  pointed  out  the  clan- 
ger of  continuing  a  useless  rigour  towards 
a  party  now  become  so  numerous.  The 
more  experienced  judges  confined  their 
remarks  to  general  ideas,  but  some  used 
less  caution. — "Let  us  begin,"  said  Louis 
Faur,  "  by  examining  who  is  the  real  au- 
thor of  our  troubles,  for  fear  lest  the  same 
answer  should  be  made  to  us,  which  Eli- 
jah formerly  made  to  Aha!),  'It  is  thou 
that  troublest  Israel!'"  A  look  at  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorrain  directed  the  applica- 
tion of  the  passage  to  him.  Anne  Dubourg 
excited  considerable  surprise  by  the  bold- 
ness of  his  remarks:  he  had  enlarged  upon 
the  cruelty  with  which  the  Protestants 
were  pursued,  and  energetically  observed, 
"  While  men  are  conducted  to  the  stake 
for  the  sole  crime  of  praying  for  their 
prince,  a  shameful  license  encourages  and 
multiplies  blasphemies,  perjuries,  debauch- 
eries, and  adulteries."  The  courtiers  be- 
came uneasy,  for  they  considered  the  re- 
mark was  intended  for  the  king  and  the 
Duchess  of  Valentinois.* 

Among  the  counsellors  who  supported 
the  cause  of  mercy  and  toleration  were 
Seguier,  De  Thou,+  and  Harlay.  The 
president,  Lemaitre,  was  for  continuing 
rigorous  measures,  and  eulogized  in  his 
speech  the  different  monarchs  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  suppres- 
sion of  heresy,  particularly  Philip  the  Fair, 
who  condemned  to  the  fire  six  hundred 
heretics  in  one  day.| 

Henry's  purpose  was  decided  before  he 
went  to  the  parliament;  the  speeches 
which  he  heard  there  were  not  the  cause 
of  the  proceeding  which  followed,  but 
were  a  strong  reason  for  exciting  his  per- 
sonal displeasure  against  several  of.  the 
counsellors.  He  rose  in  a  great  passion, 
and  gave  vent  to  a  torrent  of  reproaches 


*  Pasqnier,  vol.  ii  p.  77.  D'Auuigne,  vol.  i.  p.  84.  De 
Thou,  liv.  21. — La  vraye  Ilisloire.  &c 

t  Christopher  De  Thou,  father  of  the  historian;  he 
was  made  chief  president  in  150-2. 

I  Hist,  dti  Oonciln  de  frenle.  p.  396-7.  D'Aubignc,  el 
supru,  and  La  vrayc  Histuirc,  Sec. 


against  all  those  who  had  called  for  lenient 
measure.  On  leaving  the  place,  he  made 
a  sign  to  the  Count  Montgomery,  captain 
of  his  Scotch  guards ;  a  fierce  look  directed 
toward  Dubourg,  Faur,  and  three  others, 
were  sufficient  instructions  for  him  ;  he  im- 
mediately arrested  them  in  the  midst  of 
the  parliament,  and  conducted  them  to 
prison.* 

The  king  gave  orders  that  their  trials 
should  be  proceeded  with  immediately, 
especially  that  of  Dubourg,  whom  he  was 
desirous  of  seeing  burnt  with  his  own 
eyes.f  The  arrest  of  the  counsellors  was 
followed  by  the  apprehension  of  all  known 
Protestants.  The  prisons  were  filled  with 
persons  accused  of  heresy;  informers  re- 
ceived encouragement  for  denunciations; 
and  the  dread  of  being  enveloped  in  their 
punishment,  prevented  every  one  from 
affording  them  protection  or  concealment. 
The  destruction  of  the  reformed  religion 
was  resolved  upon,  and  when  the  ambas- 
sadors of  several  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany  endeavoured  to  obtain  some  mi- 
tigation of  the  severity  with  which  they 
were  treated,  the  king  refused  to  attend 
to  their  observations.^  Every  hope  was 
destroyed  for  the  Huguenots,  not  one  of 
whom  was  to  be  left  in  France,  when,  un- 
expectedly, an  event  occurred  which  com- 
pletely changed  the  face  of  affairs,  and  re- 
moved their  persecutor  from  this  world, 
by  the  hands  of  the  same  man,  whom  he 
had  just  employed  in  violating  the  law  of 
the  land,  and  that  too  in  the  very  sanctu- 
ary of  justice. 

In  order  to  add  splendour  to  his  daugh- 
ter's marriage,  a  tournament  was  held  in 
the  Faubdiyg  St.  Antoine,  the  29th  of 
June,  1559;  fourteen  days  after  the  king's 
visit  to  the  parliament.  A  vast  concourse 
of  people  assembled  to  behold  the  chief 
nobility  display  their  prowess.  The  four 
champions  were  the  king,  the  Prince  of 
Ferrara,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  the  Duke 
of  Nemours.^  Among  such  true-bred 
courtiers,  the  king  of  course  would  be  the 
conqueror;  and  he  was  so  delighted  with 
his  achievements,  that  he  called  upon 
Montgomery  to  appear  in  the  lists,  and 
take  one  of  a  pair  of  lances,  which  had 
not  yet  been  broken.    The  count  made 

*  Pasquier,  D'Aubigng,  Fdibien,  vol.  ii.  p.  1006,  and 
Hist,  dii  Calvinisme,  liv.  2. 

t  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trentc,  p.  400.  Vielleville,  vol. 
iv.  158. 

}  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente,  p.  397. 
§  See  ISraiitomc,  Pasquier,  and  Tavannes,  p.  217. 


36 


RE-ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  GUISES. 


every  excuse,  and  the  queen  did  all  in  her 
power  to  dissuade  her  husband  from  re- 
newing the  combats ;  it  would  seem  that 
she  had  anticipated  some  accident.*  The 
king  persisted,  and  the  champions  rushed 
on  each  other.  In  the  rencounter,  a  splinter 
from  Montgomery's  lance  struck  the  king 
in  his  left  eye,  at  the  instant  when  the 
sudden  shock  had  moved  his  visor :  Henry 
fell  immediately,  and  was  carried  to  the 
palace  of  Tournelles,  where  he  expired 
eleven  days  alter,  the  10th  of  July,  1559, 
in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age.  The 
character  he  has  left  behind  him  has  es- 
caped a  considerable  part  of  the  obloquy 
which  it  deserves,  on  account  of  his  de- 
fects being  carried  to  such  excess  by  his 
sons,  Charles  and  Henry.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  borne  in  mind,  that  it  was  his 
fixed  intention  to  destroy  all  the  Protest- 
ants,! and  that  his  sudden  death  alone  has 
preserved  him  from  the  execration  which 
clings  to  the  name  of  Charles  IX.  Weak- 
ness and  deceit  were  as  predominant  in 
him  as  in  his  son  Henry  III.,  but  in  conse 


Francis  Hercules,  Duke  of  Alengon;  the 
eldest,  barely  sixteen  years  of  age,  suc- 
ceeded him  as  Francis  II. 

The  young  king,  of  a  mild  temper  and 
a  feeble  mind,  gave  himself  up  entirely  to 
his  wife,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  a  niece  of 
the  princes  of  Lorrain;  which  was  suffi- 
cient to  restore  the  Guises  to  power,  in- 
dependent of  the  hatred  which  the  queen 
mother  had  conceived  for  Montmorency, 
on  account  of  the  alliance  between  his 
family  and  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois. 
Francis  himself  had  also  taken  a  great 
dislike  to  the  constable,  for  having  pre- 
vented his  joining  the  army  two  years 
before.*  To  win  the  queen  mother  en- 
tirely to  their  party,  the  Guises  joined  in 
her  views  of  vengeance  against  those  who 
had  displeased  her;  particularly  the  late 
king's  mistress,  who  was  immediately 
exiled  from  the  court. t 

The  Bourbon  princes,  whom  the  Guises 
considered  their  natural  rivals,  were  re- 
moved more  than  ever  from  any  influence. 
During  the  interval  which  elapsed  be- 


quence  of  some  favourable  circumstances,!  tween  tne  unfortunate  tournament  and 
he  was  less  embarrassed ;  an  estimate  ofi  the  king's  death,  Montmorency  had  ex- 
his  government  may  be  properly  made.jerted  himself  to  induce  the  princes  of  the 
by  comparing  the  flourishing  state  of  the j  blood  to  join  him  in  keeping  the  Guises 
treasury  at  the  death  of  Francis  I.  with  [from  the  supreme  authority.  The  King 
its  miserable  condition  at  the  accession  of  of  Navarre  was  not  sufficiently  alert;  the 
Francis  II.  Guises  were  powerful  and  on  the  spot; 

the  princes  of  the  blood  were  sent  on 
some  errand  into  Spain;  and  the  constable 
was  recommended,  by  the  king  himself, 
to  take  the  benefit  of  the  air  at  his  country 
seat. 

Montmorency's  vexation  was  soothed 
by  the  hope  that  his  cause  would  be 
avenged-  by  his  nephews  the  Chatillons, 
The  death  of  Henry  II.  caused  a  com-  better  known  by  their  seignorial  appella- 
plete  revolution  in  the  court,  by  changing  tions  of  Goligny  and  Andelot.j  Their 
the  relative  power  of  the  different  factions; ,  importance  was  considerably  increased 
the  nation  at  large,  too,  was  considerably  |  by  their  becoming  leaders  of  the  Protest- 
affected  by  the  circumstance,  as  the  civil  ant  party;  and  at  this  time,  they  indulged 
wars  which  afterwards  desolated  France,  |  the  idea  of  persuading  their  aged  uncle  to 
although  not  entirely  caused  by  the  mea-  Join  that  interest.    They  were  indebted 

to  him  for  their  advancement,  and  he 
could  plainly  see  that  they  would  become 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Accession  of  Francis   II.— Re-establishment   of  Hie 
Guises— Execution  of  Anne  Dubourg  for  heresy. 


sures  which  followed,  were  certainly 
hastened  and  heightened  by  them.  Henry 
left  four  sons,  viz.  Francis,  Charles  and 
Henry,  who  reigned  in  succession;  and 

*  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  46.  This  writer  also  men- 
tions that  a  short  lime  previous.  Henry  had  had  his  na- 
tivity cast,  and  the  astrologer  told  him  he  would  die  in 
a  duel  or  single  combat.  The  constable,  who  was  pre- 
sent, ridiculed  the  idea;  hut  the  king  observed,  that  those 
people  sometimes  spoke  the  truth;  and  that  for  his  part 
he  should  prefer  dying  by  the  hand  of  some  brave  man. 
p.  58.    (Vie  de  Henri  II.) 

t  Apologie  de  Louis  XIV.  par  l'Abbe  Caveyrac,  p.  33. 


*  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  409.    (Vie  de  Charles  IX.) 
t  Davila.  liv.  I. 

J  The  Marshal  de  Chatillon  married  Louisa  de  Mont- 
morency, the  constable's  sister :  he  had  three  sons.  viz. 

1.  Odet,  Cardinal  of  Chatillon  and  Bishop  of  Beauvais; 

2.  Gaspard  Chatillon  de  t.'oligny,  Admiral  of  France : 
and  3  Francis  Chatillon  d'Andciot,  colonel  general"  of 
the  French  infantry.  The  family  of  Chatillon  had  an- 
ciently exercised  sovereign  authority  over  Nantua  and 
Monlouet,  two  small  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Geneva. 


RE-ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  GUISES. 


37 


formidable  to  the  Guises.  Montmorency, | testant  he  continued  the  same  acts, 
however,  was  too  determined  a  hater  of,  changing  only  tlie  priests  for  Protestant 


the  Huguenots,  Jo  think  of'  supporting 
their  cause. 

Andelot  was  a  warm,  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirer of  the  Reformation;  he  scorned  to 
conceal  his  sentiments,  and  his  conversa- 
tion was  noticed  by  all  the  court.  Shortly 
after  his  taking  of  Calais,  Hency  II., 
hearing  that  he  had  made  some  very 
heretical  assertions,  sent  for  him  to  his 
chamber,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorrain,  and  interrogated  him  upon  his 
opinions.    Andelot,  without  being  in  the 


ministers.*  When  his  brother  was  in 
prison,  he  blamed  him  for  his  conduct, 
showed  him  that  to  irritate  vthe  monarch 
was  not  the  best  method  of  serving  his 
cause.  With  great  difficulty,  Coligny  at 
length  obtained  from  his  brother  a  decla- 
ration of  regret  for  having  expressed  him- 
self in  such  a  manner,  and  by  the  influence 
of  the  constable  he  was  set  at  liberty.  So 
anxious  were  the  Guises  to  ruin  Mont- 
morency, that  they  set  spies  upon  his 
conduct,  while  his  nephew  was  in  con- 


least  disconcerted,  answered  the  king  with  finement,  in  hopes  of  being  able  to  accuse 


great  firmness,  notwithstanding  he  had 
been  cautioned  .to  use  prudence  in  his 
answer,  "Sire,  in  matters  of  religion,  I 
can  use  no  disguise,  nor  can  I  deceive 
God.  Dispose,  as  you  please,  of  my  life, 
my  property  and  my  appointments;  but 
my  sonl,  independent  of  every  other 
sovereign,  is  submitted  solely  to  the 
Creator,  from  whom  I  have  received  it, 
and  whom  alone  I  believe  it  my  duty  to 
obey  under  present  circumstances,  as  my 
Almighty  master;  in  a  word,  I  would 
rather  die  than  go  to  mass."  The  king's 
anger  was  so  excited,  that  he  was  about 
to  stab  the  intrepid  man,  but  he  contented 
himself  with  sending  him  to  prison  at 
Melun,  and  depriving  him  of  his  office  of 
colonel-general."  Pope  Paul  IV.  impe- 
riously demanded  that  Andelot  should  be 
burned  for  heresy,  but  that  was  not  an 
easy  matter  to  effect;  for  the  constable, 
his  uncle,  had  great  influence  at  the  time; 


him  of  openly  favouring  the  Protestants.t 
But  both  the  Chatillons,  had  become 
anxious  for  an  opportunity  of  publicly 
declaring  their  sentiments;  and  the  stale 
of  affairs,  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
reign,  soon  supplied  them  with  occasions. 
The  violent  persecution  which  had  sig- 
nalized the  laft  days  of  Henry's  reign, 
had  created  a  spirit  of  resistance;  from 
existing  by  stealth  and  concealment,  the 
Huguenots'  were  driven  to  defend  them- 
selves: and  they  became  an  important 
party  in  the  kingdom.  Coligny  and  his 
brother  publicly  joined  the  Protestants, 
and  induced  many  persons  of  distinction 
to  do  the  same;  among  others  the  Count 
de  la  Rochefoucanlt,  and  Francis  de  Ven- 
dome,  VidaHne  of  Chartres.J  The  queen 
mother  also  felt  the  tyranny  of  the  Guises 
to  such  a  degree,  that  the  Protestants 
entertained  great  hopes  of  her  joining 
their  party,  as  the  only  means  of  coun- 


and  the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon,  his  brother,  ■  teracting  their  power, 
was  one  of  the  inquisitors-general,  and  of  j    In  the  mean  time  Montmorency's  plan, 


course  would  refuse  to  sacrifice  so  dear  a 
relative. 

Coligny  was  remarkable  for  his  caution 
in  taking  a  step;  but  having  once  decided, 
he  was  inflexible;  no  one  possessed 
greater  intrepidity,  or  more  perseverance; 
instead  of  overcoming  him,  difficulties 
served  only  to  excite  his  ardour.  It  was 
his  brother  Andelot  who  first  gave  him  a 
taste  for  the  new  opinions,  but  he  was 
too  wary  to  make  public  profession  of 
them  at  once.  He  had  been  noticed  for 
his  very  religious  conduct  when  a  Catho 


although  it  failed  at  first,  was  not  altoge- 
ther without  effect;  the  King  of  Navarre 
became  the  centre  of  a  party,  composed 
of  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and  the  heads 
of  the  principal  families,  who  held  an 
assembly  at  Vendome.  The  constable 
was  not  there,  buf  sent  his  secretary. 
Whatever  difference  there  might  be  anions 

11''  0 

them,  was  all  merged  in  the  grand  ques- 
tion of  hatred  to  the  Guises.  But  no 
entreaties  of  Coligny,  backed  by  the  de- 
sire of  vengeance,  could  induce  the 'con- 
stable to  join  the  Protestants:  to  change 


lie;  lie  had  maintained  several  priests  at  I  his  religion,  at  the  end  of  a  long  orthodox 
Chatillon,  and  established  schools  for  the  life,  alarmed  his  conscience;  and  to  him 
instruction  of  youth;  on  becoming  a  Pro 


*  Iirnntome,  Le  Lalioureur,  Commentaircs  de  Mont* 
luc,  and  Vie  de  Coligny. 

4 


*  Vie  de  Coligny.  p.  74.  1  Ibid.  p.  192. 

I  A  viilame  was  a  person  who  held  lands  under  a 
bisnop.bn  condition  of  defending  the  temporal  interests 
of  the  see. 


3S 


EXECUTION  OF  ANNE  DUBOURG. 


it  appeared  impossible  for  an  honourable 
man  to  he  of  a  religion  tl  i  lie  re  n  t  from  that 
of  the  king.  The  general  measure,  how- 
ever, was  discussed  by  the  assembly.  It 
resolved  itself  into  two  questions;  whe- 
ther the  authority  ought  to  be  removed 
from  the  Guises?  and  what  means  should 
be  employed  to  bring  it  about?  The  first 
question  was  decided  without  a  dissen- 
■  tient  voice;  but  as  to  the  means  of  suc- 
cessfully acting  upon  that  decision  the 
meeting  was  divided;  some  being  for 
negotiation,  others  for  violence.  The 
milder  counsel  prevailed,  and  the  King 
of  Navarre  was  sent  to  court  to  try  to 
obtain  the  interest  of  the  queen  mother.* 

The  Guises  were  informed  of  what 
was  passing,  and  when  Navarre  went  to 
court,  they  left  nothing  undone  to  worry 
and  vex  him.  His  arrival  was  announced, 
but  the  king  had  been  persuaded  to  hunt 
in  an  opposite  direction. t  The  apart- 
ments prepared  for  him  were  very  unsuit- 
able to  his  rank;  and  whenever  the  Duke 
of  Guise  came  in  contact  with  him,  he 
•was  assailed  with  hectoring  language,  and 
insolent  remarks.  At  last  he  obtained  an 
audience  of  Francis,  but  it  was  in  the 
presence  of  the  two  Lorrain  princes:  and 
when  he  exposed  the  complaints  of  the 
nobility  against  them,  Francis  dismissed 
him,  observing  that  he  was  very  well 
satisfied  with  theirservic.es. 

Having  failed  in  his  errand  to  the  king, 
he  tried  how  far  the  queen  mother  would 
befriend  him;  he  had  several  conferences 
■with  her,  which  ended  by  her  declaring 
herself  in  his  favour,  but  she  informed 
him  at  the  same  time,  that  she  could  do 
nothing  for  him.  The  populace  in  general 
were  so  attached  to  the  Guises,  that  his 
appeal  to  them  met  with  no  better  suc- 
cess; his  commission  disgusted  him,  and 
he  resolved  to  rid  himself  of  it.i 

After  having  conducted  the  Princess 
Elizabeth  to  Philip  II.,  her  husband,  he 
retired  to  his  principality  of  Beam,  de- 
termined to  have  nothing  more  to  do 
with  affairs.  He  had  consented  to  go 
to  Spain,  conceiving  that  he  might  make 
some  arrangement  respecting  his  domi- 
nions, which  that  monarch  had  seized; 
but  Guise's  cause  and  Philip's  were 
identified,  as  the  whole  of  the  king's 


*  Davila,  liv.  1.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  87. 
\       tDe  Thou.  Iiv.  23. 

t  Davila,  Iiv.  1.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  87. 


reign  testifies;  and  the  same  disappoint- 
ment awaited  him  in  that  quarter.  The 
conferences  of  Vendome  therefore  pro- 
duced no  other  effect  than  to  expose  the 
wishes  of  the  party,  and  indeed  the  per- 
sons composing  it. 

It  was  now  five  months  since  Anne 
Dubourg  had  been  in  prison  for  heresy: 
a  few  days  after  the  late  king's  death,  he 
had  been  declared  a  heretic,  and  was 
ordered  to  be  given  up  to  the  secular 
power  for  punishment;  but  he  made 
appeals  at  every  stage  of  the  proceedings, 
and  a  long  delay  was  the  consequence. 
The  other  counsellors  were  liberated,  but 
he  was  condemned  to  be  hanged,  and  his 
body  to  be  burned.*  Minard  presided  at 
his  trial;  he  displayed  such  partiality, 
and  evinced  such  personal  hatred  to  the 
accused,  that  Dubourg  could  not  resist 
the  impulse  of  his  feelings,  and  upbraided 
the  judge  with  his  conduct;  he  concluded 
by  telling  him  that  he  would  soon  have 
to  appear  at  a  more  awful  bar,  when  he 
would  wish  to  be  as  innocent  as  he  then 
vvas.t  This  prediction  was  soon  verified, 
for  on  the  12th  of  December  the  presi- 
dent Minard  was  shot  as  he  was  returning 
to  his  house  in  the  evening.  The  indivi- 
dual who  murdered  him  was  supposed  to 
be  Robert  Stuart,  a  person  of  very  good 
family  in  Scotland,  and  distantly  related 
to  the  queen;  a  man  of  daring  and  in- 
triguing disposition.;!;  He  endured  the 
torture  without  giving  the  least  informa- 
tion,  and  the  Guises  persuaded  the  queen 
to  disown  him  for  her  relation.  Dubourg 
was  executed  on  the  23d;  his  firmness 
on  going  to  the  fatal  spot  excited  much 
sympathy  among  the  spectators:  but 
measures  were  taken  to  prevent  his  ad- 
dressing them;  for  the  executioner  had 
orders  to  gag  him  if  he  attempted  to 
speak.  At  the  foot  of  the  gibbit,  he  re- 
fused to  kiss  a  crucifix  which  was  offered 
him,  and  was  immediately  pulled  up  and 
strangled,  while  the  mob  uttered  shouts 
of  Jesu  Maria.§ 

A  violent  persecution  of  the  Protestants 
then  took  place:  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain 
established  a  commission  for  judging  and 
condemning  heretics.||     The  judges  of 

*  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  i.  p.  300.  Edit.  4to.  Paris,  1743- 
t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  197. 

J  The  same  person  who  killed  the  Constable  de  Mont- 
morency, at  the  battle  of  St.  Denis. 

§  There  is  a  proccs  verbal  of  the  execution  in  Mem.  de 
Conde.  vol.  i.  300. 

H  Mem.  de  Cavannes,  p.  220. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  AMBOISE. 


39 


this  bloody  tribunal  completely  answered 
the  cardinal's  wishes;  they  even  excited 
his  surprise,  by  the  extent  of  their  opera- 
tions and  alacrity  in  convicting'  and  exe- 
cuting heretics.  A  legion  of  spies,  under 
the  direction  of  the  inquisitor  Mouchares, 
were  dispersed  through  Paris,  and  added 
daily  to  the  number  of  victims.*  The 
cardinal's  object  was  to  encourage  the 
populace  in  their  fanaticism.  The  Ca- 
tholics were  permitted  to  assemble  in  the 
streets,  and  sing  hymns  before  little 
images  of  the  Virgin.  Persons  passing 
by  were  invited  to  join  their  devotions; 
if  they  refused  to  do  so,  they  were  ill- 
treated,  and  whatever  complaints  might 
be  made,  the  excesses  remained  un- 
punished, f 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  gave  full 
scope  to  his  passions:  his  haughty  be- 
haviour excited  the  discontent  of  many  of 
the  nobility,  and  his  cruel  persecuting 
spirit  kindled  a  general  feeling  of  horror. 
Francis  was  king  in  name  only,  for  the 
cardinal  and  his  brother  possessed  all  the 
authority;  and  instead  of  using  their 
power  in  any  manner  beneficial  to  the 
country,  they  seemed  to  study  the  rea- 
diest methods  of  debasing  it.  When 
tyranny  suffers  crime  to  go  unpunished, 
and  makes  no  attempt  to  prevent  its  re- 
currence, it  almost  invariably  drives  the 
people  into  a  conspiracy,  which  gives 
them  a  hope  of  overturning  what  would 
otherwise  overwhelm  them.  The  French 
Protestants  were  at  this  time  reduced  to 
that  extremity. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Conspiracy  of  Amboise. 


It  may  be  owing  to  the  mild  character 
of  the  King  of  Navarre  that  the  con- 
ferences at  Vendome  produced  no  effect: 
he  felt  an  aversion  to  creating  a  civil  war, 
and  was  besides  of  so  undecided  a  cha- 
racter, that  by  a  hope  of  regaining  his 
wife's  estates  he  could  at  any  time  be 
diverted  from  his  main  object.  His  bro- 
ther, the  Prince  of  Conde,  was  a  different 
kind  of  man;  ambitious,  restless,  and  en- 


*  This  is  the  origin  of  the  term  Mouchard,  a  spy  of  the 
police. 

t  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente,  p.  401.  De  Tliuu,  liv.  23. 


terprising;  detesting  the  Guises,  and 
being  allied  to  Montmorency  and  the 
Chatillons,  he  assumed  an  important  rank 
in  the  discontented  party,  which  .was 
now  swelled  by  all  the  Protestants,  and 
such  Catholics  as  joined  in  the  hatred  of 
the  Lorrain  princes. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1559,  several 
conferences  had  again  been  holden  at 
Vendome  and  Lalerte:  when,  finding 
their  party  included  six  hundred  gentle- 
men of  family,  a  resolution  was  adopted 
to  have  recourse  to  arms,  to  take  the 
king  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Guises,  and 
bring  these  latter  to  an  account  for  their 
conduct.  The  Prince  of  Conde,  in  join- 
ing this  association,  is  said  to  have  made 
a  restriction  to  his  engagement;  that  no- 
thing should  be  undertaken  agains  the 
king,  the  princes,  his  brother,  or  the 
state.* 

In  this  affair,  which  arose  as  much 
from  political  discontent  as  from  religious 
persecution,  and  which  is  named  the  con- 
spiracy of  Amboise,  the  principal  agent 
was  John  de  Bari,  Lord  of  La  Renaudie, 
a  gentleman  of  Perigord,  who  combined 
every  quality  requisite  for  directing  such 
a  movement.  Having  committed  a  for- 
gery, he  had  been  assisted  by  the  kind- 
ness of  Guise  himself  in  making  his 
escape  from  the  prison  of  Dijon,f  and  had 
subsequently  led  a  life  of  concealment, 
of  banishment.  It  was  desirable  that  the 
head  of  the  conspiracy  should  not  be  too 
distinguished  a  person,  in  order  to  avoid 
suspicion;  it  was  at  the  same  time  neces- 
sary that  he  should  be  a  Huguenot,  in 
order  to  have  the  full  co-operation  of  the 
Protestants.  La  Renaudie  was,  therefore, 
extremely  well  suited  for  the  occasion: 
during  his  residence  at  Geneva  he  had  be- 
come acquainted  with  all  the  French  in 
that  town  who  had  been  expatriated  for 
their  religion;  he  was  active,  intelligent 
and  persevering,  and  had  several  times 
shown  himself  brave  even  to  rashness.! 

The  pjan  of  operation  being  decided 
on,  he  announced  to  all  his  friends  that 
the  Prince. of  Conde  would  put  himself 
at  their  head  whenever  their  force  was 
sufficient  to  warrant  his  so  doing;  at  the 
same  time  he  invited  them  all  to  meet 
him  at  Nantes,  on  the  1st  of  January, 


*  L'Hisloire  du  Tinniille  d' Amboise,  reprinted  in  the 
first  volume  of  Mum.  de  Conde,  pp.  320  ct  seq 
t  lirantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  a->.         J  Uavila,  liv.  I. 


40 


CONSPIRACY  OF  AMBOISE. 


1500,  availing  himself  of  the  concourse  of 
people  which  some  fetes  about  to  be  given 
would  collect,  as  a  blind  for  the  sudden 
arrival  of  so  many  persons  from  different 
parts. 

The  gentlemen  were  punctual  to  the 
rendezvous;  and  though  a  considerable 
number  of  them  were  not  informed  of  the 
full  purpose  of  their  meeting,  they  express- 
ed neither  surprise  nor  backwardness: 
they  agreed  without  hesitation  to  attack, 
in  a  time  of  peace  and  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  king,  the  ministers  invested  with 
his  authority.  The  tyranny  of  the  Guises 
had  excited  such  a  feeling,  that  nothing 
could  chill  their  ardour.  La  Renaudie 
addressed  the  meeting  at  length.  After 
displaying  the  injuries  which  the  ministry 
of  the  Lorrain  princes  had  brought  upon 
the  country,  he  gave  them  to  understand 
that  they  only  waited  for  the  death  of 
Francis  II.  to  establish  their  family  upon 
the  throne.  "  For  my  part,"  added  the 
speaker  vehemently,  "  I  swear,  I  protest, 
I  take  God  to  witness,  that  I  will  never 
think  or  do,  or  say  any  thing  against  the 
king,  against  the  queen  his  mother,  against 
the  princes  his  brothers,  against  any  of 
his  blood ;  but  that  I  will  defend  to  my 
latest  breath  the  majesty  of  the  throne, 
the  authority  of  the  laws,  and  the  liberty 
of  the  country,  against  the  tyranny  of 
foreigners."*  We  swear  it !  exclaimed 
every  one  present.  They  signed  the 
oath,  shook  hands  in  token  of  union,  em- 
braced each  other  weeping,  and  loaded 
with  imprecations  any  who  should  be 
perfidious  enough  to  betray  their  associ- 
ates. Before  they  separated,  they  fixed 
the  place  and  time  for  carrying  their  plot 
into  execution:  it  was  to  be  on  the  15th 
of  March,  at  Blois.f 

Brantome,  who  was  personally  attached 
to  the  Guises,  and  was  constantly  about 
them,  declares  that  Coligny  had  no  part 
in  this  conspiracy  :|  those  concerned  in  it 
considering  that  he  would  not  join  in  a  mea 
sure  personally  against  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
who  was  not  at  that  time  his  declared 
enemy.  But  he  heard  that  the  plot  was 
in  agitation,  by  letters  from  the  Prince  of 
Conde  and  Andelot,  and  they  all  three 
resolved  to  take  the  field  immediately  La 
Renaudie  should  have  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  Blois,  when  they  would  arrest  the 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  24.  t  Davila,  liv.  1. 

%  iSraiuome,  vol.  viii.  p.  168. 


Guises  in  the  king's  name,  and  call  the 
states-general.* 

Every 'thing  happened  at  the  outset  en- 
tirely to  their  wishes,  and  they  grew  more 
sanguine  and  less  reserved,  or  perhaps 
some  member  was  either  treacherous  or 
indiscreet;  but  by  some  means  the  Guises 
had  scent  of  the  plot,  and  removed  the 
king  from  Blois  to  Amboise,  a  town  with 
a  strong  castle  and  garrison ;  there,  con- 
sidering themselves  sufficiently  safe  from 
any  sudden  attack,  they  again  became 
supine,  and  were  on  the  eve  of  being  sur- 
prised, when  the  too  great  confidence  of 
the  chief  conspirator  caused  the  entire 
failure  of  the  plot.f  La  Renaudie  lodged  at 
Paris,  at  the  house  of  a  friend  named  Ava- 
nelles,  a  lawyer,  who  observing  the  num- 
ber of  persons  constantly  calling  at  this 
house,  conceived  some  suspicions  ;  and 
mentioning  them  to  La  Renaudie,  he 
frankly  acknowledged  the  existence  of  the 
conspiracy.  Avanelles  heard  him  atten- 
tively, and  showed  great  good-will  for 
the  success  of  the  enterprise:  but  turning 
over  in  his  mind  the  importance  of  the 
affair,  and  foreseeing  its  difficulties  and 
dangers,  he  was  seized  with  fear,  and  de- 
cided upon  revealing  the  whole  to  the 
Duke  of  Guise's  secretary,  then  at  Paris.t 
The  secretary  sent  Avenelles  to  Amboise 
without  delay,  where  he  was  interrogated: 
the  Guises  were  thus  informed  of  their 
danger.  Hitherto  they  had  fancied  the 
conspiracy  was  confined  to  a  few  indivi- 
duals, but  the  confession  of  Avanelles 
gave  them  warning  to  prepare  against  a 
formidable  and  an  organized  party. 

They  were,  however,  as  yet,  only  in 
possession  of  the  extent  of  the  plot,  and 
the  name's  of  some  of  the  conspirators,  for 
Avanelles  knew  no  more ;  they  were  thus 
obliged  to  make  exertions  for  discovering 
further  particulars.  Robert  Stuart,  who 
was  suspected  of  having  killed  the  presi- 
dent Minard,  and  who  was  at  this  time  in  a 
dungeon  at  Vincennes,  was  sent  for,  with 
several  others,  to  be  examined,  on  the 
supposition  that  they  must  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  plot.§    The  majority  of 


*  Vie  do  Coligny,  p  207.    Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  222- 
t  Davila,  liv.  1.    Pasquier,  vol.  i.  p.  860,  and  vol.ii. 
p.  79. 

I  It  is  stated  in  rfflstqire  du  Tumuhe  d'Jlmboisc,  that 
Avenelles  belonged  to  the  conspiracy,  and  was  induced 
to  betray  his  friends  by  the  hope  of  making  a  fortune  ; 
but  as  that  account  was  drawn  up  under  feelings  of 
irritation,  I  have  preferred  the  statement  of  the  princi- 
pal French  historians. 

§  The  king  wrote  a  letter  to  Montmorency,  desiring 


CONSPIRACY  OF  AMBOISE. 


41 


the  council  considered  the  Chatillons  as 
more  likely  to  know  the  state  of  the  case, 
and  the  queen  mother  sent  for  them, 
under  pretence  of  consulting  on  the  plan 
which  ought  to  be  adopted  under  such 
circumstances.  Coligny  and  Andelot 
came  very  readily,  and  on  being  intro- 
duced to  the  queen  mother's  chamber,  the 
admiral  spoke  warmly  against  the  bad 
administration  of  affairs;  he  pleaded  the 
cause  of  the  Protestants,  and  recommend- 
ed that  the  penal  statutes  against  them 
should  be  suspended.  The  chancellor 
Olivier  and  the  more  moderate  of  the 
council  adopted  his  opinion,  and  an  edict 
was  drawn  up  in  favour  of  the  Calvinists.* 

But  the  remedy  came  too  late  to  be  of 
use;  the  declaration  was  not  published 
before  the  12th  of  March,  and  the  day 
fixed  for  the  enterprise  was  the  16th;  it 
had  been  changed  from  the  15th  when  the 
court  removed  from  Blois  to  Amboise. 
The  Prince  of  Conde  not  despairing  of  the 
case,  came  to  Amboise  with  some  resolute 
men,  who  were  to  be  concealed  in  the 
castle,  as  well  as  in  the  town,  and  ready 
to  second  La  Renaudie's  attack  from 
without.  Neither  the  nearness  of  the 
danger  nor  its  magnitude  were  able  to 
disconcert  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  gave 
orders  well  calculated  for  the  circum- 
stances. He  sent  instructions  to  the 
governors  of  the  provinces  to  arrest 
all  persons  taking  the  road  to  Amboise ; 
he  collected  troops  and  called  upon  all  the 
neighbouring  nobility  to  attend  the  king. 
Such  officers  as  hecould  not  depend  upon, 
were  sent  upon  distant  commissions;  still, 
in  spite  of  these  precautions,  the  conspi- 
racy would  have  succeeded,  had  not  some 
one  given  Guise  the  plan  of  operations ; 
he  required  no  more,  and  prepared  every 
thing  accordingly. 

On  the  16th  of  March  the  troops  of  the 
conspirators  appeared,  and,  as  far  as  they 
could,  they  followed  the  plan  agreed  upon 
at  Nantes.  It  was  there  arranged  that  a 
a  troop  of  Calvinists,  unarmed,  should 
enter  the  town  on  pretence  of  petitioning 
the  king:  if  they  were  admitted  they 
would  soon  be  able  to  get  possession  of 


linn  to  proceed  immediately  to  Amboise,  with  his  son 
the  Marshal,  and  to  take  with  tliein  those  persons  »  ho 
know  something  of  the  plot  :  one  of  them  was  Robert 
Stuart.  -The  letter  was  dated  25th  Feb.  —Mem.  de  Condi, 
vol  i.  p.  3114. 

*  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  93.  The  edict,  dated  11th 
March,  1559-60,  is  given  in  the  Memoirs  of  Conde:  the 
Huguenot  preachers  were  excluded  from  its  benefits. 

4* 


the  ramparts;  if  they  were  refused  ad- 
mittance, a  large  body  of  cavalry  in  the 
neighbourhood  was  to  hasten  up,  and 
make  themselves  masters  of  the  gates  of 
the  town.  While  this  was  taking  place, 
those  who  had  come  in  with  the  Chatillons 
and  Conde  were  to  go  at  once  to  the 
Guises  and  arrest  them ;  or,  if  they  re- 
sisted, to  kill  them  on  the  spot. 

As  the  duke  knew  all  this  plan,  he 
changed  the  king's  guard,  and  ordered 
the  walls  to  be  built  up.  He  posted  the 
Chatillons  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  in  the 
most  conspicuous  places,  and  surrounded 
them  with  confidential  persons,  who  would 
prevent  their  joining  the  assailants.* 

Parties  of  cavalry  were  also  sent  to 
scour  the  country  before  the  conspirators 
had  assembled;  they  were  thus  attacked 
in  detail,  and  all  the  prisoners  then  taken 
were  hanged  up  on  the  battlements  of  the 
castle.  Still  the  conspirators  persevered: 
the  fate  of  their  companions  did  not  deter 
them  from  continuing  their  operations. 
La  Renaudie  exerted  himself  to  collect  the 
different  parties:  in  so  doing  he  some- 
times traversed  the  country  attended  by 
one  man  only.  On  one  occasion  he  was 
near  the  castle  of  Noizai,  the  arsenal  of  the 
conspirators,  defended  by  the  Baron  de 
Castelnau.f  A  detachment  of  royalists 
surrounded  him,  with  orders  to  take  him 
alive,  if  possible:  a  relation  of  his,  the 
Baron  de  Pardaillan  commanded  it. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  gain  the  castle, 
La  Renaudie  resolved  to  sell  his  life  dearly; 
he  rushed  on  Pardaillan,  and  killed  him 
with  his  own  hand :  he  very  soon  after 
received  a  bull  from  a  carbine,  fired  by  a 
page  of  the  baron's;  he  had  sufficient 
strength  to  kill  the  person  who  had  shot 
him,  and  then  expired.  His  little  band  on 
losing  their  leader,  fled  in  every  direction; 
many  of  them  were  killed  on  the  spot, 
and  others  were  made  prisoners  and 
hanged.  La  Renaudie's  body  was  placed 
on  a  gibbet  with  the  inscription — Chief  of 
the  rebels.]; 

The  death  of  the  leader  having  to  all 
appearance  put  an  end  to  the  conspiracy, 
the  Chancellor  Olivier  recommended  an 
amnesty  to  all  who  would  return  to  their 
homes.     Many  had  availed  themselves 


*  Uavilla,  liv.  1. 

t  Noi/.ai,  in  the  Touraine,  is  two  leagues  N.  W.  of 
Amboise. 

t  Ilavila,  liv.  1  — Pasquier.  vol.  i.  p.  P(iO  —  ne  Thou, 
liv.  24.— D'Aubigne,  vol.  i  ,  Hist,  da  Tumulte  d  Jlmboisc. 


42 


CONSPIRACY  OF  AMBOISE. 


of  the  proclamation,  and  had  set  out  on 
their  journey,  when  a  last  effort  of  some 
of  their  party  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Amboise,  brought  on  their  destruction : 
they  had  attempted  to  enter  the  town 
during  the  night;  their  object  was  foiled, 
but  the  Guises  were  indignant;  the  am- 
nesty was  revoked,  and  above  twelve 
hundred  persons  were  put  to  the  sword, 
hanged,  or  thrown  into  the  Loire  with 
their  hands  and  feet  bound.*  Many  per- 
sons were  put  to  the  torture  in  order  to 
obtain  sufficient  evidence  for  attacking 
Conde  and  the  Chatillons,  upon  the 
grounds  of  the  conspiracy;  but  among  so 
many  conspirators,  there  was  only  one 
who  implicated  them,  and  even  he  could 
only  speak  from  report.f  One  of  the  most 
considerable  victims  on  this  occasion  was 
the  Baron  de  Castelnau;  a  man  greatly 
distinguished  for  his  virtues  and  his  ser- 
vices. The  Duke  of  Nemours  having 
met  him  one  day  at  the  head  of  a  detach- 
ment, called  to  him,  asking  how  he  came 
to  be  in  arms  against  his  king]  Castelnau 
answered,  "  that  their  plan  was  not  to 
make  war  against  the  king,  but  only  to 
make  remonstrances  against  the  tyranny 
of  the  Guises."  "  Lay  down  your  arms 
then,"  said  Nemours,  "and  if  you  wish  to 
address  the  king  as  becomes  a  faithful 
subject,  I  promise  you,  upon  my  faith,  to 
enable  you  to  speak  to  the  king  and  to 
bring  you  back  in  safety."  Castelnau,  in 
consequence,  surrendered  the  castle  of 
Noizai  to  the  Duke  of  Nemours,  who  took 
an  oath  and  signed  it,  that  no  harm  should 
happen  to  him  or  his  followers.  They 
went  together  to  Amboise,  where  the  un- 
fortunate baron  found  that  the  promise 
which  had  been  made  him  was  not  bind- 
ing, for  the'  Duke  of  Nemours  had  ex- 
ceeded his  orders.  Castelnau's  bravery 
did  not  forsake  him  on  the  scaffold,  where 
he  died  a  martyr  to  his  religion ;  the  Duke 
of  Nemours  felt  very  indignant  at  the  cir- 
cumstance, as  he  had  given  his  signature, 
which  tormented  him  probably  much 
more  than  it  would  have  done  if  his  word 
alone  had  been  passed  4 

The  Prince  of  Conde  could  not  expect 
to  escape  the  suspicion  of  being  concerned 
in  the  conspiracy;  scarcely  any  charge 

*  D'Anbigne.  ?/f  supra. — Tlie  edict  is  given  in  the 
Journal-tie  Brulart. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  20?. 

t  D'Anbigne,  vol.  i.  p.  94.  Hist,  du  Tumulte  d'Am- 
bmse  Vielleville,  vol.  iv.  p.  191.  Brantome,  vol.  vi.  p. 
410    De  Thou.  liv.  24. 


could  be  made  out  from  the  confession  of 
La  llenaudie's  secretary,  who  had  been 
racked  for  that  purpose,  but  some  letters 
were  discovered,  which,  whether  genuine 
or  not,  afforded  materials  for  an  accusa- 
tion. The  Guises  kept  secret  the  contents 
of  the  letters  in  question,  and  waited  a  fa- 
vourable opportunity  for  laying  hold  of 
the  prince.  His  friends,  however,  sent 
him  advice  of  what  had  occurred,  and 
warned  him  not  to  come  to  court ;  but  the 
queen  mother  sent  him  word  that  she 
would  answer  for  his  safety,  and  he  came 
directly  and  demanded  to  have  his  cha- 
racter cleared  of  the  charge.  The  king 
gave  him  an  audience  before  the  whole 
court,  and  the  different  ambassadors,  when 
the  prince  pleaded  his  cause  with  great 
ability.  He  complained  of  the  suspicions 
which  had  been  raised  against  him;  that 
some  persons  had  represented  him  as  a 
man  who  meditated  designs  against  the 
king's  person ;  he  showed  that  his  arrival 
was  sufficient  proof  of  his  innocence,  for 
that  if  he  felt  himself  guilty,  he  should  not 
have  been  mad  enough  to  surrender  him- 
self as  he  had  done.  He  took  a  review  of 
the  accusations  against  him,  declaring 
them  the  calumnies  of  his  private  enemies, 
who  would  not  dare  to  state  them  in  his 
presence.  "  But,"  said  the  prince  in  con- 
clusion, "  if  any  one  is  bold  enough  to 
maintain  that  I  have  tempted  the  French 
to  revolt  against  the  sacred  person  of  the 
king,  and  that  I  am  author  of  the  conspi- 
racy, renouncing  the  privilege  of  my  rank, 
I  am  ready  to  prove  him  a  liar  in  single 
combat.1' 

The  Duke  of  Guise  plainly  perceived 
that  these  words  were  addressed  to  him, 
but  he  took  care  not  to  notice  them;  on 
the  contrary,  he  pretended  to  be  persuaded 
of  Conde's  innocence ;  for  he  immediately 
rose  in  the  assembly,  and  said  aloud, "  that 
he  would  not  suffer  so  great  a  prince  to 
be  thus  aspersed ;  and  begged  to  be 
chosen  as  his  second."*  Those  who  had 
seen  the  letters  upon  which  the  charge- 
was  grounded,  could  not  comprehend  the 
reason  of  the  duke's  conduct;  reflection, 
however,  made  it  generally  thought  that 
the  queen  mother's  influence  had  drawn 
the  Prince  of  Conde  from  his  unpleasant 
situation  in  order  to  display  her  power  to 


*  Davila.  liv.  1.  De  Thou.  liv.  24.  D'Anbigne,  vol.  i. 
p.  9i,  and  Hist.  des  Usurers  Troubles  de  France,  vol.  i. 
p.  4.    Paris,  1000. 


1 


DEATH  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  OLIVIER. 


43 


the  Guises,  that  they  might  not  fail  in  due 
deference  to  her  will  in  future.* 

It  was  otherwise  with  the  nation  at 
large,  who  were  astonished  at  Guise's  ge- 
nerosity to  his  greatest  enemy.  The 
duke's  cruelty  to  the  other  conspirators 
was  forgotten,  and  every  prejudice  against 
him  was  effaced.  The  king  could  not 
condemn,  and  yet  was  afraid  to  absolve 
the  Prince  of  Conde  ;  he  remained  a  short 
time  about  the  court,  when  his  presence 
being  a  burden  to  the  Guises,  he  was  al- 
lowed to  retire  to  his  chateau  at  La  Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Dcatli  of  the  Chancellor  Olivier*,  who  is  succeeded  hy 
Michael  de  I'Hopital — Assembly  of  the  Notables  at 
Fontainebleau — States  General  at  Orleans — Arrest 
and  condemnation  of  the  I'rince  of  Conde — Death  of 
Francis  II. 

The  executions  which  took  place  in 
consequence  of  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise, 
were  both  numerous  and  summary;  a  ju- 
dicial process  was  not  even  thought  of, 
and  capture  was  followed  by  immediate 
punishment.!  But  when  the  first  feelings 
of  indignation  had  subsided,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  malcontents  were 
killed  or  dispersed,  the  government  took 
measures  for  a  more  moderate  line  of  con- 
duct. The  chancellor  Olivier  had  always 
advocated  gentle  methods,  and  had  shown 
great  reluctance  in  condemning  the  nu- 
merous victims,  required  by  the  revenge 
of  the  Lorrain  princes.  The  chancellor 
trembled  lest  the  nation  should  charge 
him  with  so  much  bloodshed;  while  the 
Guises  entertained  strong  suspicions  that 
he  belonged  to  the  conspiracy.  The  con- 
flict of  his  feelings  so  affected  this  eminent 
judge  and  excellent  man,  that  he  was 
taken  ill  and  died  a  few  days  after.J  He 
deplored  to  the  last  the  sad  necessity 
which  had  reduced  him  to  appear  an  in- 
strument of  Guise's  despotism;  he  turned 
his  face  to  the  wall,  and  refused  to  see  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorrain.  who  called  on  him 
just  before  he  died,  saying,  that  he  was 
the  accursed  cardinal  who  had  been  the 
cause  of  all  the  condemnations.5 


The  person  appointed  to  succeed  him 
was  Michael  de  I'Hopital,  than  whom  no 
one  could  be  found  more  deserving  or 
more  capable.  He  was  born  about  the 
year  1503  ;  his  father  was  physician  to  the 
Constable  of  Bourbon,  and  accompanied 
him  to  Italy,  taking  with  him  his  son  Mi- 
chael. When  he  returned  to  Paris  his 
talents  soon  brought  him  into  notice,  and 
he  passed  with  honour  through  the  differ- 
ent gradations  of  the  magistrature. 
While  a  counsellor  of  the  parliament,  he 
had  exerted  himself  to  reform  the  different 
abuses,  which  long  neglect  had  suffered 
to  arrive  at  a  disgraceful  pitch :  he  re- 
ceived, as  might  be  expected,  but  little 
support,  and  his  single  arm  could  do 
scarcely  any  thing  in  furtherance  of  his 
laudable  undertaking;  still  his  endeavours 
ultimately  produced  benefits,  for  which 
France  is  bound  to  revere  his  memory. 
The  persecution  of  the  Protestants  had 
occupied  his  attention,  from  the  first  at- 
tempt to  establish  the  inquisition  ;  and  on 
every  occasion  his  powers  had  been  ex- 
erted in  the  promotion  of  tolerant  mea- 
sures. At  every  step  of  his  advancement, 
so  highly  was  his  character  esteemed,  that 
the  appointment  was  universally  ap- 
plauded. .  He  was,  however,  very  austere, 
and  was  feared  by  all  the  magistracy, 
who  dreaded  his  inquiring  into  their  lives 
and  capacities.  Brantome  calls  him  a  se- 
cond Cato,  having  his  appearance  in 
everything,  with  his  long  white  beard,  his 
pale  face,  and  grave  manner :  he  mentions 
also  that  many  persons  at  court  used  to 
say  he  was  a  perfect  likeness  of  St. 
Jerome.* 

The  favourite  object  of  the  new  chan- 
cellor was  to  calm  the  public  mind,  by 
having  the  great  question  of  toleration 
discussed  in  an  assembly  of  the  states-ge- 
neral; and  to  call  a  national  council  for 
regulating  and  defining  the  theological 
disputes  and  differences  then  prevalent.! 
He  feared  at  first  that  the  Duke  of  Guise 
would  be  opposed  to  such  a  plan ;  but  to 
his  surprise,  both  the  duke  and  the  cardi- 
nal consented  to  call  an  Assembly  of  the 
Notables  at  Fontainebleau,  on  the  21st  of 
August.  L'Hopital  indulged  the  idea  of 
establishing  peace  in  the  kingdom,  and  an- 


*  Vie  de  Cohgny,  p.  210. 

t  Us  ealoyent  pendua  toua  bottcz  etesjieronnez.  Hist, 
des  thrniers  Troubles,  liv.  1. 
t  30th  March,  IMu. 

§  Viellevillc,  vol.  iv.  p.  193.  Hist,  du  Tumulle  cl'Am- 
boise. 


*  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  ill. 

t  One  of  his  first  measures  was  the  Edict  of  Romoran- 
I  tin,  dated  4th  May,  loiiO.  De  Thou  says,  that  it  was 
framed  solely  with  a  view  to  prevent  tiie  Guises  frou: 
establisbing  the  inquisition  in  France. 


44 


ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  NOTABLES  AT  FONTAINEBLEAU. 


ticipated  a  happy  conclusion  to  the  solemn 
deliberations  about  to  take  place.  The 
Guises  it  appears  looked  forward  with 
equal  complacency  to  the  probable  conse- 
quences of  such  a  discussion  ;  they  consi- 
dered that  in  the  collision  of  the  opposite 
parties,  in  the  warmth  of  debate,  the  real 
opinions  of  different  persons  might  be  per- 
fectly ascertained ;  they  could  then  count 
their  enemies  with  ease,  and  take  the  most 
effectual  measures  for  strengthening  their 
own  cause.  The  persons  invited  to  the 
assembly  were  the  princes  of  the  blood, 
the  more  powerful  nobles,  and  the  princi- 
pal magistrates. 

The  general  conduct  of  the  Guises  dis- 
played such  haughtiness  to  the  whole 
noblesse,  and  such  rancour  against  a  con- 
siderable number  of  families,  that  the  as- 
sembly at  Fontainebleau  was  looked  upon 
as  a  snare.  The  dreadful  example  of  Am- 
boise  showed  how  far  their  revenge  would 
carry  them,  and  the  more  the  character 
of  those  princes  was  considered,  the 
greater  distrust  was  excited  in  the  public 
mind.  The  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  paid  no  attention  to  the 
king's  summons;  they  retired  to  the  cha- 
teau of  Nerac  in  Gascony.  The  Mont- 
morencies  and  Chatillons  did  not  dare  to 
disobey  the  call,  but  went  to  the  assembly 
as  to  a  military  conference,  being  escorted 
by  a  large  body  of  horsemen.*  When  the 
business  of  the  assembly  was  opened,  the 
admiral  went  on  his  knees  before  the  king, 
and  presented  a  petition  from  the  Protest- 
ants. The  king  handed  it  to  l'Aubespine, 
his  secretary,  who  having  read  "a  request 
of  the  people,  who  address  their  prayers 
to  God  according  to  the  true  rule  of  piety," 
all  those  who  were  in  favour  of  the  Guises 
began  to  murmur.  The  king  ordered  si- 
lence, and  the  secretary  continued  reading 
the  petition,  which  contained  a  very  hum- 
ble prayer  that  the  persecutions  might 
cease ;  it  showed  also,  that  though  they 
were  called  heretics  they  were  quite  ready 
to  abide  by  the  Scriptures;  that  the  pope 
was  not  a  proper  person  to  decide  u\mn 
such  matters,  as  his  decisions  had  more 
partiality  than  justice;  and  concluded  with 
supplicating  the  king  to  reflect  upon  their 
miseries,  and  adopt  such  remedies  as  his 
prudence  might  suggest.! 

Coligny's  proceeding  went  directly  to 

*  Davila,  liv.  2. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p  213.    De  Thou,  liv.  25. 


excite  the  opposition  of  the  violent  Catho- 
lics, and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  spoke  at 
length  against  the  Protestants.  Coligny 
in  his  reply  observed,  that  "  he  spoke  on 
behalf  of  fifty  thousand  persons,"  which  so 
enraged  the  Duke  of  Guise,  that  he  de- 
clared vehemently,  "  that  he  would  break 
all  their  heads  with  a  hundred  thousand 
good  Catholics,  whom  he  would  lead 
against  them."*  This  is  said  to  be  the  be- 
ginning of  the  mortal  feud  which  arose 
between  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  admi- 
ral. Marillac,  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  and 
Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  both  ad- 
dressed the  assembly,  and  proposed  (as 
the  best  and  safest  way  of  settling  the 
question)  to  submit  to  the  resolution  of  a 
general  council  freely  and  legitimately  as- 
sembled ;  it  was  concluded  that  the  states- 
general  should  be  held  in  December,  and 
the  national  council  in  January.! 

Opinions  are  divided  respecting  the  con- 
duct of  the  Guises  on  this  occasion ;  some 
writers  maintain  that,  but  for  the  hostile 
movements  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  the 
states  general  would  have  been  conducted 
without  any  violent  measure  on  their 
part ;  others,  however,  contend  that  their 
design  from  the  first  was  to  collect  the 
Protestant  leaders,  and  arrest  them  all  at 
once;  but  the  secret  information  which 
reached  the  prince  compelled  him  to  take 
arms  in  his  own  defence.  Secrecy  was 
no  longer  necessary,  and  the  Guises 
openly  pursued  their  principal  object,  the 
destruction  of  the  Bourbon  princes,  who 
were  a  barrier  to  their  ever  obtaining  the 
throne. 

With  this  view  they  changed  the  com- 
manders of  the  different  provinces,  in 
order  to  have  all  the  forces  at  their  dis- 
posal, and  surround  the  King  of  Navarre 
and  his  brother  with  their  emissaries. 
They  had  therefore  the  earliest  intelligence 
of  Conde's  collecting  troops  in  Dauphiny ; 
they  seized  a  person  in  his  employ,  named 
Lasague,  who  had  on  his  person  some  of 
the  prince's  correspondence.!  The  letters 
appeared  to  contain  nothing  of  impor- 
tance; but  the  bearer  was  tortured  to 
make  him  give  sufficient  information  for 

[  *  Brantome,  vol",  viii,  p  170.  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  80 
Davila,  liv.  2. 

t  1 1 1 ^-t  des  derniers  Trouvjes,  liv.  ].  p.  4.  D'Aubigni, 
vol.  i.  p  !)7.  Hisl.  ilu  Concilc  de  Tiente,  p.  413.  Mem, 
,de  Conde,  vol.  i.  p.  555. 

X  De  Thou,  liv.  25,  p.  536— Snmmaire  rpcit  de  la  Ca- 
I lomnieiiBe  Accusation  de  M.  le  Prince  de  Conde,  &c, 
&.C.    Inserted  in  vol.  ii.  of  Mem.  de  Conde. 


INTRIGUES  OF  THE  GUISES. 


45 


them  to  put  the  prince  on  his  trial.  La- 
sagne informed  them,  that  there  was  a 
project  for  a  general  movement  to  demand 
the  disgrace  or  the  death  of  the  Lorrain 
princes.  It  was  not,  however,  till  his  life 
was  threatened,  that  he  gave  them  the  de- 
sired information;  he  told  them  to  dip  in 
water  the  wrapper  of  a  letter  written  by 
the  Vidame  of  Chartres.  The  hand-wri- 
ting of  Dardois,  the  Constable's  secretary, 
became  visible ;  they  learned  the  continued 
and  unchangeable  resolution  of  that  noble- 
man to  destroy  the  Guises,  with  his  opi- 
nion that  he  hoped  to  succeed  in  spite  of 
the  King,  and  that  they  must  no  longer 
hesitate,  but  attack  them  with  open  force.* 

The  Vidame  of  Chartres  was  immedi- 
ately put  in  the  Bastille,  where  he  was 
treated  with  great  rigour  ;f  the  queen- 
mother  was  said  to  have  entertained  a 
great  passion  for  him,  but  she  deserted 
him  on  this  occasion.  After  remaining 
for  some  time  in  suspense  as  to  his  fate, 
he  was  set  at  liberty,  and  died  soon  after, 
with  a  suspicion  of  having  been  poisoned. £ 

The  Bourbon  princes  received  at  first 
the  most  pressing  invitations,  and  after- 
wards imperative  orders  to  attend  the 
states-general  at  Orleans:  if  they  were 
absent,  they  were  informed  that  they 
would  be  treated  as  criminals.  Conde 
was  for  setting  the  court  at  defiance,  but 
the  King  of  Navarre  would  not  risk  the 
loss  of  his  estates.  They  had  already  as- 
sembled a  considerable  number  of  gentle- 
men, both  catholics  and  protestants,  who 
traversed  Gascony  with  them,  and  who 
would  have  supported  the  undertaking,  as 
recommended  by  the  Constable  Montmo- 
rency. Repeated  commands  from  the 
court  at  length  intimidated  the  King  of 
Navarre,  and  he  dismissed  his  little  army, 
saying,  •"  I  must  obey,  but  I  will  obtain 
your  pardon  of  the  King."  "Go,"  said 
an  old  captain,  "  and  ask  pardon  for  your- 
self; our  safety  is  in  our  swords."J  The 
gentlemen  became  indignant,  and  went 
away  to  their  different  homes. 

In  the  month  of  October  the  Bourbon 
princes  set  out  for  Orleans.  They  were 
cautioned  not  to  go,  as  they  would  be 
called  to  account  for  several  tumults  which 
had  taken  place  in  different  parts;  but 

*  Davila,  liv.  2.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p. 'J7.  DeThou, 
liv.  25,  p.  542. 
t  2'J  Aug,  1560.   Journal  de  Brulart. 
I  Bran  tome.  vol.  x.  p.  365. 

§  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  guerrcs  cicilcs  tic  France. 


they  considered  that  their  friends  who 
would  be  at  the  meeting,  were  sufficiently 
numerous  to  prevent  any  measure  of  that 
kind.  Some  of  their  well-wishers  who 
were  about  the  court,  proposed  to  seize 
the  children  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  as  hos- 
tages ;  others  suggested  that  Conde  should 
remain  in  security,  while  Navarre  went 
to  Orleans.  This  latter  counsel  was  in 
vain  urged  by  the  Princess  of  Conde  and 
her  mother ;  contrary  advice,  given  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  prevailed,  and  the 
two  brothers  pursued  their  journey  toge- 
ther.* The  Admiral  had  received  similar 
cautions,  and  his  brother,  the  Cardinal  of 
Chatillon,  was  very  urgent  in  persuading 
him  to  stay  away:  he  had,  however,  so 
great  a  wish  to  obtain  the  edict  for  liberty 
of  conscience,  that  nothing  could  restrain 
him ;  he  considered  also  that  his  friends 
would  require  his  presence,  and  that  he 
should  not  doubt  the  word  of  the  king, 
who  had  promised  personal  safety  to  all 
whom  he  summoned.! 

The  Bourbon  princes  and  the  Chatil- 
lons  arrived  at  Orleans  about  the  same 
time ;  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  immedi- 
ately arrested ;  the  King  of  Navarre  was 
watched  so  closely  that  he  could  not  be 
said  to  be  at  liberty ;  and  Coligny  and 
Andelot  were  surrounded  by  persons, 
who  were  to  keep  a  constant  eye  upon 
them4  The  friends  upon  whom  all  four 
had  reckoned,  thinking  their  cause  hope- 
less, abandoned  them;  indeed  the  king 
showed  such  indignation  against  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  that  his  destruction  ap- 
peared inevitable. 

A  commission  was  appointed  to  try 
him:  the  prince  refused  to  plead  to  such  a 
tribunal,  alleging  that  a  prince  of  the  blood 
could  be  tried  only  by  the  parliament  of 
Paris,  assisted  by  the  peers:  he  was  told 
that  the  king's  pleasure  was,  that  he  should 
be  so  tried,  and  that  if  he  did  not  plead, 
they  should  proceed  at  once  to  condemn 
him. j  The  prince  displayed  great  intre- 
pidity, and  protested  against  the  power 
which  put  him  on  his  trial  contrary  to 
law;  he  was  found  guilty,  and  condemned 
to  be  beheaded.  Although  the  greatest 
despatch  was  used  in  every  stage  of  the 


*  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  101.— Davila,  liv.  2.  De  Tliou, 
liv.  2b\ 

f  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  218. 

i  D'Aubigne,  vol  i.  p.  101.    Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  81. 
§  An  arrit  to  that  ellect  was  gnen  2Jtll  Nov,  150U.— 
Mem.  de  C'oude,  vol.  i. 


46 


INTRIGUES  OF  THE  GUISES. 


proceeding,  a  delay  inevitably  took  place, 
and  postponed  the  conclusion  of  the  affair. 
The  relations  of  the  prince  availed  them- 
selves of  this  interval,  in  trying  to  obtain 
his  pardon.  The  Princess  of  Conde  threw 
herself  at  the  king's  feet,  bathed  in  tears. 
Francis  said  to  her,  "  Your  husband  has 
wished  to  take  away  my  crown  and  my 
life."  When  the  Guises  were  applied  to, 
they  observed,  "  We  must  with  one  blow 
cut  off  the  head  of  both  heresy  and  rebel- 
lion."* The  complete  destruction  of  he- 
resy wis  to  follow  the  prince's  execution, 
and  every  one  was  to  be  compelled  to 
sign  a  confession  of  faith,  drawn  up  by 
the  Sorbonne,  in  1542.t 

The  King  of  Navarre  made  great  efforts 
to  save  his  brother's  life,  little  thinking 
that  his  own  was  in  danger  at  the  same 
time.}  The  Duke  of  Guise  had  formed  a 
plan  for  murdering  him  in  the  king's 
chamber;  and  had  even  obtained  the  con- 
sent of  Francis  II.  Navarre  was  sum- 
moned to  the  king's  presence,  but  at  first 
refused  to  go,  having  been  told,  that  at  a 
sign  from  Francis,  the  assassins  would  fall 
upon  him.  When  the  order  came  a  third 
time,  he  went,  making  this  remark  to 
Reinsy,  one  of  his  gentlemen,  "  I  will  go, 
I  will  fight  as  long  as  I  have  a  breath  of 
life.  If  I  fall,  take  my  shirt,  stained  with 
my  blood  ;  carry  it  to  my  son,  and  let  him 
give  up  his  life  rather  than  the  desire  of 
avenging  it."  Francis  did  not  dare  to  at- 
tempt so  foul  a  crime;  the  signal  was  not 
given,  and  Navarre  returned  without 
harm.  The  Duke  of  Guise,  quite  vexed 
at  seeing  him  escape,  exclaimed  with  in- 
dignation, "  what  a  poor  king  we  have."§ 

No  entreaties  could  move  the  king  to 
pardon  his  kinsman,  whose  execution  was 
now  urged  by  the  Guises.  Every  delay 
which  occurred  was  a  disappointment  to 
them  ;  and  Francis  had  resolved  on  a  jour- 
ney to  Chambord,  in  order  to  avoid  wit- 
nessing the  dreadful  spectacle,  when  sud- 
denly be  was  taken  ill,  and  compelled  to 
keep  his  bed.  At  this  news  the  Chancel- 
lor sent  for  Ambrose  Pare,  the  king's  sur- 

*  Davila,  liv.  2.      t  Hist.  <lu  t'alvinisme,  liv. 2. 

X  On  one  occasion  a  soldier  was  hired  to  murder  him 
with  a  pistol,  while  hunting;  hut  the  Duke  of  Aumale 
advised  him  not  to  join  in  the  excursion.  He  went  to 
bed,  complaining  of  a  violent  colic,  anil  when  the  king 
found  that  the  chief  object  of  the  bunting  party  was  de- 
feated, he  returned  at  once  to  his  apartments. —  Caijct, 
liv.  (!.  p  510. 

§  De  Thou,  D'Aubigm;  and  Cayet.  According  to  t lie 
Abbe  Anquetil,  Guise's  expression,  when  he  found  Fran- 
cis would  not  consent  to  the  murder,  was,  "  O  le  lache! 
O  lepoltron .'" — Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  84, 


geon,  and  on  questioning  him,  he  found 
that  Francis  was  not  likely  to  recover. 
He  was  very  desirous  of  postponing  the 
prince's  death,  and  had  delayed  signing 
the  order  for  his  execution  by  counter- 
feiting illness.  The  Guises,  alarmed  at 
the  state  of  the  king's  health,  and  fearing 
their  victim  would  escape,  went  to  his 
house,  and  begged  him  to  sign  it :  he  pre- 
tended to  have  a  violent  colic,  which  pre- 
vented him  from  examining  the  body  of 
the  decree,  a  thing  necessary  for  him  to  do, 
before  he  could  sign  it.  The  Chancellor's 
pretended  illness  lasted  till  the  king's  dan- 
ger became  imminent;  he  then  changed 
his  ground,  and  recommended  the  queen 
mother  to  take  advantage  of  the  present 
situation  of  affairs,  for  uniting  herself 
closely  with  the  princes  of  the  blood,  as  the 
Guises  already  began  to  despise  her.  She 
agreed  with  the  Chancellor,  and  Coligny 
was  charged  with  the  negotiation.* 

The  Prince  of  Conde,  in  the  mean  time, 
was  proof  against  all  fear:  his  tranquillity 
was  unruffled.  Although  deprived  of  his 
own  servants,  and  debarred  from  seeing 
his  wife,  his  gaiety  never  deserted  him; 
and  he  wrote  letters  to  the  princess,  full 
of  consolation.!  Nor  did  his  firmness  quit 
him  when  the  state  of  the  king's  health 
gave  him  some  hopes;  for  when  he  was 
solicited  to  consent  to  an  accommodation 
with  the  Guises,  he  answered,  "  the  only 
means  of  settling  it  is  with  a  lance."} 

The  king  continued  to  get  worse  every 
day,  and  the  Guises  knew  well  that  they 
could  find  no  equivalent  in  the  next  reign 
for  their  influence  over  their  neice  the 
queen  consort ;  the  death  of  C  onde,  there- 
fore, became  of  less  importance  to  them 
than  the  friendship  of  the  queen  mother, 
who  would  be  sure  to  direct  every  mea- 
sure, when  the  succeeding  monarch  came 
to  the  crown.  The  King  of  Navarre 
having  promised  to  renounce  his  rights 
to  the  regency,  which  must  very  soon  oc- 
cur, Catherine  agreed  to  suspend  the  sen- 
tence of  death  hanging  over  his  brother. § 
The  Guises  at  first  were  anxious  to  have 
it  carried  into  execution;  they  recom- 
mended the  destruction  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon,  and  offered  their  persons,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  influence,  to  assist  her.|| 
But  the  Chancellor  1'Hopital  had  shown 
the  queen  that  to  support  the  Lorrain 

*  Vie  de  Ooligny,  p.  220.    D'Auhigne,  vol.  i.  p.  103. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  20.    I  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  85. 
§  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  242.      ||  De  Thou,  liv.  215. 


REIGN  OF  CHARLES  IX. 


47 


princes  would  ensure  her  own  ruin :  she ; 
was  wise  enough  to  value  his  advice,  and 
sufficiently  crafty  to  avail  herself  of  the  j 
offers  of  each  family  against  the  other,  i 
Francis  II.  died  the  fifth  of  December,! 
1560,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age,| 
having  reigned  only  seventeen  months.! 
Extremely  feeble  in  both  body  and  mind,i 
his  youth  exempts  him  from  being  account- 
able for  the  misfortunes  of  his  government,  j 
and  converts  into  pity  the  reproaches  to 
which  he  would  be  exposed. 

The  death  of  Francis  II.  has  frequently 
been  attributed  to  poison.  Such  suspi- 
cions can  never  be  either  clearly  defined, 
or  fully  removed ;  their  very  nature  pre- 
senting a  barrier  to  all  eclaircissement. 
The  Prince  of  Conde  was,  of  all  others,  the 
most  interested  in  the  event;  and  next  to 
him  the  Admiral  Coligny,  who  was  in 
prison  till  the  king's  illness  rendered  him 
necessary  to  the  queen  mother,  in  the  ne- 
gotiation between  her  and  the  King  of  Na- 
varre; but  neither  Conde  nor  Coligny 
were  accused  of  having  instigated  such  a 
thing.  The  Guises  had  too  much  to  lose 
by  the  king's  death  to  be  exposed  to  such 
a  suspicion. 

The  surgeon,  Ambrose  Pare,  has  been 
charged  with  putting  poison  into  an  ab- 
scess in  the  king's  ear,  at  the  command  of 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  who  saw  no  other 
way  of  preserving  her  authority.*  That 
Pare  was  not  considered  guilty  of  such  a 
crime,  by  those  who  were  the  most  com- 
petent judges,  we  may  infer  from  this  cir- 
cumstance; that  although  a  declared  Pro- 
testant, he  was  continued  in  his  post  of 
king's  surgeon,  and  at  the  massacre  of  the 
St.  Bartholomew,  Charles  IX.  kept  him  in 
his  own  chamber,  to  preserve  him  from 
the  slaughter:  he  sent  for  him  previous  to 
the  massacre,  and  commanded  him  not  to 
stir  out.t  Whereas  had  he  been  really 
suspected  by  the  Guises;  such  is  their  ac- 
knowledged character  for  vengeance,  that 
he  must  have  fallen  a  victim  to  it:  sup- 
posing him  guilty,  he  had  doubly  injured 
them ;  he  had  destroyed  the  great  power 
and  influence  they  were  enjoying,  and  he 
had  thwarted  their  revenge  upon  the 
Prince  of  Conde. 

With  respect  to  Catherine  de  Medicis, 
it  must  be  stated,  that  she  has  been  ac- 
cused of  poisoning  three  of  her  sons,  be- 


sides the  Dauphin  Francis,  her  husband's 
brother,*  and  Jane  d'Albret,  Queen  of  Na- 
varre. Her  general  character  certainly 
justifies  the  imputation  ;  but  such  serious 
charges  ought  not  to  be  too  generally  re- 
ceived, for  in  all  ages  and  countries  a  sus- 
picion of  poisoning  has  always  been  cir- 
culated, when  any  important  person  has 
died  suddenly.  At  the  same  time  there  is 
evidence  enough  in  history,  to  prevent  us 
from  dismissing  every  such  accusation,  as 
equally  unfounded. 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  221. 

|  Brantonie,  vol.  i.  p.  426.— (Tic  dc  Charles  [X.) 


CHAPTER  X. 

Reign  of  Charles  IX. ;— Assembly  of  the  Slates  general; 
— Formation  of  the  Triumvirate;— Edict  of  July. 

The  accession  of  Charles  LX.  completely 
changed  the  face  of  affairs :  the  ascendancy 
of  Catherine  de  Medicis  over  her  son 
Francis,  had  been  counteracted  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Guises  over  their  niece,  his 
consort;  the  new  king  was  only  ten  years 
of  age,  and  his  mother  assumed  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs  free  from  almost  every  con- 
trol. The  rival  parties  were  busy  in  op- 
posing each  other,  instead  of  limiting  her 
authority. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  this  reign  was 
a  letter  which  Charles  wrote  to  the  parlia- 
ment, on  the  8th  of  December,  1560  ;f  in 
which  after  announcing  the  death  of  Fran- 
cis II.  he  informed  that  body,  "  that  con- 
sidering his  youth,  and  confiding  in  the 
virtue  and  prudence  of  the  queen  his  mo- 
ther, he  had  requested  her  to  undertake 
the  administration  of  affairs,  with  the  wise 
counsel  and  advice  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  of  the  persons  of  distinction  in  the 
late  king's  council."  This  was  a  great 
blow  to  the  Guises ;  but  though  lowered 
in  their  power  and  influence,  they  were 
very  far  from  being  cast  down,  for  all 
zealous  Catholics  placed  their  entire  hopes 
in  that  family,  for  preventing  the  growth 
or  even  the  continuance  of  heresy.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Prince  of  Conde  reco- 
vered his  liberty,  and  the  hopes  of  the 

*  Rrantome,  vol.  vi.  p  3!)'J.  According  to  De  Thou 
liv.  1.  p.  37.  the  king  (Francis  I.)  would  not  permit  an 
investigation.  In  the  '  Life  of  Tournon'  by  the  Jesuit 
Flenry,  suspicion  is  directed  against  Hie  Emperor. 
"The  confes.-ions  of  Montecuculi  did  no  credit  to  the 
enemies  of  France,"  p.  141.  It  is  however  obvious  that 
Charles  V.  was  more  interested  in  the  death  of  prince 
Henry  and  his  bride  than  in  that  of  the  dauphin.  In 
the  arret,  see  Villeroy,  vol.  vii. 

f  Mem,  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 


48 


REIGN  OT  CHARLES  IX. 


Protestant  party  began  to  revive ;  espe- 
cially as  the  King  of  Navarre  was  lieute- 
nant-general of  the  kingdom,  and  the 
Chancellor  PHqpital  had  openly  expressed 
his  desire  of  establishing  liberty  of  con- 
science. As  the  two  factions  were  now 
about  equal  in  force,  the  queen  was  in 
hopes  of  maintaining  her  ascendancy  over 
both;  her  object  was  therefore  to  remain 
on  good  terms  with  all  parties,  and  to 
avoid  taking  any  part  in  their  disputes;  | 
every  succeeding  quarrel,  let  the  advan- 
tage be  on  whatever  side  it  might,  would 
increase  her  relative  strength  ;  and  in  an 
age  when  violence  was  so  much  resorted 
to,  the  number  of  her  rivals,  and  enemies, 
must  soon  be  diminished. 

As  yet  the  Constable  was  independent 
of  each  party;  his  hatred  to  the  Guises 
was  equalled  only  by  his  detestation  of 
the  Huguenots;  Catherine,  however, 
thought  it  prudent  to  attach  him  to  her- 
self, and  sent  for  him  to  court.  On  his 
arrival,  both  parties  caressed  him,  and 
left  nothing  untried  to  win  him  to  their 
side:  he  refused  the  offers  of  the  Guises, 
without,  however,  joining  the  Bourbon 
princes. 

When  he  came  to  Orleans,  he  exercised 
his  authority  as  Constable,  in  dismissing 
the  bodies  of  armed  men,  who  were  sta- 
tioned at  the'  gates:  "I  wish,"  said 
he,  "that  in  future  the  king  may  go 
about  his  kingdom  in  security  without 
guards."  On  approaching  the  young 
king,  he  went  on  his  knee,  and  shed  tears 
on  his  hand,  while  he  kissed  it  with  heart- 
felt loyalty :  "  Sire,"  said  he,  "  let  not  the 
present  troubles  alarm  you ;  I  will  sacri- 
fice my  life,  and  so  will  all  your  faithful' 
subjects,  for  the  preservation  of  your 
crown."* 

After  making  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  conducting  the  different  branches 
of  the  administration,  the  states-general 
assembled  on  the  13th.  of  December.  It 
would  seem  that  in  reality  they  had  been 
convoked  under  Francis  II.  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  assure  and  legalize  the 
vengeance  intended  for  the  Prince  of 
Conde;  that  project  having  failed,  there 
was  no  farther  occasion  for  them.  Still 
as  they  were  assembled,  it  was  thought 
they  ought  not  to  separate  without  doing 
something;  and,  in  consequence,  the  king 


*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  "43.    Davila,  liv.  2. 


with  the  whole  court  went  to  hear  the 
speeches  made  by  the  chancellor  and 
other  orators* 

The  Chancellor  L'Hopital  was  deceived 
by  the  demonstrations  of  pretended  zeal 
for  the  public  good,  and  by  the  politic 
conduct  of  the  queen  mother.  His  speech 
attests  his  mistake:  he  indulged  in  the 
anticipation  of  beholding  France  restored 
to  happiness  and  concord.  The  guaran- 
tee of  this  happy  prospect,  of  this  restora- 
tion, of  the  rightful  authority  of  the  king 
and  the  laws,  was  to  be  the  .work  of  a 
national  council,  in  which  religious  dis- 
cord was  to  be  extinguished,  and  the 
salutary  reign  of  toleration  should  be 
hailed  by  all  parties.  In  tracing  out  the 
long  series  of  troubles,  and  the  gloomy 
picture  of  crimes  committed  in  the  name 
of  religion,  he  disposed  the  minds  of  many 
to  be  favourable  to  his  plan,  and  partake 
of  his  hopes.  The  necessity  of  peace  was 
his  main  argument,  and  he  easily  proved 
that  a  difference  of  faith  was  no  reason 
for  breaking  it.  He  passed  in  review  the 
different  departments  of  the  government, 
and  pointed  out  the  reforms,  of  which 
each  was  susceptible.  Much  was  re- 
quired to  be  done  in  the  laws,  and  courts 
of  law;  but  his  display  of  the  financial 
state  of  France  quickly  convinced  them 
that  there  was  the  part  which  required  the 
most  speedy  and  the  most  complete  re- 
form ;  "  the  king,"  said  he,  "  has  found 
his  finances  so  much  exhausted  by  ten 
years  of  war  and  other  expenses,  that  his 
father  and  his  brother  appear  to  have  left 
him  no  other  inheritance  than  subjects  for 

weeping."! 

The  president  of  the  noblesse  demand- 
ed a  reform  of  every  body  except  the 
nobles,  who  alone  did  their  duty,  accord- 
ing to  his  opinion.  The  speaker  for  the 
Tiers  Etat  inveighed  severely  against  the 
clergy,  and  the  speaker  for  the  clergy 
called  upon  the  king  to  punish  the  here- 
tics without  pity;  his  sentiment,  however, 
was  so  ill  received  that  the  orator  was 
forced  to  explain  it  away.J:  The  chan- 
cellor was  delighted  to  find  the  temper  of 
the  states-general  so  well  inclined  for  tole- 
ration, and  so  cheerfully  did  the  various 


*  The  chancellor  had  sufficient  influence  to  set  a  con- 
firmation of  the  edict  of  Rnmorantin,  and  a  letter  from 
the  king  ordering  the  enlargement  of  nil  persons  in 
prison  on  account  of  religion.  Mem.  tie  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p. 
LHSO  ct  scg. 

f  De  Thou,  liv.  27.  J  Ibid. 


ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


49 


parties  appear  to  concur  in  promoting  the 
general  good,  that  he  considered  his  end 
as  already  attained. 

But  the  unfortunate  state  of  the  finances 
spoiled  the  smiling  prospect.  The  present 
penury  was  traced  to  the  extravagant 
gifts,  which  Henry  II.  and  the  late  king 
had  bestowed  on  different  courtiers.  In 
the  discussion,  the  names  of  many  nobles 
were  mentioned,  as  possessing  great  sums 
which  ought  to  be  refunded.  The  enemies 
of  Guise  in  particular  did  not  conceal  their 
hopes  of  compelling  him  to  restore  very 
large  sums,  the  grants  of  which  could  not 
be  justified.  L'Hopital  perceived  that 
their  ill-will  would  be  aroused,  and  their 
quarrels  rekindled :  in  order  to  avoid 
such  consequences  he  adjourned  the 
States-general  to  the  fifth  of  May. 

The  sittings  had  continued  till  the  end 
of  January,  1561.  During  that  interval 
the  Prince  of  Conde  had  been  called  to 
court,  and  was  subsequently  declared 
innocent  of  the  charges  which  had  been 
brought  against  him  :*  he  appeared  in 
great  credit  and  favour.  The  Bourbons 
found  their  party  constantly  increasing; 
still  the  Guises  were  very  much  favoured 
by  the  queen  mother.  At  length,  the 
King  of  Navarre,  and  his  brother,  the 
Constable,  the  Chatillons,  and  the  prin- 
cipal nobility,  threatened  to  quit  the  court 
and  to  go  to  Paris,  and  have  the  King  of 
Navarre  declared  regent  by  the  parlia- 
ment, unless  the  Lorraine  princes  were 
sent  away.t  The  carriages  were  ready 
to  leave  Fontainebleau,  where  the  court 
then  was,  having  left  Orleans  at  the  com- 
mencement of  February  ;  and  all  the  par- 
tisans of  the  Bourbon  princes  were  pre- 
pared to  mount,  when  the  Chancellor 
advised  the  king  to  call  Montmorency 
into  his  apartment.}.  Charles  forbade  the 
constable  to  quit  the  court,  and  expressly 
ordered  him  to  remain  near  his  person. 
This  order  overturned  every  thing :  the 
constable  dared  not  give  an  example  of 
such  disobedience;  he  stayed  with  the 
king.    The  King  of  Navarre,  fearing  that 

*  A  decree  for  that  purpose  ivaa drawn  up  13th  March, 
(DcTh'm,  liv.  27)  but  it  was  not  registered  till  13th 
June,  1561.— Journal de  Brulart. 

t  Letter  from  Perrenot  de  Ohanlonuey,  the  Spanish 
Ambassador:  this  correspondence  is  inserted  invol.ii. 
of  the  Mem.  de  Conde. 

t  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p  243.— Brantome  insists  ihat 
the  queen  acted  solely  from  her  own  suggestions, 
"  for,"  says  he,  "  she  had  more  prudence  than  all  the 
kine's  council  together."— Vol.  i.  p.  iio.— (Vie  dc  Calk, 
de  Med.) 


while  they  were  going  to  Paris,  the  affair 
might  be  settled  altogether  without  him, 
remained  likewise.     The   parties  then 
'  began  to  negotiate.* 

Catherine  supported  the  Guises  in  this 
affair,  considering  their  power  so  great, 
that  the  consequences  of  their  enmity 
were  to  be  dreaded,  by  herself  and  her 
i  son.  But  she  soon  discontinued  her  pro- 
tection ;  for  it  became  very  evident  that 
I  the  Spanish  ambassador  was  the  decided 
auxiliary  of  that  party ;  he  gave  them  ad- 
vice, regulated  their  projects,  and  changed 
their  plans,  when  not  consistent  with  his 
views  ;  the  Guises,  on  their  part,  did  no- 
thing without  consulting  him,  and  lent 
him  every  assistance  in  their  power, 
whenever  he  required  such  co-operation. f 

Such  a  connexion  naturally  excited  the 
suspicions  of  Catherine,  who  deemed  it 
necessary  to  encourage  the  Calvinists  as 
a  counterpoise.  She  showed  herself 
friendly  to  the  Protestant  leaders,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  disposed  to 
second  her  in  case  of  need.  But  her 
tolerance,  although  it  gained  her  the  good- 
will of  most  of  the  Protestants,  was  the 
means  of  her  losing  the  Constable's  friend- 
ship; and,  in  consequence,  her  plan  en- 
tirely failed.  Montmorency  was  disgusted 
with  the  preference  she  showed  for  the 
new  religion  ;  one  cause  of  discontent  was 
followed  by  another,  and  he  soon  after 
joined  the  party  of  the  Guises. 

Circumstances  were  decidedly  in  favour 
of  the  reformed  at  this  period,  and,  with- 
out the  energy  and  influence  of  the  Guises, 
the  Protestant  cause  might  have  been  suc- 
cessful. "  Heresy,"  observes  a  talented 
Jesuit,  "  was  seen  to  enter  triumphantly 
into  the  palace  of  the  most  Christian  king; 
and  it  may  be  said  that  there  it  exercised 
complete  sway."  The  queen  permitted 
ministers  to  preach  in  the  royal  apart- 
ments, which  were  thronged,  while  a  poor 
Jacobin  who  preached  the  Lent  sermons 
at  Fontainebleau,  had  no  audience.  The 
whole  court  seemed  Calvinist ;  and  meat 
was  served  at  all  the  tables  during  Lent. 
No  one  talked  of  hearing  mass ;  and  the 
young  king,  who  was  taken  to  church  for 
the  sake  of  appearance,  went  almost  alone. 
The  pope's  authority  was  ridiculed,  the 
worship  of  saints,  images,  &c,  was  treated 
as  superstition  ;  and  to  sum  up  the  edict 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  27. 

t  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol. 


p.  100. 


50 


ASSEMBLY  OF  THE 


STATES-GENERAL. 


in  favour  of  the  Huguenots  prevented  any 
one  from  being  troubled  on  account  of 
religion* 

Tournou  exercised  his  influence  over 
the  Constable,  to  bring  about  a  reconci- 
liation between  him  and  Guise;  and, 
inflamed  by  the  cardinal's  elocution,  the 
noble  veteran  spared  no  efforts  for  sup- 
pressing such  a  scandal  against  the  Ca- 
tholic religion.  Having  heard  that  Mont- 
luc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  was  preaching  in 
the  Louvre  with  a  hat  and  short  cloak, 
similar  to  those  worn  by  the  ministers,  he 
entered  hastily,  and  fixing  a  menacing 
look  on  the  bishop,  called  out  to  his  at- 
tendants to  pull  down  from  the  pulpit 
that  bishop,  disguised  as  a  minister. 
Monfluc,  alarmed,  quickly- made  his  es- 
cape, to  avoid  the  threatened  violence.! 

As  the  main  strength  of  the  Guises  lay 
in  the  fanaticism  of  the  multitude,  they 
did  all  in  their  power  to  make  the  queen 
suspected  of  heresy.  They  gave  out  that 
she  had  for  some  time  embraced  those 
opinions,  otherwise  she  would  not  have 
interested  herself  on  behalf  of  some  Pro- 
testants who  were  condemned  to  death. 
But  all  this  would  have  led  to  nothing, 
had  not  the  King  of  Navarre,  in  his  desire 
to  be  revenged  on  the  Guises,  proposed 
that,  instead  of  levying  fresh  imposts,  all ! 
the  grants  made  by  the  two  last  kings 
should  be  revoked.  The  Constable,  who 
had  received  at  different  times  as  much  as 
four  hundred  thousand  francs,  from  that 
time  looked  upon  the  King  of  Navarre  as 
his  greatest  enemy.  The  sums  which  the 
Guises  had  obtained  were  far  more  consi- 
derable; their  old  enmity  was  now  buried 
in  their  community  of  interest.^ 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  states- 
general  had  been  adjourned  and  not  dis- 
missed :  it  was  decided,  that  in  the  interval 
before  their  re-assembling,  there  should  be 
held  an  assembly  in  each  province,  to  pre- 
pare the  affairs  for  the  general  meeting. 
The  assembly  of  Paris,  among  other 
things,  proposed  that  an  account  should 
be  made  out  of  the  large  grants  given  by 
the  two  last  kings  to  the  Guises,  the 
the  Duchess  of  Valentinois,  the  Marshal 
Saint  Andre,  and  others.^  This  last 
named  person  was  of  a  good  family;  his 
name  was  James  dAlbon.    He  had  been 


*  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvirtisme,  liv.  3. 
t  Fleury,  Hist,  du  Cardinal  Tournou,  p  258. 
j  Vie  de  Coligoy,  p.  225. 

§  bavila,  liv.  2.  Me  m.  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 


the  early  companion  of  Henry  If.,  and 
possessed  a  considerable  share  of  his  es- 
teem.  No  one  surpassed  him  in  his  ex- 
pensive way  of  living ;  his  table  was  served 
extravagantly,  and  his  furniture  and  equi- 
pages were  of  the  most  costly  description. 
In  spite  of  the  extent  of  his  sovereign's 
kindness,  he  was  constantly  in  debt;  and, 
in  consequence,  he  was  always  ready  to  I 
share  in  any  confiscation  of  property,  on 
the  ground  either  of  heresy  or  rebellion. 
He  and  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois  had 
rendered  themselves  particularly  ob- 
noxious to  the  Protestants  by  their  ac- 
tivity in  that  particular* 

To  avert  the  threatened  storm,  St. 
Andre  proposed  to  the  Duke  of  Guise  to 
form  a  strict  union  with  the  Constable. 
In  vain  did  the  Chatillons  assure  their 
aged  uncle  that  the  proposed  measure 
would  not  affect  him;  he  was  deaf  to  their 
entreaties;  the  influence  of  the  Duchess 
of  Valentinois  induced  Montmorency  to 
be  reconciled  entirely  to  his  old  enemy.f 
A  league  was  formed,  which  has  obtained 
the  name  of  Triumvirate :  Guise,  Mont- 
morency, and  St.  Andre,  all  swore  at  the 
altar  to  forget  their  old  quarrels,  and 
signed  a  treaty  by  which  they  were  to  be 
united,  for  the  purpose  of  exterminating 
1  the  heretics.  The  specious  presence  of 
serving  religion,  while  they  meditated  the 
most  violent  resentments,  is  of  a  piece 
with  the  tyranny  which  they  inflicted 
upon  France. 

The  different  parties  were  now  blended 
into  two  ;  the  Triumvirs  supported  by  the 
Catholics,  and  the  Bourbon  princes  at  the 
bead  of  the  Protestants.  The  queen  had 
no  desire  to  oppress  the  latter  party,  and, 
after  some  discussion,  the  Chancellor  took 
the  opportunity  of  proposing  an  edict, 
which  suspended  the  pursuits  against  the 
Calvinists  until  the  general  council  had 
been  assembled.  This  was  a  great  point 
gained :  the  different  towns  in  France  were 
for  some  time  to  be  freed  from  the  terrible 
spectacle  of  men  being  burned  alive,  for 
daring  to  follow  the  dictates  of  conscience. 
It  was  called  the  edict  of  July,  1561.  But 
though  it  relieved  the  Protestants  from  the 
punishment  of  death,  it  still  refused  them 
the  principal  prayer  of  their  petition — per- 
mission to  assemble  for  public  worship. 
The  Duke  of  Guise  was  highly  pleased. 


*  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente.  p.  369. 

t  Davila,  liv.  2,  p.  ICS.   De  Tliou,  liv.  27. 


STATES- GENERA 


L  AT  PONTOISE. 


51 


and  said  aloud  as  he  quitted  the  parlia- 
ment, "  To  maintain  this  decree,  my  sword 
shall  never  stick  to  its  scabbard."*  Re- 
markable words,  which  the  duke  after- 
wards acted  upon,  when  a  subsequent 
edict  gave  the  Protestants  further  liberty. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

States-General  at  Pontoise— Conference  of  Poissy — The 
King  of  Navarre  deserts  the  Protestant  patty. 

The  declared  object  of  the  Triumvirate 
being  to  extirpate  heresy,  the  Protestants 
foresaw  that  they  must  endure  fresh  per- 
secutions :  prudence,  therefore,  induced 
them  to  prepare  for  their  own  defence. 
Their  alarm  commenced  early  in  the 
spring;!  and  the  spirit  which  they  dis- 
played contributed  a  great  deal  towards 
the  passing  of  the  edict  of  July. 

The  Protestants  were  considerably  in- 
creased in  number,  and  the  court  was 
alarmed  by  a  report,  that  the  Huguenots 
intended  to  trouble  the  procession  of  the 
Fete  Dieu.  The  Duke  of  Guise  had  quitted 
the  court  for  a  short  time,  intending  to 
pass  a  few  weeks  with  some  friends  at 
his  chateau.  About  a  fortnight  after  he 
had  left,  the  queen-mother  and  the  king 
sent  for  him  back,  as  he  was  much  wanted. 
Guise  arrived,  willing  to  undertake  any 
thing  for  the  good  of  the  Catholic  religion. 
When  he  prepared  to  attend  the  summons 
he  said  to  his  followers,  "  If  it  were  for  any 
other  subject  I  would  not  stir ;  but  as  it 
concerns  the  honour  of  God,  I  will  go ; 
and  whoever  may  wish  to  attempt  any 
thing,  I  will  die  in  the  cause,  for  I  cannot 
die  in  a  better."  Brantome,  who  relates 
this,  mentions  that  he  was  present,  and 
accompanied  the  duke  in  a  speedy  journey 
to  Paris.  He  adds,  that  the  processions 
were  made  very  devoutly  and  quietly, 
without  any  disorder,  tumult  or  insolence: 
but  that  every  body  said,  with  one  voice, 
that  but  for  the  Duke  of  Guise  there 
would  have  been  lewdness  and  insolence, 
which  being  foreseen,  he  told  the  principal 
among  them,  that  if  there  should  be  the 
least  stir,  they  would  soon  join  hands,  and 


*  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  85. 

t  A  letter  from  the  Spanish  ambassador,  dated  10th' 
May,  156],  mentions  a  tumult  at  Beauvais,  on  which 
occasion  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon  was  in  very  great 
danger.  Mem.  de  Condi,  vol,  ii.  p.  11.  Il  is  also  men- 
tioned by  De  Thou  in  liv.  28. 


the  Huguenots  would  get  the  worst 
of  it* 

One  result  of  the  edict  of  July  was  the 
apparent  reconciliation  between  the  Prince 
of  Conde  and  the  Duke  of  Guise;  it  was 
brought  about  by  order  of  the  king,  who 
wished  to  see  them  friends.  They  em- 
braced each  other,  ate  together,  and 
swore  mutual  friendship;  but  they  never 
pardoned  each  other.  In  the  mean  time 
the  states-general  were  assembled  at  Pon- 
toise;! they  confirmed  the  queen  in  the 
regency,  and  the  King  of  Navarre  in  his 
post  of  Lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom. 
The  meeting  was  very  thinly  attended, 
having  no  representatives  of  the  clergy, 
and  but  few  for  the  other  two  orders. 
Instead  of  discussing  the  restoration  of  the 
royal  grants,  as  the  Triumvirs  expected, 
the  states-general  attacked  the  whole  body 
of  the  clergy;  and  so  heartily  did  the 
greater  part  concur  in  condemning  the 
dissolute  and  extravagant  lives  of  the 
priests  and  monks,  that  the  Huguenots 
began  to  entertain  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. The  cry  became  popular; 
and  the  ignorance,  the  bad  morals,  ati'd 
the  riches  of  the  ecclesiastical  body,  were 
the  general  topics  of  conversation.  The 
public  wish  was  that  their  property  should 
be  reduced;  one  third,  well  administered, 
it  was  said,  would  suffice  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  ecclesiastics,  and  the  re- 
mainder could  be  employed  in  paying  oft 
the  debts  of  the  state,  by  which  means 
the  taxes  might  be  diminished.]; 

But  although  the  clergy  had  deserted 
their  post  in  the  states-general,  the  inter- 
ests of  Rome  were  not  left  unprotected. 
Among  the  courtiers  who  possessed  great 
influence,  the  Pope  had  several  pension- 
ers ;  they  formally  opposed  the  proceed- 
ings. The  public  voice  however  was  so 
strong  on  the  occasion,  that  they  consi- 
dered the  only  way  to  avert  the  impending 
storm  was  to  offer  the  king  a  round  sum 
of  money  as  a  gift;  the  court  accepted  it, 
and  the  public  clamours  subsided. 

The  states-general,  however,  continued 
to  demand  a  tolerant  legislation  in  matters 
of  religion;  and  to  call  for  numerous  re- 
forms in  the  clerical  order :  this  was  the 


*  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p  HO,  et  seq. 

f  The  stales  general  held  at  Pontoise,  were  opened  at 
St.  Germains. 

\  The  discourse  of  M.  Bretagne,  orator  of  the  Tiers- 
etat,  contains  a  development  of  these  principles  ;  it  is 
given  at  length  in  the  2d  vol.  of  Mem.  de  Conde.  See 
also  de  Thou,  liv.  28. 


52 


STATES- GENERAL  AT  PONTOISE. 


business  of  a  general  council,  and  the  con- 
vocation of  one  became  the  desire  of  all 
parties. 

The  dogma  of  the  Pope's  infallibility, 
so  far  from  having  antiquity  to  plead  in 
its  favour,  was  not  thoroughly  established 
before  the  council  of  Trent.  The  old 
practice  of  the  Romish  church  was  quite 
contrary  to  such  a  notion.*  Councils  were 
continually  held  for  discussing  religious 
matters,  and  whether  the  affair  related 
to  doctrine  or  to  discipline,  all  the  prelates 
of  Christendom  were  to  be  summoned  to 
the  assembly ;  but  when  a  spirit  of  inquiry 
became  diffused,  the  dangers  of  an  (Ecu- 
menic Council  were  very  much  dreaded; 
and  this  dogma  was  more  strongly  insisted 
upon  to  counteract  the  evil. 

When  the  reformation  was  first  preach- 
ed, Luther  merely  exposed  those  points 
which  were  fit  subjects  for  a  general 
council ;  most  persons  who  were  attached 
to  the  church  acquiesced  in  the  propriety 
of  adopting  some  reforms,  and  earnestly 
desired  that  a  council  should  be  held,  to 
consider  what  changes  were  necessary 
for  the  good  of  the  Catholic  religion. 
Had  this  been  done,  the  reformation 
would  have  been  effected  without  creating 
the  violent  convulsions  which  occurred 
throughout  Europe.  But  the  ecclesiastics 
in  general  were  convinced  that  no  reform 
could  take  place  without  stripping  them 
of  their  wealth  and  impunity. t  The 
clergy  both  regular  and  parochial,  were 
zealous  in  opposing  the  measure;  the 
popes  also  displayed  an  extreme  repug- 
nance to  it;  they  considered  that  in  pro- 
portion as  a  reform  in  discipline  would 
give  dignity  and  glory  to  the  church,  it 
would  diminish  their  grandeur  and  power. 

The  Protestants,  so  far  from  objecting  to 
a  council,  were  willing  to  abide  by  its  deci- 
sion, provided  it  were  free  and  independ-l 
ent;  that  it  should  not  be  held  in  Italy, 
but  in  Germany;  and  that  the  decisions 
should  be  framed,  not  upon  the  sentiments 
of  scholastics,  or  the  laws  of  the  Pope, 
but  exclusively  according  to  the  Word  of 
God.  The  Pope  would  not  consent  to 
such  a  trial ;  and  when  Charles  V.  insisted 


*  Jnlm  Gerson,  a  celebrated  divine  nf  the  Mill  cen- 
tury, contends  in  one  of  Ins  works,  that  a  genera]  coun- 
cil can  depose  the  Pope,  and  elect  another.  See  Pasquier, 
vol.  i.  p.  34li. 

t  "  The  chief  pari  of  the  property  of  the  church,  being 
given  to  have  prayers  for  the  dead,  the  heretics  hy  de- 
stroying Purgatory  impoverish  it."— jMcm.  de  Tavannes, 

p.  121. 


upon  a  council  being  called,  Clement  VII. 
answered  him  by  excuses,  equivocations, 
and  delays.* 

The  succeeding  pontiff,  Paul  III.,  was 
so  pressed  that  he  consented  to  call 
a  council  at  Mantua  in  1527:  a  variety 
of  circumstances  afforded  excuses  for  re- 
peated delays  and  removals.  Vicenza 
was  fixed  upon  in  1538;  in  1542  the  le- 
gate went  to  Trent,  and  the  council  began 
its  deliberations;  the  prelates,  however, 
arrived  very  slowly,  and  an  adjournment 
took  place  till  1 545.  Eight  sessions  were 
held  during  1546  and  1547,  when  a 
plague  broke  out,  and  gave  a  fresh  occa- 
sion to  delay  the  council.  The  death  of 
Paul  III.,  a  war,  and  the  opposite  opinions 
of  two  or  three  succeeding  popes  pro- 
longed this  memorable  council,  which  alto- 
gether had  twenty-five  sessions,  the  last 
of  which  was  concluded  the  3d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1563. 

In  all  probability  the  council  would 
never  have  been  brought  to  a  conclusion, 
if  the  people  of  France  had  not  demanded 
it  so  earnestly.  While  they  only  expressed 
their  desire  by  petitions,  remonstrances, 
and  letters  from  persons  of  rank,  the  Pope 
held  firm,  and  the  council  remained  sus- 
pended. But  at  length  the  call  of  the 
nobles  was  joined  to  the  clamour  of  the 
nation,  and  it  was  announced,  that  if  the 
Pope  did  not  call  one,  a  national  council 
should  be  held.  Pius  IV.  was  alarmed, 
and  in  1561  gave  a  bull  for  re-assembling 
the  council  at  Trent. 

The  remedy  did  not  come  till  the  dis- 
order was  too  far  spread  to  feel  its  effect, 
and  the  delays  of  the  court  of  Rome  had 
made  such  an  impression  that  the  council 
would  never  be  held,  that  a  public  discus- 
sion of  the  differences  between  the  Pro- 
testants and  Catholics  was  already  agreed 
I  upon.  It  was  decided  that  it  should  be 
I  held  at  Poissy ;  and  although  the  Pope's 
legate,  aided  by  a  number  of  prelates,  did 
their  utmost  to  prevent  it,  the  only  thing 
which  they  could  effect  was,  that  the 
assembly  should  be  called  a  Conference, 
instead  of  a  Council. 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  had  shown  a 
great  willingness  to  hold  a  council,  and 
anticipated  some  renown  from  the  part 
which  he  should  take  in  it,  as  he  prided 
himself  greatly  upon  his  theological  know- 


*  Turretin,  Hut.  Eccles.  v.  2.  p.  CO.  Pallavicini,  Hist. 
Concilii  Trid.  lib.  2,  c.  10,  and  lib.  3,  c.  7. 


CONFERENCE  OF  POISSY. 


53 


ledge.  The  more  zealous  Catholics,  how- 
ever, blamed  him  very  much  for  com- 
promising a  faith  which  had  subsisted  so 
many  ages;  for  whatever  might  be  said, 
the  bare  wish  for  discussion  was  an  at- 
tack upon  it.  "  The  government,"  says  a 
violent  Catholic,  "  committed  a  very  great 


lor's  speech,  that  they  might  at  a  conve- 
nient time  call  upon  him  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  his  already  too  much  suspected 
faith.* 

Beza  was  the  first  who  spoke :  he  ad- 
vanced into  the  centre  of  the  assembly, 
and  kneeling  clown,  offered  a  most  fervent 


fault,  or  at  least  an  idleness,  in  permitting  prayer  for  divine  assistance.  He  then 
the  conference  of  Poissy,  instead  of  send-  made  a  profession  of  faith,  expatiated  on 
ing  Beza  and  his  troops  to  the  council  of  the  rigours  which  had  been  exercised 
Trent."*  against  his  brethren,  and  concluded  by 

The  Pope  also  was  so  little  pleased  at  j defending  the  different  points  which  were 
the  conference  being  held,  that  he  sentjdisputed  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  He 
Jacques  Lainez,  the  general  of  the  Jesuits,  i  was  patiently  heard  until  he  came  to 
to  try  to  break  it  off.t  Maimbourg  gives  i  the  subject  of  the  real  presenre  in  the 
the  following  as  the  substance  of  his  j  Eucharist;  his  free  style  of  discussion 
speech.  "  There  was  nothing  more  dan- seemed  not  only  indecent  but  horrible, 
gerous  than  to  treat  of  any  kind  of  recon- He  was,  however,  suffered  to  conclude 
ciliation  with  the  heretics,  who  are  com-  his  speech;  but  not  without  interruptions 
pared  in  the  Scriptures  to  foxes  and  wolves  by  the  occasional  expressions  of  anger, 


in  sheep's  clothing;  because  under  the 
fine  appearance  of  an  ambiguous  expres- 
sion, they  insinuate  the  venom  of  their 
heresy,  which  becomes  authorized  by 
being  received  without  precaution."}: 

The  Catholic  bishops  and  the  Protest- 
ant ministers  were  summoned,  and  the 


horror,  and  bigotry,  which  escaped  from 
the  Catholics.t 

Cardinal  Tournon  spoke  next ;  his  re- 
marks were  chiefly  directed  to  allaying 
any  doubts,  which  the  too  forcible  speech 
of  Beza  must  have  created  in  the  minds 
of  the  king  and  princes  present.    He  pro- 


conference  commenced  on  the  ninth  of  [tested  against  the  discussion  altogether, 
September.  The  king  went  there  with  j  and  condemned  the  imprudence  of  ex- 
all  his  court,  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and  posing  the  young  monarch  to  doubts  which 
the  great  officers  of  state.  The  divines! might  injure  his  faith.  , 
consisted  of  five  cardinals,  forty  bishops,  The  hopes  of  the  papists  were  fixed  on 
a  great  number  of  doctors,  and  twelve  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain :  they  considered 
ministers  of  the  reformed  religion.  Theo-  his  powers  would  bear  down  all  before 
dore  Beza  was  the  leader  of  the  argument!  him.  He  confined  his  remarks  to  two 
on  the  side  of  the  Protestants,  and  by  his  points;  viz.,  the  authority  of  the  church, 
ability  in  this  discussion,  he  obtained  great  i  and  transubstantiation.     His  harangue 


honour;  he  quite  justified  the  confidence 
of  his  party,  and  if  he  did  not  convince 
the  Catholics,  he  astonished  them  by  his 
eloquence,  which  was  lively  and  animated; 


was  very  diffuse,  and  displayed  conside- 
rable talent.  When  he  had  concluded, 
the  cardinals  and  bishops  formed  a  circle 
round  the  king,  and  said  to  him — •*  There 


by  the  acuteness  of  his  reasonings,  and ( is  the  Catholic  faith;  that  is  the  pure  doc- 
the  extent  of  his  learning.  He  was  assisted .  trine  of  the  church ;  we  are  all  of  us  ready 


by  Marloratus,  and  Peter  Martyr.^ 

The  first  sitting  was  opened  by  the 
Chancellor,  who  reasoning  in  his  usual 
plain  manner,  insinuated  that  the  Catho- 
lics ought  to  relax  upon  some  points  in 
order  to  win  back  the  Calvinists.  Such 
a  compromise  did  not  please  the  bishops, 
who  wished  to  take  note  of  the  Chanccl- 


*  Caveviar,  J3iiolngie  de  Louis  XIV.  p.  30. 
t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p  235. 
T  Hist.  (In  Calvinisme,  liv.  3. 

§  Discours  des  a'tfls  de  Poissy.  The  Jesuit  Fleury 
appears  unable  to  restrain  his  indignation  in  describing 
this  conference.  He  is  lavish  with  abuse  and  calum- 
nious insinuation.    Hist,  da  Card.  T.  p.  367. 


to  subscribe  it,  to  maintain  it ;  and,  if  ne- 
cessary, to  seal  it  with  our  blood."  Beza 
wished  to  reply,  but  as  it  was  late,  the 
sitting  was  concluded.}; 

The  king  was  not  present  at  the  other 
sittings,  in  which  a  great  deal  was  said  to 
no  purpose.  The  eucharist  was  the  prin- 
cipal point  of  dispute,  and  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorrain  availed  himself  of  the  presence  of 
some  Lutheran  divines  to  brin^  them  into 


*  Hist,  tin  Cnncile  deTrente,  p.  435.  De  Thou.  liv. 28. 
t  Journal  de  lirulart,  Discours  des  actes  de  Poissy. 
J  Hist  du  Cnncile  de  Tiente,  p.  -:37.    De  Thou,  liv. 
28.   Discours  des  actes  de  Poissy. 

5* 


54        FROTESTANTS  DESERTED  BY  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE. 


contact  with  Calvinism,  upon  almost  the 
only  point  of  consequence  wherein  they 
differ.  His  object  was  to  destroy  the  in- 
fluence which  the  Huguenots  possessed 
with  the  Duke  of  Wirtemburg,  and  to  pre- 
vent any  assistance  coming  to  them  from 
Germany. 

The  cardinal  was  arguing  that  subject, 
and  concluded  his  speech  with  this  ques- 
tion, addressed  to  Beza,  "  Do  you,  like  the 
Lutherans  of  Germany,  admit  consubstan- 
tiation  ?"  Beza  replied,  "  And  do  you, 
like  them,  reject  transubstantiation  ]"* 

It  was  found  useless  to  continue  the 
conference,  and  the  form  of  discussion  was 
changed ;  each  party  named  five  commis- 
sioners to  confer  upon  the  disputed  points. 
Both  sides  composed  confessions  of  faith, 
which  were  reciprocally  offered  for  signa- 
ture, and  were  reciprocally  rejected ;  and 
when  they  mutually  desisted  from  de- 
bating, each  party  claimed  the  victory. 
Such  was  the  result  of  a  conference,  from 
which  the  Chancellor  l'Hopital  anticipated 
such  benefits  for  France. f 

The  conference,  however,  was  not 
without  effect,  for  several  bishops  were  so 
moved  by  Beza's  arguments,  that  they 
devoted  their  attention  to  an  inquiry  after 
the  truth.  By  the  conversations  which 
they  occasionally  had  with  the  queen,  they 
so  far  brought  about  a  change  in  her  sen- 
timents, that  she  wrote  a  letter  to  the  pope 
on  the  subject.  "  Those  of  the  Reform," 
she  observed,  "are  neither  anabaptists 
nor  libertines;  they  believe  the  twelve  ar- 
ticles of  the  apostles'  creed ;  therefore 
many  persons  think  that  they  ought  not 
to  be  cut  off  from  communion  with  the 
church.  What  danger  could  there  be  in 
taking  away  the  images  from  the  churches, 
and  retrenching  some  useless  forms  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments!  It 
would  further  be  very  beneficial  to  allow 
to  all  the  communion  on  both  kinds;  and 
to  permit  divine  service  to  be  performed 
n  the  vulgar  tongue.  For  other  matters 
•hey  are  agreed,  that  there  shall  be  no  in- 
novation in  the  doctrine  or  discipline  ;  and 
•  hat  they  constantly  preserve  for  the  sove- 
reign pontiff  the  respect  and  obedience 
which  are  due  to  him. "J    The  pope  im- 


*  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol  i.  p.  121.    De  Thou.  liv.  28. 

t  Tlit  conference  ended  lUtli  ^epleniher.  Le  Journal 
it  Brulart  contains  a  long  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings. 

\  Hist,  du  Concilede  Trcnte.p.  433.  Davila,  liv.  2,  p 
185. 


mediately  wrote  to  his  legate  at  Paris,  to 
spare  no  exertions  for  strengthening  the 
Catholic  party.*  The  best  plan  appeared 
to  consist  in  winning  over  the  King  of 
Navarre,  who  was  offered  the  kingdom'of 
Sardinia  in  exchange  for  his  dominions, 
which  the  Spanish  government  had  seized 
upon.  Cardinal  Granvelle  made  the  com- 
munication, but  that  prince  had  been  so 
often  duped  in  his  treaties  and  discussions 
with  the  King  of  Spain,  that  he  would  not 
be  tempted  by  the  offer.  The  Guises  and 
the  legate  then  proposed  that  his  marriage 
with  Jane  d'Albret  should  be  annulled, 
and  that  he  should  marry  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  relict  of  Francis  II. ;  but  he  refused 
that  offer  also,  as  well  as  the  hand  of  Mar- 
garet, the  king's  sister.f 

But  though  proof  to  all  the  proposals 
which  were  made  him,  Anthony  of  Bour- 
bon could  not  resist  the  impulse  of  his 
feelings,  when  his  pride  was  attacked. 
The  Prince  of  Conde  was  described  as  the 
head  of  the  Protestants,  while  he  was  only 
second ;  the  king's  youth,  on  the  other 
hand,  opened  for  him  a  long  career  of  au- 
thority; and  if  he  became  a  Catholic,  his 
power  and  influence  would  be  so  much 
increased,  that  he  would  be  able  to  com- 
pel the  King  of  Spain  to  come  to  some  ar- 
rangement with  him.  The  influence  of 
the  Spanish  ambassador  was  added,  and 
he  very  soon  declared  himself  in  favour  of 
the  Catholics,  turning  his  back  on  his  old 
supporters.  The  Triumvirs  joyfully  re- 
ceived the  illustrious  deserter;  and  the 
queen-mother  saw  no  other  way  of  re- 
storing the  equilibrium  than  by  openly 
supporting  the  Protestants.  The  remain- 
der of  the  year  15G1  passed  quietly  away; 
both  parties  felt  conscious  of  an  approach- 
ing rupture,  and  occupied  themselves  du- 
ring the  interval  in  preparation  for  the 
conflict. 

Navarre  immediately  compelled  his  con- 
sort to  discontinue  the  preaching  which 
had  taken  place  at  his  residence;  and 
from  full  liberty  in  that  respect,  the  inha- 
bitants of  St.  Germains  passed  to  a  com- 
plete prohibition.  The  Protestants  of  dis- 
tinction became  in  consequence  more 
urgent  in  their  applications  to  obtain  a 
legal  permission  to  assemble  for  worship.} 

*  Brantonie,  vol.  viii.  p.  2(ii).  (vie  du  roy  de  JV.) 
t  Hist  du  Card.  Granvelle,  p.  3G1  etscq.    Davila,  liv. 
2,  p.  178.    I'asquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  95.    De  Thou,  liv.  28. 
Strada,  lib.  3. 
I  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


EDICT  OF  JANUARY,  1562. 


55 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Edict  of  January,  1562— Diwontent  of  the  catholics— 


which  were  declared  an  encroachment  in 
the  edict.  In  other  parts,  where  the  Pro- 
testants were  not  very  numerous,  the  Ca- 
tholics took  upon  themselves  to  avenge 


Massacres  at  Vasay.  lours  and  Sens-Guise  enters  (-|le  outrages  On  their  religion.  Bloodv 
Paris  in  triumph— The  Triumvirs  seize  the  king's  I  T     ,        •  ,  J 

person.  | scenes  took  place  in  various  parts;  and  as 

I  the  Protestants  exercised  reprisals,  the 
Coligny,  ever  watchful  for  the  interests  whole  kingdom  appeared  to  be  torn  by  an 
of  the  reformed  religion,  was  early  ap- !  extensive  feud. 

prised  of  the  attempts  to  win  over  the!  In  December,  1561,  the  Huguenots 
King  of  Navarre.  He  had  suspected  the  broke  into  the  church  of  St.  Medard,  and 
motives  of  a  mission  to  Spain,  and  em- J  committed  terrible  Havoc.  Several  per- 
ployed  persons  to  observe  the  messenger; 'sons  were  killed  in  the  fray,  and  the  fol- 
who  was  arrested  on  his  return,  in  the 'lowing  day  the  scene  was  renewed  with 
disguise  of  a  pilgrim.  He  was  searched  the  destruction  of  the  images,  &c.  The 
from  head  to  foot,  in  hopes  of  finding  let-  j  reason  assigned  was,  that  the  bell  for  ves- 
ters  upon  him,  but  in  vain.  Some  one,  jpershad  disturbed  the  Huguenots  in  their 
however,  observing,  that  when  he  was;  worship,  and  prevented  them  from  hearing 
taken,  he  threw  away  his  staff,  the  admi-ja  sermon  preached  by  one  of  their  minis- 
ral  desired  it  might  be  sent  for;  a  coun- Iters  in  a  neighbouring  house.  It  appears, 
tryman  had  picked  it  up,  and  carried  it  to  j  however,  from  a  statement  published  at 
his  cottase  :  on  examination  it  was  found  the  time,  that  when  the  Huguenots  peace- 
to  be  hollow:  it  contained  letters  relative  ably  requested  the  ringers  to  desist  (for 
to  the  Guises'  application  to  the  King  of  vespers  were  finished,)  they  ill-treated 
Spain,  who,  anxious  to  embroil  France, 'their  messengers:  the  Protestants  were  not 
had  promised  to  grant  them  every  thing  the  aggressors,  or  they  would  not  so  soon 


they  desired.* 

The  admiral  was  surprised  at  Navarre's 


after  have  obtained  the  edict  of  January.'' 
Complaints  were  continually  brought  to 


conduct ;  and  the  queen-mother  was  abso-  the  government,  from  the  party,  which, 
lutely  alarmed  on  hearing  of  the  affair,  according  to  circumstances,  fared  the 
She  perceived  that  she  was  lost  if  a  recon-  \  worst ;  and  the  queen,  at  the  joint  solicita- 
ciliation  took  place  between  him  and  the  tions  of  the  admiral  and  the  chancellor. 
Guises,  and  she  could  not  expect  support  summoned  a  meeting,  at  St.  Germains,  of 
from  Coligny,  having  given  him  so  many  deputies  from  all  the  parliaments  in  the 
reasons  for  distrusting  her.  At  first  she !  kingdom.  The  object  of  this  assembly 
attempted  to  turn  the  King  of  Navarre  was  to  frame  another  edict,  which  would 
from  his  design,  but  finding  that  chance 'define  the  rights  and  privileges  of  each 
hopeless,  she  decided  on  throwing  herself  party,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt  or 
into  the  arms  of  the  admiral;  and  in  order  infraction.! 

to  gain  his  confidence,  she  promised  to  To  manifest  their  opposition  to  the  mea- 
do  all  that  he  required  of  her.f  The  Re-  sure,  neither  the  Duke  of  Guise  nor  his 
form  was  the  object  of  his  solicitude;  and  .brother  were  present;  but  the  constable 
•he  obtained,  in  fact,  an  extension  of  the  land  Marshal  St.  Andre  took  their  seats 
edict  of  July,  by  securing  personal  protec-  among  the  nobles  invited  along  with  the 
tion  to  the  Protestants,  because  they  be- j  deputies:  they  indulged  in  the  hope  of 
came  free  from  molestation  on  account  of  raising  the  whole  assembly  against  the 
religion,  although  the  edict  did  not  ex- (chancellor's  proposal.  This  latter  delivered 
pi  essly  grant  them  liberty  of  conscience,  a  speech,  remarkable  for  the  frankness  and 
The  queen's  protection  gave  the  Pro-  the  wisdom  of  the  principles  developed  in 
testants  great  encouragement ;  and  where!  it.  He  avoided  all  controversial  matter, 
their  numbers  were  sufficient  to  deter  any  and  explained  the  principal  object  of  their 
attempt  at  violence,  they  propagated  their  deliberations.  "  Does  the  interest  of  the 
doctrines  with  success.  They  were  gua-j state,"  said  he,  "require  the  permission, 
ranteed  from  a  legal  accusation;  and  the 
Catholics  loudly  complained  of  the  autho- 
rities, for  permitting  the  public  preachings, 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  238.         \  Ibid,  p.  293. 


or  the  prohibition  of  the  meetings  of  the 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  28 
Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  541. 

t  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trenlc,  p.  452 
ii.  p.  91. 


Journal  de  Brulart.   Mem.  de 
Pasquier,  vol. 


56 


DISCONTENT  OF 


THE  CATHOLICS. 


Calvinists  ?  To  decide,  it  is  not  necessary , 
to  examine  religious  doctrines ;  for  even 
supposing  the  Protestant  religion  to  be 
bad,  is  that  a  sufficient  reason  for  pro- 
scribing those  who  profess  it?  Is  it  not 
possible  to  be  a  good  subject  without  being 
a  Catholic,  or  even  a  Christian?  and  can- 
not fellow-citizens,  differing  in  their  reli- 
gious opinions,  still  live  in  good  harmony? 
Do  not,  therefore,  fatigue  yourselves  with 
inquiring  which  of  the  two  religions  is  : 
best;  we  are  here,  not  to  establish  a  dog- 
ma of  faith,  but  to  regulate  the  state."* 
The  good  old  man,  in  pleading  the  cause 
of  toleration  and  justice,  did  not  conceal 
from  himself  the  difficulty  of  his  task;  he 
expressed  his  conviction  of  the  inflexible 
character  of  his  opponents ;  but  such  was 
the  influence  of  his  discourse,  combined 
with  his  venerable  appearance,  and  the  so- 
lidity of  his  character,  that  the  assembly 
assented  to  his  proposal,  and  adopted  the 
well-known  edict  of  January.t  It  was 
there  decreed,  that  the  Protestants  should 
restore  the  churches  which  they  had  seized 
on,  and  the  images,  crucifixes,  relics,  and 
other  ornaments,  of  which  they  had 
stripped  them:  they  were  not  to  oppose 
the  collection  of  tithes,  or  other  ecclesias- 
tical revenues;  they  had  the  privilege  of 
meeting  for  the  exercise  of  their  religion 
outside  the  towns,  but  unarmed ;  gentle- 
men alone  were  allowed  to  go  armed ;  the 
Protestant  ministers  were  forbidden  to  cri- 
ticize the  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion in  their  sermons,  books,  or  conversa- 
tion ;  they  were  also  forbidden  to  hold  any 
synod,  without  permission  from  the  court, 
or  to  travel  from  town  to  town  to  preach, 
but  confine  themselves  to  one  church: 
with  a  few  other  articles;  the  whole  being 
provisionally  granted,  until  the  decision  of 
the  general  council. 

The  passing  of  this  edict  was  considered 
a  triumph  for  the  Calvinists;  while  the  Ca- 
tholics received  it  with  a  gloomy  silence, 
which  indicated  the  desire  of  revenge, 
without  expressing  it.  Most  of  the  par- 
liaments registered  it  without  difficulty ; 
but  that  of  Paris  refused  to  consent.!  The 
fear  of  giving  offence  to  the  court  induced 
the  counsellors  to  yield  after  receiving  two 
letters  of  Jussions;  and  the  edict  was  re- 


*  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trent,  p.  452.  De  Thou,  liv.  29. 
t  Dated  17  Jan.  1501-2. 

I  The  answer  gi\en  by  that  body  was  non  possumus, 
ncc  debemus.    Journal  de  Brulart. 


gistered  with  these  restrictions — "consi- 
dering the  urgent  necessity,  as  a  tempo- 
rary measure,  and  without  approbation  of 
the  new  religion."* 

The  new  edict  seemed  to  have  a  fair 
chance  of  bearing  down  every  obstacle 
opposed  to  it.  The  Guises  had  quitted 
the  court ;  the  King  of  Navarre  was  occu- 
pied entirely  with  his  passion  for  the  fair 
Rouhet,  one  of  the  queen's  maids  of  ho- 
nour.! The  only  supporters  of  the  Ca- 
tholics remaining  at  court  were  St.  Andre 
and  the  constable,  who  were  very  far  from 
being  able  to  cope  with  Coligny  and  An- 
delot,  backed  as  they  were  by  the  queen- 
mother.  But  the  triumvirate  was  not 
cast  down:  it  was  not  without  a  special 
object  in  view  that  Guise  had  retired  into 
Lorrain:  he  expected  the  Protestants 
would  call  on  the  different  princes  of  Ger- 
many for  help,  and  to  prevent  that  was  his 
first  consideration.  The  pope's  legate  and 
the  Spanish  ambassador  were  continually 
inveighing  against  the  edict;  they  found 
fault  with  the  king's  education ;  gave 
money  and  promises  to  create  a  party,  and 
went  so  far  as  to  demand  the  dismissal  of 
the  Chatillons;  and  when  the  queen  gave 
as  a  reason  for  declining  to  comply,  that 
the  Calvinists  were  a  powerful  body,  the 
ambassador  made  an  offer  of  troops  to 
wage  war  against  them.  The  triumvirate, 
emboldened  by  the  assurance  of  such  pro- 
tection, formed  a  plan  for  collecting  a 
number  of  troops  during  the  winter,  and 
seizing  upon  the  king's  person  early  in 
the  spring.| 

In  the  mean  time,  Coligny,  perceiving 
that  his  enemies  did  all  they  could  to 
kindle  a  civil  war,  considered  it  right  to 
take  measures  of  precaution.  He  united 
himself  more  closely  with  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  and  called  on  him  to  make  a  pub- 
lic profession  of  the  Protestant  religion, 
which  he  did;  and  the  effect  of  his  exam- 
ple was  such  that  many  persons  of  rank 
did  the  same;  and  the  number  of  persons, 
who  came  to  the  Faubourgs  to  hear  the 

*  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trent,  p.  453.  and  Mem.  de 
Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  15,  etstq.  In  the  interval,  before  the 
edict  was  registered,  a  remonstrance  of  the  parliament 
was  addressed  to  the  ki utr.  in  which  the  persecution  of 
the  Protestants  was  justified  by  Calvin's  treatment  of 
Servelus.  Calvin  certainly  arted  on  that  occasion  as  a 
cruel  persecutor,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he 
had  been  educated  in  the  Knmisli  church,  and  acquired 
Ins  bigotry  in  that  school.  The  remonstrance  is  in  Vil- 
leroy  vol  vii. 

f  This  lady  bore  him  a  son,  who  was  archbishop  of 
Rouen. 

I  Mem.de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  377. 


MASSACRE  AT  VASSY. 


57 


preaching,  in  a  short  time  amounted  to     It  has  been  said  that  Guise  wished  to 


fifty  thousand 


interpose  his  authority,  and  prevent  the 


flie  indignation  of  the  popish  party, \ effusion  of  blood;  and  that  but  for  the 


excited  by  the  acts  of  the  legate,  and  in- 
flamed by  the  spread  of  the  Huguenot  no- 
tions, began  at  last  to  show  itself.  Male- 
dictions and  menaces  resounded  from 
their  pulpits,  and  the  anathema  was  soon 
followed  by  an  exhortation  to  destroy  the 
object  of  the  curse.  Wherever  the  Catho- 
lics were  in  sufficient  numbers,  and  were 
not  restrained  by  the  authorities,  they 
murdered  a  great  many  Protestants. 
In  such  a  season  of  public  irritation,  the 


wound  he  received,  no  massacre  would 
have  taken  place.  As  a  warrior  he  was 
celebrated  for  heightening  the  splendour 
of  his  victories  by  his  humanity  to  the 
vanquished ;  but  his  generosity  was  con- 
fined, it  would  appear,  to  the  field  of  ho- 
nour; and  when  bigotry  urged  on  to 
murder,  that  noble  quality  could  not  ex- 
pect to  be  encouraged.  Surely  he  would 
otherwise  have  shown,  on  behalf  of  de- 
fenceless women  and  children,  and  un- 


Catholics  in  Paris  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  I  armed  men,  some  of  that  pity  which  he 
Guise  to  come  and  help  them,  as  the  had  displayed  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
queen  seemed  to  become  more  closely  His  attendants  consummated  a  frightful 
connected  with  the  Huguenots:   Guise; butchery,  while  he  had  a  slight  wound 


obeyed  the  summons,  and  left  Joinville 
about  the  end  of  February:  his  suite,  al- 
ready numerous,  increased  as  he  pro- 
ceeded; he  was,  in  short,  at  the  head  of  a 
little  army. 

Guise  arrived  at  Vassyf  precisely  as  the 
Huguenots  were  performing  divine  ser- 
vice. He  expressed  great  indignation, 
and  went  to  church  to  hear  mass.  Only 
a  small  party  followed  him,  the  rest  has- 
tening to  the  spot  where  the  Protestants 
were,  assembled,  commenced  their  attack 
upon  them  by  gross  insults  and  abusive 
language.  An  assault  so  unprovoked, 
excited  the  indignation  of  the  Protestants, 
and  both  parties  soon  came  to  blows. 
The  strife  was  very  bloody,  for  Guise's 
men  rushed  into  the  building  where  the 
meeting  was  held,  and  fell  upon  the  assem- 
bly sword  in  hand:  women,  children,  and 
aged  persons,  were  the  earliest  of  their 
victims.  The  news  of  this  tumult  reached 
the  duke,  who  immediately  left  the  church 
to  appease  it.  ,  Unfortunately  he  received 
a  blow  on  his  cheek  from  a  stone :  the 
sight  of  his  face  bleeding  rekindled  and 
augmented  the  rage  of  his  followers;  they 
renewed  the  massacre,  and  continued  it 
with  barbarous  activity.  They  pulled 
down  and  destroyed  the  pulpit,  burned  the 
books,  and  spared  neither  age  nor  sex ; 
every  one  that  could  not  escape  from  them 
was  murdered.  More  than  eighty  persons 
were  killed  on  this  occasion.}: 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  243.  The  Cardinal  of  Chatillon, 
Bishop  of  Beauvais ;  and  James  ipifame,  Bishop  of  Ne- 
vers,  went  so  far  as  to  be  publicly  married. 

f  1st  March,  I5u2.  Vassy  is  a  small  town  in  Cham- 
pagne, (Haute-Marne,)  sixty  leagues  east  of  Paris, 

J  See  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  243  Brantome  (Vie  de  Guise.) 
and  almost  every  writer  of  or  upon  that  period.  The 


dressed  at  a  trifling  distance:  indeed  his 
retiring  for  that  purpose  tacitly  encouraged 
them  by  exhibiting  his  wound  as  an  ex- 
cuse, as  well  as  a  pretext  for  their  conduct. 
Subsequently,  when  the  public  voice  ac- 
cused him  as  the  butcher  of  Vassy,  he 
made  an  attempt  to  justify  himself,  and 
get  rid  of  the  imputation;  but  his  observa- 
tion to  one  of  his  officers,  who  commanded 
at  Vassy,  is  an  unanswerable  argument 
for  his  guilt.  Guise  reproached  him  with 
having  been  the  original  cause,  in  not  pre- 
venting a  meeting  of  heretics.  The  of- 
ficer excused  himself  by  saying,  that  the 
edict  of  January  allowed  them  to  assemble 
in  the  suburbs.  This  reply  inflamed  the 
rage  of  the  duke,  who  laid  his  hand  upon 
his  sword,  declaring  that  it  must  be  set- 
tled by  that  means.*  His  attendants, 
therefore,  had  anticipated  his  intentions. 
If  the  special  object  of  Guise's  journey  be 
taken  into  consideration,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  he  could  not  well  be  displeased 
with  the  zeal  of  his  followers,  in  first  in- 
sulting, and  afterwards  attacking  the  Hu- 
guenots; and  he  must  bear  all  the  igno- 
miny of  the  transaction.  One  account! 
states  that  the  duke  approached  when  they 


Abbe  Anquetil  states,  "that  the  carnage  ceased  only  on 
account  of  the  multitude  of  the  killed  and  wounded." — 
Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i. 

There  were  four  accounts  of  this  affair  published  at 
the  time:  they  are  reprinted  in  the  third  volume  of  Mem. 
de  Condc. — 1.  Relation  de  I'occision  du  Due  de  Guise 
execulee  a  Vassy  en  Champagne. — 2.  Kiscours  an  vray 
eten  abbrege  dece  qui  est  dernierement  ailvenu  a  Vassi, 
y  passant  Monseigneur  le  Due  de  Guise  ;  par  Guillaume 
Morel;  imprimeur  du  Roy,  par  privilege  expris  du  diet 
Seigneur— 3.  Memoire  dressee  par  un  Huguenot,  au 
sujet  du  tumulte  de  Vassy.  This  is  in  Latin,  and  was 
intended  for  circulation  among  the  Protestants  of  Ger- 
many.— 4.  Discount  entier  de  la  persecution  et  cruaut'' 
exercee  en  la  ville  de  Vassy,  &c. 

*  Davila,  liv.  3.  t  Mem.  de  Castelnau. 


58  MASSACRE 

were  preaching,  out  of  curiosity ;  another,* 
that  he  warned  the  Protestants  to  suspend 
their  service,  till  after  he  had  heard  mass, 
but  that  they  only  sang  the  louder,  out  of 
bravado,  for  he  happened  to  come  at  the 
very  moment  they  were  singing  psalms. 
But  neither  of  these  offer  any  reason  to 
suppose  that  a  handful  of  unarmed  Pro- 
testants would  have  given  provocation  to 
a  considerable  troop,  commanded  by  the 
first  captain  in  France.  Most  Catholic 
writers  treat  this  massacre  with  a  cruel 
indifference  ;  but  as  it  was  the  occasion  of 
a  civil  war  which  followed,  they  are  al- 
ways anxious  to  make  the  Protestants  ap- 
pear the  aggressors. f 

Vassy  was  not  the  only  scene  of  vio- 
lence and  massacre;  great  excesses  were 
committed  at  Cahors,  Toulouse,  Sens, 
Amiens,  and  Tours.  At  the  latter  town 
the  greatest  refinement  of  cruelty  was  dis- 
played. Three  hundred  Protestants  were 
shut  up  without  food  during  three  days ; 
then  tied  together  two  by  two,  and  led  to 
a  slaughter-house,  where  they  were  mur- 
dered in  different  ways.  At  Sens  there 
was  also  an  exhibition  of  atrocious  fanati- 
cism ;  during  three  successive  days  the 
bells  of  the  cathedral  invited  the  inhabi- 
tants to  murder  the  Huguenots.  Even 
the  vines  which  had  belonged  to  Protest- 
ants were  pulled  up  by  the  roots.  The 
bodies  of  the  victims  floating  down  the 
Seine  appeared  to  call  for  justice  on  their 
persecutors,  as  they  passed  the  residence 
of  Catherine  of  Medicis.|  But  while  one 
party  called  for  justice,  another  clamoured 
for  the  extermination  of  the  Protestants, 
and  Montluc  addressed  a  memoir  show- 
ing how  easily  it  might  be  effected. J 

The  news  of  the  massacres,  but  espe- 
cially that  of  Vassy,  excited  a  general 
indignation  throughout  France.  The 
Protestants  loudly  complained  of  this  dis- 
astrous infraction  of  the  edict,  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  was  charged  to  bear  their 
remonstrances  to  the  foot  of  the  throne. 
The  queen  promised  them  full  satisfaction, 
but  it  was  not  her  intention  to  fulfil  her 

*  Brantom".  This  writer  was  very  anxious  to  clear 
the  duke's  character;  his  account  agrees  with  the  Jour- 
nal de  Brulart. 

t  Tavannes,  however,  is  an  exception;  lie  states, 
"  that  Guise  arrived  at  Vassy  at  their  hour  for  preach- 
ing, seized  the  minister,  and  killed  several  of  the  Pro- 
testants, and  that  his  soldiers  plundered  the  rest." — 
Jtlem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  247. 

t  See  the  histories  of  the  time  by  Beza,  De  Thou,  and 
d'Aubigne. 

§  The  memoir  is  to  be  found  at  length  in  the  Mem.  de 
Condi,  vol.  iii.  p.  184,  ct  s- j. 


AT  VASSY. 

promise.  Theodore  Beza  hoped  that  the 
King  of  Navarre  would  be  so  affected  by 
Guise's  conduct,  that  he  would  again  join 
the  Protestants;  but  that  prince  called 
them  all  heretics  and  insurgents,  and  told 
Beza,  "  that  whoever  touched  even  the  fin- 
ger's end  of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
touched  him  in  his  whole  body."  Beza's 
reply  was  this:  "I  speak  for  a  religion 
which  teaches  how  to  endure  injuries  bet- 
ter than  to  repel  them ;  but  remember, 
sire,  it  is  an  anvil  which  has  used  up  many 
hammers."* 

The  admiral  also  endeavoured  to  re- 
claim the  King  of  Navarre,  but  in  vain. 
He  would  hardly  receive  him;  he  said  that 
the  Huguenots  had  abused  the  edict  in 
their  favour;  and  as  they  knew  that  Guise 
had  opposed  its  being  made,  they  had 
done  every  thing  in  their  power  to  assas- 
sinate him.f 

The  Protestants  perceiving  that  their 
destruction  would  be  gradually  effected 
by  their  enemies  in  spite  of  any  edict  in 
their  favour,  justly  considered  that  an  open 
war  would  afford  them  more  security. 
The  Prince  of  Conde,  and  all  the  persons 
of  distinction  in  their  party  were  anxious 
to  take  arms,  but  Coligny  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  join  them,  and  his  refusal  pre- 
vented their  coming  to  any  resolution. 

The  queen-mother  perceived  that  such 
was  the  irritated  state  of  both  parties,  that 
a  civil  war  was  imminent ;  still  she  did  not 
give  up  all  hopes  of  peace.  She  wished 
to  attempt  some  conciliatory  measures, 
and  to  contrive  an  interview  between 
Conde  and  Guise,  in  the  king's  presence. 
Marshal  Montmorency  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  Protestants  to  suspend  the 
exercise  of  their  worship  for  a  short  time, 
but  they  would  not  concede  so  much  to 
their  adversaries,  and  demanded  the  full 
observance  of  the  edict  of  January.!  Ca- 
therine therefore  wrote  to  the  duke,  en- 
treating him  to  defer  his  journey  to  Paris, 
and  join  the  king  at  Monceaux.  But  Guise 
wished  for  a  triumph,  not  a  reconciliation : 


*  Beza,  Hist  Eceles.  liv.  G.  In  the  title  page  of  the 
edition  printed  at  Geneva.  1580,  there  is  a  vignette  re- 
presenting three  men  in  armour  striking  an  anvil ;  with 
this  motto: — 

Phis  d  mefrapprr  on  s'amnse, 
Tant  plus  de  marteaux  on  y  use. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  245.  The  king  actually  issued 
letters  patent  for  an  inquiry  into  the  violences,  aggres- 
sions, and  excesses  committed  at  Vassy,  by  some  of  the 
new  religion,  against  the  person  of  the  Duke  if  Ouist, 
The  letters  are  dated  3l)lh  April,  1562, 

I  Beza,  Hist.  Eceles.  liv.  (i, 


THE  TRIUMVIRS  SEIZE  THE  KING. 


59 


he  had  several  reasons  for  continuing  his 
journey :  lie  was  anxiously  looked  for  by 
the  Parisians,  who  thought  his  presence 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  Ro- 
mish religion :  he  knew  also  that  they  de- 
tested Marshal  Montmorency  their  go- 
vernor, and  expected  on  his  arrival  to  be 
freed  from  him;  he  therefore  informed  the 
queen  in  reply,  that  his  presence  was 
more  necessary  in  the  capital  than  she 
supposed.* 

No  sovereign  ever  entered  Paris  in  a 
more  magnificent  manner,  than  did  the 
Duke  of  Guise  on  this  occasion:  he  was 
accompanied  by  the  Constable  Montmo- 
rency, a  brilliant  escort  of  two  thousand 
gentlemen,  and  a  strong  body  of  cavalry .t 
The  provost  of  the  trades  harangued  him ; 
other  bodies  followed  the  example;  and 
the  shouts  of  the  multitude,  who  crowded 
on  his  passage,  overwhelmed  him  with  the 
illusions  of  popularity. 

The  Prince  of  Conde  returned  to  Paris, 

!  in  order  to  oppose  the  Duke  of  Guise,  but 
he  had  no  chance;  he  could  do  nothing 
against  so  powerful  an  adversary,  whom 
the  Parisian  populace  had  styled  the  de- 
fender of  the  faith,  and  who  looked  upon 
him  as  their  liberator.  It  was  in  vain  that 
he  attempted  to  increase  the  number  of 

;  his  partisans,  by  showing  himself  fre- 
quently in  the  streets,  accompanied  by  his 
gentlemen;  and  all  that  he  could  do,  was 

i  to  prevent  Guise  from  wreaking  his  ven- 
geance on  the  Protestants,  which  it  ap- 
pears was  in  contemplation.^    At  length 

!  Conde  found  that  Paris  was  not  safe  for 
him.    He  decided  on  quitting  that  city, 

:  and  retired  to  Meaux,  to  assemble  his 
forces.    He  wrote  to  the  Chatillons :  "  Cae- 

!  sar  has  not  only  crossed  the  Rubicon,  but 
has  already  made  himself  master  of  Rome, 
and  his  standards  are  beginning  to  be  dis- 
played in  the  country.^ 

In  the  mean  time,  the  queen  had  writ- 
ten to  Coligny  and  Conde  for  assistance,!! 
which  was  willingly  given  on  the  part  of 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  245.   Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  n 
224.  H 
t  Journal  de  Brulart. 
t  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  194. 

§  Sa  Moue,  Discour?  politiijues  ct  militaires,  p.  546. 
Bale,  15bT. 

||"0e  qui  est  trop  certain,  que  sans  elle  ni  lui,  ni 
I  ceuxdeChalillon,  n'eussent  jamais  oseenterprerfdre."— 
Discount  etc.  de  la  rie  de  Catherine  de  Medicis.  This 
tract,  which  is  written  with  great  talent,  has  been  at- 
tributed to  different  authors.  It  is  published  in  the 
Journal  de  Henri  HI ,  vol.  ii,  Edit.  Cologne. 


the  Protestants,  who  were  in  general  so 
incensed  against  Guise,  that  they  were  de- 
termined to  crush  him,  or  perish  in  the 
attempt.  Numbers  of  Huguenots  assem- 
bled from  all  parts  of  France,  and  directly 
they  had  sufficient  force  they  determined 
to  go  to  help  the  queen,  and  prevent  her 
falling  into  the  hands  of  her  enemies.  An 
event  of  that  kind  had  been  foreseen  by 
Catherine,  and  as  the  castle  of  Monceaux 
offered  no  defence,  she  had  conducted  the 
king  to  Melun,  a  fortified  town,  and  after- 
wards to  Fontainebleau ;  but  in  vain  had 
she  taken  these  precautions,  for  the  Tri- 
umvirs set  out  suddenly  from  Paris  with 
a  strong  detachment  of  cavalry,  and  on 
their  arrival  at  Fontainebleau,  they  in- 
formed the  queen,  "that  they  had  come 
for  the  king ;  and  that  for  her  own  part, 
if  she  would  not  go  with  them,  she  might 
retire  where  she  pleased."  Catherine 
made  an  attempt  to  gain  time  by  threats 
and  entreaties,  in  the  hope  of  Conde's  ar- 
rival. The  constable,  however,  gave  or- 
ders for  departure,  and  every  thing  being 
hastily  got  ready,  the  convoy  set  out  for 
Melun.  Catherine  was  in  a  state  of 
dreadful  perplexity ;  she  was  afraid  to  re- 
sign herself  to  the  Triumvirs,  but  could 
'  not  go  away  and  leave  her  son  in  their 
hands.  The  place  in  which  they  were 
lodged  had  been  used  as  a  prison  above 
a  century.* 

The  Prince  of  Conde  and  Coligny  were 
at  the  head  of  three  thousand  horse,  but 
arrived  too  late  to  assist  the  queen ;  they 
therefore  posted  their  forces  at  Villeneuve 
St.  George,  which  was  on  the  road  by 
which  Guise  would  conduct  the  king  to 
Paris.  It  was  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  the  Protestants  to  deliver  the  king  from 
the  hands  of  the  Triumvirs,  and  as  their 
forces  were  more  numerous  than  those  of 
their  enemies,  they  confidently  reckoned 
upon  a  victory;  but  Guise  had  made  a 
circuitous  march  with  great  expedition, 
and  arrived  in  safety  at  the  castle  of  Vin- 
cennes,  with  the  king  and  queen  mother : 
he  very  soon  removed  them  into  Paris  for 
greater  security.! 

During  this  time  the  queen  suffered 
great  uneasiness  from  her  knowledge  of 
the  violent  characters  of  the  Triumvirs, 
especially  as  they  were  aware  of  her 

*  Beza,  Hist.  Eccles..  liv.  29.    De  Thou,  liv.  C. 
t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  248. 


60       THE  PROTESTANTS  TAKE  ORLEANS  AND  OTHER  TOWNS. 


having  written  to  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
entreating  him  to  help  her.  She  had  also 
desired  Conde  to  pay  no  attention  to  any 
letters,  which  she  or  the  king  might  be 
compelled  to  sign.*  Having  thus  identi- 
fied her  cause  with  that  of  the  Huguenots, 
she  expected  the  worst  from  them,  and 
took  measures  for  being  informed  of  their 
deliberations.  The  Triumvirs  used  to  hold 
their  consultations  in  the  King  of  Navarre's 
chamber ;  and  Catherine  fixed  a  tube  from 
the  room  above  it,  so  that  she  could  dis- 
tinctly hear  their  conversation.  Among 
other  matters,  she  heard  it  proposed,  by 
Marshal  St.  Andre,  to  tie  her  in  a  sack 
and  throw  her  into  the  river,  for  other- 
wise they  should  never  do  any  good. 
Guise  could  not  consent  to  such  a  horrid 
measure,  and  showed  how  unjust  it  would 
be  to  murder  the  wife  and  the  mother  of 
their  kings.  Still,  though  she  was  sure  of 
personal  protection  from  Guise,  she  greatly 
feared  lest  an  attempt  should  be  made  on 
her  life  by  St.  Andre  without  his  know- 
ledge.f  Catherine's  greatest  resource 
was  in  the  attachment  of  the  fair  Rouliet, 
whose  ascendancy  over  the  King  of  Na- 
varre enabled  her  to  procure  information 
of  the  views  of  the  Triumvirate;  measures 
were  taken  to  counteract  them,  and  the 
Triumvirs  finding  all  their  plans  discon- 
certed, and  having  suspicions  of  the  way 
in  which  it  occurred,  looked  upon  Navarre 
as  a  faithless  prince,  who  was  more  cal- 
culated to  ruin  than  to  benefit  a  party. 
From  that  time  they  kept  him  ignorant  of 
all  their  intentions. 

The  Catholic  cause  being  greatly 
strengthened  and  cheered  by  the  arrival 
of  the  Triumvirs,  and  their  success  in 
seizing  the  king's  person,  they  renewed 
their  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots  in 
Paris;  they  drove  them  out  of  their 
churches,  and  loaded  them  with  abuse. 
Montmorency,  with  his  troops,  ranged  in 
order  of  battle,  went  into  the  suburbs, 
and  attacked  the  Protestant  places  of 
worship  ;  he  broke  open  the  doors,  de- 
stroyed the  pulpits  and  benches,  and  set 
fire  to  them.  He  then  returned  into  the 
city  amidst  the  acclamations  of  the  popu- 
lace, who  saluted  him  with  the  title  of 
Captain  Brulebancs.f 


*  Discours  de  la  vie  de  Catherine  de  I\f.,  p.  371. 

t  Hrantome,  vol.  i.  p.  68  (ric  de  Catherine.) 

J  brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  ?'J.    Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  9C. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Protestants  take  Orleans  and  other  Towns— they 
Negotiate  for  Assistance  from  Abroad— Conferences 
of  Joury  and  Tal*ey— Beaugency  Taken  and  Plun- 
dered. 

Had  the  Prince  of  Conde  marched  upon 
Fontainebleau  a  few  hours  earlier,  he 
would  have  had  that  advantage  over  the 
Triumvirs  which  they  now  had  over 
him  ;  and  as  they  would  not  have  been 
able  to  remove  the  king  from  his  hands, 
the  result  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  highly  favourable  to  the  Protestants. 
He  received  a  letter  from  the  queen  very 
soon  after  her  arrival  at  Paris,  in  which 
she  assured  him,  that  her  hopes  rested 
upon  him  and  his  followers,  to  prevent 
her  enemies  from  depriving  her  of  the  go- 
vernment* 

Conde  immediately  directed  his  views 
towards  Orleans,  and  got  possession  of  it. 
Andelot  had  proposed  to  surprise  that 
town  by  introducing  some  troops;  but, 
being  discovered,  he  had  to  maintain  a 
sanguinary  battle  against  the  Catholics. 
The  prince's  forces,  fortunately  arriving  in 
the  midst  of  the  struggle,  assured  the  vic- 
tory to  the  Protestants.t  This  town  be- 
came their  head-quarters,  and  served  them 
as  a  rallying  point  and  depot.  The  prin- 
cipal nobles  of  that  party  came  to  join  the 
prince,  and  the  certainty  of  an  approach- 
ing war  became  every  day  more  evident. 
Manifestoes  were  published  on  both  sides: 
Conde  accused  the  Guises  of  being  the 
authors  of  the  troubles,  in  wishing  to  de- 
prive the  Protestants  of  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  which  the  edict  of  Janu- 
ary allowed  them  ;  and  called  upon  all 
true  Frenchmen  to  join  him  at  Orleans, 
that  they  might  go  and  deliver  the  king 
and  queen  from  the  hands  of  the  Trium- 
virs. \ 

On  the  other  hands,  the  Guises  pub- 
lished a  declaration,  stating  that  they 
were  not  more  chargeable  with  the  pre- 
sent state  of  affairs  than  the  king  of  Na- 
varre, the  Constable,  and  other  Catholic 
nobles,  who  made  common  cause  with 
them:  and  to  show  that  they  were  not 


*  The  Queen's  letters  are  printed  in  Mem.  tie  Conde, 
vol.  iii. 
t  La  Noue,  p.  554. 

J  Davila,  liv.  3.  The  Prince  of  Conde  published  two 
manifestoes, one  dated  the  8th,  the  other  the  29th April, 
1502.   Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  pp.  222  and  31U. 


PROTESTANTS  TAKE  ORLEANS  AND  OTHER  TOWNS. 


61 


striving  to  deprive  the  Protestants  of  the 
edict  of  January,  the  king  confirmed  it  in 
council,  excepting  always  Paris  and  the 
court,  where  it  was  not  to  be  allowed.* 
Another  edict  also  appeared,  in  which  the 
king  declared  that  he  was  not  a  prisoner, 
and  that  all  the  reports  about  his  captivity 
were  false,  f 

The  Protestant  chiefs,  however,  ex- 
tended their  conquest,  and  fortified  them- 
selves in  a  great  many  towns;  the  queen 
mother  also  wrote  to  Tavannes,  "  that  she 
was  decided  on  favouring  the  Huguenots 
as  her  only  resource  against  the  Trium- 
virate."! Conde  showed  every  where 
the  queen's  letters,  calling  upon  him  for 
assistance ;  numerous  bodies  of  gentle- 
men hastened  to  join  his  standard ;  and 
his  forces  soon  amounted  to  six  thousand 
men.  He  was  for  attempting  a  coup-de- 
main  on  Paris,  but  abandoned  that  idea 
on  the  representation  of  Coligny,  who  re- 
commended the  establishment  of  a  line  of 
defence  upon  the  Loire. 

The  court  was  embarrassed  at  the  rapid 
extension  of  the  Protestant  cause :  they 
were  very  soon  in  possession  of  the  prin- 
cipal towns  of  different  provinces;  Lyons, 
Bourges,  Vienne,  Valence,  Nismes,  Mon- 
tauban,and  Rouen,  with  manyothers.J  All 
the  Orleannoise  was  subjected  to  them, 
and  the  whole  of  Normandy  declared  in 
their  favour :  levies  of  men  were  every 
where  made  to  swell  their  ranks,  and  de- 
tachments went  from  every  part  to  join 
the  Prince  of  Conde. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  the  zeal  of 
tire  Huguenots  is  related  by  Brantome, 
from  which  some  idea  may  be  formed  of 
the  general  feeling.  A  party  of  fifty  sol- 
diers set  out  from  Metz  for  Orleans,  and 
M.  d'Espan,  governor  of  Verdun,  being 
informed  of  the  circumstance,  resolved  to 
cut  off  their  march.  When  he  came  up 
with  them,  they  had  taken  a  position  in  a 
windmill,  and  defended  themselves  till 
night  put  an  end  to  the  conflict.  Before 
morning  they  made  a  bold  sortie,  and 
routed  the  few  troops  left  to  watch  them, 
while  the  others  took  rest  in  a  neighbour- 
ing village.  They  then  renewed  their 
march,  and,  after  nearly  thirty  different 

*  Dated  11th  April.  15C2.    Mem.  fie  Conde,  vol.  iii. 

T  Davila,  liv  3,  p.  211.  A  letter  to  the  same  purpose 
was  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Wirtemburg,  dated  17th  April 
1562. 

J  Mem.     Tavannes.  p.  253. 

§  Lynns  was  taken  30th,  Valence  25th,  Msnies  3d 
April,  I5tj2.    Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  in. 
6 


skirmishes,  they  arrived  at  Orleans,  with 
the  loss  of  only  three  of  their  number.* 

By  their  position  at  Orleans,  they  pre- 
vented any  thing  coming  to  Paris  from 
beyond  the  Loire;  by  possession  of  Rouen, 
nothing  could  arrive  by  the  Seine.  But 
although  ever)'  thing  answered  their 
wishes,  and  even  surpassed  their  expec- 
tations, Coligny  wisely  reflected,  that  an 
enterprise  against  a  party  who  held  the 
king  in  their  hands,  and  who  could  avail 
themselves  of  his  name  when  they  thought 
proper,  was  no  trifling  affair;  he  therefore 
induced  Conde  to  do  two  things;  to  send 
into  Germany  for  assistance,  and  to  make 
such  arrangements  among  the  troops, 
that  they  should  not  be  disbanded,  either 
for  want  of  pay,  or  through  neglect  of  dis- 
cipline. Andelot  was  appointed  to  the 
former  charge,  and  acquitted  himself  with 
satisfaction,  although  the  Guises  thought 
they  had  taken  their  measures  so  well, 
that  they  were  safe  in  that  respect. f 

To  introduce  order  into  an  army  com- 
posed of  such  materials  was  no  ordinary 
task,  and  it  required  all  the  energy  of 
Coligny  to  effect  it.  His  first  step  was  to 
have  the  Prince  of  Conde  acknowledged 
for  their  genera),  and  himself  as  his  lieute- 
nant, for  hitherto  they  could  not  be  called 
troops  who  had  followed  them,  but  well- 
wishers  and  volunteers,  who  had  taken 
the  field,  thinking  that  one  battle  would 
decide  their  differences.  Other  ordinances 
were  made  for  introducing  order  into  the 
army ;  one  principally  for  preventing 
every  kind  of  excess  and  immorality — an 
order  necessary  on  the  ground  of  con- 
sistency, as  they  had  taken  arms  for  the 
defence  of  their  religion.  He  also  ap- 
pointed chaplains  to  the  different  divisions, 
and  succeeded  in  establishing  great  regu- 
larity and  decorum.!  An  edict,  compel- 
ling all  suspected  Huguenots  to  leave 
Paris,  also  contributed  to  swell  their 
numbers.  5 

The  Protestants,  besides  the  mission  to 
Germany  for  help,  had  sent  the  Vidame 
of  Chartres||  and  Briquemaut  to  England, 
to  treat  with  the  Queen  Elizabeth  for 
assistance.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
inquire  into  the  probable  motives  of  that 
queen's  actions;  she  may  have  been  moved 

*  Drantorpe,  Discours  sur  les  belles  rctrailes. 
t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  249.  Jluid. 
§  Dated  26th  May,  1562.    Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p. 
462. 

||  John  de  Ferrieres.  Lord  of  Maliany;  he  succeeded 
his  cousin,  Francis  of  Vendome,  in  that  office. 


62 


CONFERENCE  OF  TOURY  AND  TALSY. 


by  the  appeal  to  her  compassion  on  behalf 
of  the  Huguenots;  or  her  feelings  may 
have  been  made  subservient  to  her  poli- 
tical views.  The  loss  of  Calais  was  recent: 
it  was  a  wound  to  the  national  pride : 
and  the  opportunity  of  putting  English 
garrisons  into  Rouen,  Havre,  and  Dieppe, 
seemed  to  hold  out  a  prospect  of  ultimately 
obtaining  an  equivalent.  She  sent  six- 
thousand  men  to  the  Protestants,  and  was 
to  hold  those  three  towns  as  a  security  for 
the  surrender  of  Calais.* 

This  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Pro- 
testants appeared  so  unnatural  in  the  eyes 
of  the  queen  mother  (who,  though  not  a 
native  of  France,  was  very  desirous  of 
maintaining  the  national  honour,)  that 
she  completely  changed  her  opinion  of  the 
Huguenot  party ;  and,  being  very  much 
incensed  against  Conde  for  publishing  her 
letters  to  him,  as  well  as  for  facilitating  the 
introduction  of  foreign  armies  into  the 
kingdom,  she.  threw  the  whole  weight  of 
her  influence  into  the  scale  of  the  Trium- 
virate. 

But  if  the  Huguenots  are  blameable  for 
calling  for  assistance  from  abroad,  their 
enemies  are  equally  so  ;  for  the  conditions 
which  the  pope  and  the  King  of  Spain 
imposed  upon  the  Catholics  were  quite  as 
degrading  to  the  dignity  of  a  great  king- 
dom ;  and  the  demand  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  was  exactly  parallel  to  that  of 
Elizabeth,  being  the  cession  of  Turin, 
which  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis  had 
ceded  to  France.  . 

At  the  close  of  June  the  contending 
parties  took  the  field :  their  forces  were 
nearly  equal,  each  having  about  ten  thou- 
sand men.  Condi;  and  Coligny  left  Or- 
leans, to  attack  Paris  and  deliver  the 
king  ;  the  Triumvirs  at  the  same  time  set 
out  from  Paris,  to  besiege  the  Huguenots 
in  Orleans.  Their  forces  thus  coming  in 
contact,  an  engagement  was  on  the  verge 
of  taking  place,  when  the  queen  mother 
proposed  an  interview  with  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  probably  in  consequence  of  his 
overtures,  for  several  letters  had  passed 
between  them.f  The  queen  was  accom- 
panied by  the  King  of  Navarre;  the 
prince  by  Coligny.  The  conference  was 
held  at  Toury,  a  small  town  in  the  Or- 
leannais  ;  and  the  escorts  were  regulated 

*  Davila.  liv.  3,  p.  236.  Brulart,  in  his  Journal,  ob 
serves  on  this  transaction,  voila  lies  effects  dc  la  nouiclle 
religion  ! 

t  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii  p.  481,  et  seq. 


by  mutual  consent,  even  to  the  number 
of  paces  which  should  separate  them  ;  lest, 
from  words,  they  should  proceed  to  re- 
proaches, and  thence  to  violence.  But 
the  gentlemen  of  the  escorts  had  not  been 
long  in  presence,  when  they  recognised 
their  relations  and  friends  in  the  opposite 
ranks:  they  obtained  permission  of  their 
commanders  to  approach,  and  rushing 
into  each  other's  arms,  they  vowed  recip- 
rocally to  promote  pacific  measures  and 
sentiments  * 

The  conference  lasted  two  hours,  when 
the  parties  separated  without  coming  to 
any  conclusion :  Conde  persisted  in  de- 
manding the  dismissal  of  the  Triumvirs, 
and  the  execution  of  the  edict  of  January ; 
the  King  of  Navarre  was  decidedly  averse 
to  both  measures.  Some  other  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  at  negotiation  followed. 
At  length  a  secretary  of  state  went  in  the 
king's  name,  and  commanded  the  Prince 
of  Conde  to  lay  down  his  arms,  restore 
the  towns  he  had  taken,  and  dismiss  his 
troops,  promising  that'  the  Triumvirs 
should  immediately  quit  the  court,  and 
that  no  one  should  be  molested  for  having 
taken  arms,  or  on  account  of  religion/!" 

Conde  and  Coligny  were  too  shrewd 
to  fall  into  such  a  snare :  they  were  satis- 
fied that  when  once  they  had  deposed 
their  arms,  the  Triumvirs  would  over- 
whelm them  with  their  power;  and  they 
refused  to  enter  into  any  negotiation, 
unless  the  Constable,  Guise,  and  Saint 
Andre  withdrew  from  the  court  and  the 
camp,}  The  queen  persuaded  them  to 
retire  to  some  distance, arid  a  second  con- 
ference took  place  at  Talsy.  Conde  was 
desirous  of  knowing  the  queen's  real  in- 
tentions concerning  the  Protestants,  and 
inquired  if  they  were  to  be  allowed  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion.  Catherine's 
answer  astonished  him:  for,  notwith- 
standing she  had  given  them  great  en- 
couragement; had  promoted  the  publica- 
tion of  the  edict  in  their  favour;  and,  in 
addition,  had  called  upon  them  to  pre- 
serve her  and  her  son  from  the  power  of 
the  Triumvirs,  she  did  not  scruple  to  say, 
"  That,  considering  the  constitution  of  the 
kingdom,  no  solid  peace  could  be  ex- 
pected in  France,  so  long  as  any  other 
religion  than  the  Roman  was  wished  to 


*  navila,  liv.  3.   La  None,  p.  558.   De  Thou,  liv.  30. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  30,  p.  214. 

J  Mem,  de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  512. 


CONFERENCES  OF  TOURY  AND  TALSY. 


63 


be  established  ;  that  the  edict  of  January- 
had  been  the  signal  for  all  the  troubles: 
that  edict  must  therefore  be  abolished,  and 
the  Huguenots  be  contented  with  the  in- 
ternal and  private-exercise  of  their  reli- 
gion." Upon  this  Coligny  replied,  "  That, 
without  the  edict  of  January,  there  was 
no  safety  for  them  in  France,  they  had 
therefore  only  to  choose  between  death 
and  exile;  that  they  would  prefer  quitting 
their  country,  to  remaining  in  it  aLthe 
mercy  of  butchers,  and  they  would  volun- 
tarily exile  themselves,  if  they  had  the 
king's  permission."  The  Prince  of  Conde 
expressed  similar  sentiments.* 

Catherine  had  employed  Montluc  Bi- 
shop of  Valence  to  bring  round  the 
Huguenot  chiefs  to  this  way  of  thinking, 
or  at  least  to  induce  them  to  make  this 
offer.  That  prelate,  addressing  the  prince, 
said,  "The  queen  wishes  to  serve  you, 
but  you  must  have  appearances  on  your 
side ;  propose  to  leave  the  kingdom,  as  a 
means  of  preserving  peace,  provided  the 
Triumvirs  will  retire  from  the  court:  they 
will  not  do  so,  and  you  will  throw  the 
odium  of  the  war  upon  your  enemies,  and 
give  the  queen  an  opportunity  of  joining 
your  party."  The  queen  pretended  sur- 
prise on  hearing  such  a  proposition,  and 
led  the  prince  and  the  admiral  to  repeat 
their  declarations,  by  seeming  to  doubt  the 
possibility  of  their  carrying  it  into  effect; 
she  afterwards  told  them,  that,  as  it  was 
the  only  remedy  for  their  troubles,  she 
accepted  their  offer:  "It  will  be,"  said 
she,  "  only  for  a  time,  and  during  the 
interval  we  must  hope  the  public  mind 
will  be  assuaged.  I  do  not  even  renounce 
your  services;  and  I  flatter  myself,  that  if 
any  ill-intentioned  persons  should  wish  to 
create  a  disturbance  during  your  absence, 
I  should  always  find  you  disposed  to  help 
the  state.  We  will  confine  ourselves  to 
this  preliminary  to-day;  to-morrow  we 
will  settle  every  thing."! 

The  Protestants  had  been  drawn  on  by 
the  queen's  address  so  far  that  they  could 
not  retract;  but  they  soon  perceived  the 
dreadful  consequences  which  would  result 
from  such  a  measure.  The  whole  army 
murmured,  and  loudly  complained  of  the 
issue  of  the  negotiation.  What  would  be- 
come of  them  when  they  were  no  longer 


*  Mem.  cle  Conde,  vol.  iv.  15. 

t  La  Noue,  p  500.  Da/ila,  liv.  3,  n.  224.  De  Thou, 
liv.  30. 


able  to  defend  themsel  ves?  when  they  should 
have  given  up  the  towns  which  now  afforded 
them  refugel  and  when  their  leaders  should 
have  abandoned  them?  On  the  following 
morning,  when  the  prince  returned  to  the 
conference,  the  queen  expected  that  every 
thing  would  succeed,  and  that  the  affair 
would  be  completed.*  But  Conde  began 
by  making  complaints  of  the  Triumvirs, 
of  whose  bad  faith  he  had  been  apprized 
by  an  intercepted  letter,  in  which  they 
boasted  of  their  intention  of  deceiving 
him.  The  queen  wished  to  reply,  but  her 
voice  was  lost  in  the  confusion  which  took 
place.  The  prince's  friends  called  upon 
him  to  retire,  as  his  person  was  not  safe, 
for  the  duration  of  the  interview  not  being 
fixed,  the  Triumvirs  were  free  to  return 
when  they  pleased.  Every  thing  was  then 
in  the  greatest  disorder.  The  queen  made 
a  fruitless  attempt  to  restrain  the  prince, 
who  was  carried  off  by  his  friends.  They 
took  horse  immediately,  md  set  out  for 
Orleans,  determined  to  break  off  all  nego- 
tiation, t 

The  conference  being  thus  broken  off 
at  the  moment  when  the  treaty  was  ex- 
pected to  be  concluded,  created  a  great 
excitement  in  both  parlies.  The  queen 
mother  was  blamed  for  not  having  made 
sure  of  Conde  *and  Coligny,  which  she 
might  easily  have  done,  as  she  had  guards 
round  her  person,  and  the  prince  had 
none.  For  though  the  prince's  escort 
was  at  nrj  greater  distance  than  that 
which  accompanied  her,  it  was  evident 
that  while  the  two  escorts  were  fighting, 
the  Protestant  chiefs  might  easily  .have 
been  carried  off  f 

The  discontent  which  had  displayed 
itself  in  the  Huguenot  army,  on  hearing 
of  the  preliminaries  of  the  treaty,  was 
effaced  by  the  joy  which  was  testified  by 
the  troops  on  the  arrival  of  the  prince,  and 
the  rupture  of  the  conference.  The  sol- 
diers loudly  called  out  for  attacking  the 
enemy  directly,  before  the  Triumvirs 
should  have  resumed  their  places  in  the 
royal  army.  The  troops  marched  for 
that  purpose,  but  their  guides  misled 
them:  they  lost  time,  and  on  arriving 

*  Catherine  was  so  confi.lent  of  success,  that  she 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  stating  that 
peace  was  agreed  upon. — Mem.  tie  Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  508. 

t  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iii.  p.  540.  Davila,  liv.  3,  p. 
229.  —  Disconrs  ties  Moycns  qui  le  P.  de  Conde  a  tonus 
pour  pacifier  tes  troubles,  See.  Printed  in  Mem.  de  Conde, 
vol.  iv. 

%  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  203. 


64 


SACK  OF  BEAUGENCY. 


before  the  royal  camp,  they  found  the 
Triumvirs  prepared  to  receive  them.* 

During  the  late  conferences  the  King  of 
Navarre  had. received  in  trust  the  town 
of  Beaugency ;  but  he  refused  to  restore 
it  when  they  were  broken  off.  The 
Prince  of  Conde  was  indignant  at  such 
conduct,  and  when  he  found  it  useless  to 
attack  the  royal  army,  he  directed  his 
forces  against  that  place,  and  took  it,  after 
a  very  vigorous  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Catholics :  the  town  was  given  up  to 
plundcr.t  The  soldiers  behaved  in  the 
assault  as  if  there  had  been  a  premium 
for  him  who  should  do  the  worst.  Coligny 
himself  had  predicted  great  disorders, 
when  somebody  praised  the  decorum  and 
good  morals  of  his  army.  "  This  disci- 
pline," said  he,  "  is  a  fine  thing,  so  long  as 
it  lasts ;  but  I  am  afraid  lest  these  folks 
should  lose  their  goodness  all  at  once.  I 
have  commanded  the  infantry,  and  know 
them :  they  often  make  out  the  old  say- 
ing— A  youno:  hermit,  ami  an  oi  l  devil."\ 
The  sack  of  Beaugency  served  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  still  greater  cruelties,  which  were 
exercised  by  the  Catholics  on  retaking 
several  places.  The  carnage  in  the  towns, 
and  conflagrations  in  the  country,  where 
chateaux  were  delivered  to  the  flames, 
were  the  first  results  of  the  war  between 
the  Catholics  and  Protestants.^  The  pic- 
ture of  France  at  this  time  is  the  most 
melancholy  that  can  be  imagined.  Where 
the  Huguenots  had  the  advantage  they 
destroyed  altars  and  images;  while  the 
Catholics  burned  all  the  Bibles  they  could 
seize. ||  There  was  no  security,  no  asylum 
against  violence:  the  faith  of  treaties  and 
the  sanctity  of  oaths  were  both  set  at 
nought.  Tortures,  contrived  with  care 
for  delaying  death,  and  increasing  the 
duration  of  pain,  were  inflicted  on  persons 
who  had  surrendered  upon  capitulation. 
Husbands  and  fathers  were  poignarded 
in  the  arms  of  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters, who  were  then  violated  in  the 
sight  of  the  dying  men.  Women  and 
children  were  treated  with  brutality  that 
defies  description.  Aged  magistrates,  the 
victims  of  an  unbridled  rage,  were  insulted 


*  La  None,  p.  566.  t  Davila,  liv.  3,  p.  234. 

I  La  None,  p.  575. 

§  Tile  detail  of  these  violences  would  be  too  volumi- 
nous to  insert  here;  several  hooks  of  De  Them's  history 
are  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  subject.  The  pro 
vince  of  Maine  was  remarkable  for  the  dreadful  scenes 
which  occurred.  Kenouard,  lhst.  dii  Maine,  vol.  ii.  p.  47. 

j|  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trent,  p.  62tf. 


after  death  by  the  populace,  who  dragged 
their  yet  palpitating  entrails  through  the 
streets,  and  even  ate  of  their  flesh.  This 
account  is  drawn  out  by  a  Catholic 
writer,*  who  informs  us  that  "  these  ex- 
cesses arose  from  the  Calvinists  not  re- 
specting the  relics,  images,  and  other 
objects  of  the  Catholic  worship,  which 
caused  the  priests  to  thunder  against  the 
criminals  from  their  pulpits ;  the  zeal  of 
the  priests  became  madness  and  rage  in 
the  people,  and  the  leaders  lamented  the 
abominable  excesses,  which  they  were 
unable  to  put  a  stop  to." 

When  fanaticism  pervades  a  people, 
there  will  naturally  be  excesses  on  both 
sides;  for  revenge  will  operate  as  forcibly 
as  bigotry.  But  it  is  not  right  to  attribute 
these  violences  to  the  destruction  of  a 
few  images  and  reliquaries;  for  it  has 
been  admitted  by  many  persons,  and 
among  others  by  Brantome,  whose  reve- 
nue was  derived  from  the  church,  "that 
the  war  had  enriched  France  by  bringing 
considerable  treasures  into  circulation, 
which  before  had  served  no  purpose 
whatever."! 

The  outrages  committed  by  the  con- 
tending parties  in  the  central  and  western 
parts  of  France  were  outdone  by  the  con- 
duct of  the  generals  who  commanded  in 
Languedoc,  Provence,  the  Lyonnais,  &c. 
Monti uc  was  the  leader  of  the  Catholics, 
and  Des  Adrets  of  the  Huguenots  :  they 
emulated  each  other  in  cruelty,  and  tried 
which  could  do  the  most.} 

Blaise  de  Montluc  in  his  memoirs  re- 
lates, with  great  sang-froid,  the  cruelties 
which  he  had  practised  on  the  heretics.  "  I 
procured,"  says  he,  "two  executioners, 
who  were  called  my  lacqueys,  because 
they  were  so  much  with  me."§  He  can- 
didly avows,  that  his  chief  object  was  to 
injure  the  sectarians  ;  that  he  would  have 
destroyed  them  to  a  man  ;  and  that  he 
felt  against  them  a  hatred  and  rage  which 
carried  him  beyond  himself,  and  made 
him  use  not  only  rigour,  but  cruelty.|| 

Beaumont,  Baron  des  Adrets,  his  rival, 
was  of  great  service  to  the  Protestants  by 
his  activity:  he  overran  all  the  south  of 
France,  and  the  pope  had  great  fears  lest 


*  The  Abb6  Anquetil  in  Esprit  de  Ligue,  vol.  i.  pp, 
161  4. 

t  Vol.  viii  p.  213.    {Fir  de  Chatillon.) 
I  liranlonie.  vol.  vii.  p.  279.    Bayle.  art.  Beaumont. 
§  Montluc,  liv.  5,  vol.  iii.  p.  27. 
|!  Ibid.  liv.  4,  vol.  ii.  p.  408. 


HOSTILITIES  BETWEEN  THE   CATHOLICS   AND  HUGUENOTS.  65 


he  should  march  into  Italy,  and  attack  Guise,  who  had  offended  him;  and  the 
Rome.  He  was  very  furious,  and  pos-j  queen,  wishing  to  injure  that  family,  wrote 
sessed  courage  in  a  great  degree;  and,: to  Ues  Adrets,  exhorting  him  to  destroy 
on  account  of  his  cruel  disposition,  was  .Guise's  authority  in  Dauphiny  by  any 
more  formidable  than  any  of  his  contem-  means  whatever,  even  by  the  help  of  the 
poraries.  His  treatment  of  the  Catholic 'Huguenots,  and  promising  him  her  pro- 
garrison  of  Montbrison  shows  the  most  tection  and  authority.* 
dreadful  brutality  :*  he  amused  himself  But  it  was  not  necessary  to  know  his 
by  making  his  prisoners  leap  from  the  top  motives  for  making  a  profession  of  Pro- 
of a  very  high  tower.     One  of  them,  testantism,  for  his  conduct  showed  that  he 


having  advanced  a  second  time  to  the 
edge  of  the  precipice,  made  a  halt. 
"  What !  do  you  take  twice  to  do  it?"  ex- 
claimed the  baron.  The  unfortunate  man 


had  no  religion  whatever.  We  learn, 
from  the  Abbe  Caveyrac,f  "  that  he  re- 
turned sincerely  to  God  and  his  king :" 
but  not  without  his  resentments  being 


answered  without  hesitation  — " I  will  give; again  called  into  action;  for  his  cruelty 
you  ten  times  to  do  it  in."  His  readiness  excited  such  horror,  that  the  Prince  of 
obtained  him  a  pardon,  which  perhaps iConde  sent  Soubise  to  supersede  him  in 
was  the  only  occasion  that  Des  Adrets  ]  the  government  of  Lyons,  which  made 
ever  exercised  any  mild  feeling.f  He  J  him  renounce  the  Protestant  religion,  and 
killed  and  laid  waste  with  a  barbarity  \  return  to  the  Catholic  church.  J 
which  made  his  officers  shudder,  and  I  The  Protestants  afterwards  experienced 
drew  forth  an  admonition  from  Calvin,  I  the  effects  of  the  cruel  example  which  he 
and  a  reproof  from  the  admiral.  De  Thou  set  his  children.  "  He  taught  them,"  says 
says  that  "  he  saw  him  very  old  at  Gre-  Brantome,  "to  be  like  himself  and  to 
noble,  but  in  an  old  age  still  robust  and  i  bathe  themselves  in  blood.  His  eldest  son 
vigorous:  he  had  a  ferocious  look,  an  did  not  spare  it  at  the  St.  Bartholomew, 
aquiline  nose,  a  face  lean  and  bony,  and  sand  died  at  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  with  re- 


marked with  spots  of  black  blood,  as  Sylla 
has  been  represented  to  us.  In  every 
other  respect  he  had  the  appearance  of  a 
complete  warrior. "J 

The  Protestantism  professed  at  the  time 
by  this  monster  has  become  the  ground- 
work of  an  argument,  showing  that  reli- 
gious considerations  had  no  place  among 
the  motives  of  Catherine  de  Medicis, 
whenever  she  displayed  the  cruelty  of 
her  policy.  "Catherine  took  upon  herself 
to  prove,  that  the  difference  of  worship 
was  not  considered  in  her  calculations. 
Was  it  not  she,  in  fact,  who  about  the 
same  time  had  the  Catholics  massacred 
by  the  Protestant  bands  of  the  ferocious 
Baron  des  Adrets  V'q 

Maimbourg,  whose  testimony  on  this 
occasion  is  unquestionable,  states  that  he 
blindly  threw  himself  into  the  Huguenot 
party,  to  revenge  himself  on  the  Duke  of 


*  Montbrison  was  taken  by  Des  Adrets  lGt h  July 

m>.  1 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  147.    De  Thou,  liv.  31. 

t  Mem  de  la  Vie  de  ./.  Jl.  de  Thou,  p  10.  This  work- 
Was  first  published  with  a  preface  by  Rigault,  so  framed 
as  tu  lead  to  the  supposition  that  he  was  the  author; 
but  it  is  generally  thought  that  De  Thou  himself  wrote 
the  memoir. 

6  From  the  Etoile  Paris  newspaper  of  3d  September, 
1836.  The  article  from  which  this  is  extracted  is  upon 
the  Saint  Bartholomew  which  occurred  in  1.572;  the 
cruelties  practised  by  Ues  Adrets  were  in  15G2,  and  yet 
the  writer  does  not  scruple  to  say  about  the  same  lime. 


morse  for  the  quantity  he  had  shed. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Hostilities  between  the  Catholics  and  Huguenots — 
Sieges  of  liourgesand  Rouen— Death  of  the  King  of 
Navarre — Battle  of  Dreux— Sieges  of  Orleans  and 
Caen. 


Notwithstanding  the  ill-will  which  fol- 
lowed the  rupture  of  the  late  negotiations, 
the  queen  continued  her  efforts  to  bring 
Conde  to  an  accommodation,  to  persuade 
him  to  make  some  attempt  at  conciliation. 
She  informed  him,  that  the  council  was 
determined  to  pursue  the  heretics  with  the 
utmost  rigour;  and  that  the  king  would 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  forces,  on 
the  arrival  of  some  foreign  troops  which 
he  expected,  and  which  would  enable  him 
to  suppress  the  revolt.  The  parliament 
of  Paris  gave  a  decree,  authorizing  all  per- 
sons to  take  arms  and  fall  upon  the  Hu- 
guenots, wherever  they  could  meet  with 
them. ||  And  lest  any  thing  should  be 
wanting  to  frighten  the  Protestants,  let- 

*  Hist  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  4. 

f  In  a  note  to  his  apoloey  for  Louis  XIV.  p.  7. 

i  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  4. 

§  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p  '28f. 

I;  Dated  3Ulh  June,  1562; 


6* 


66     HOSTILITIES  BETWEEN  THE  CATHOLICS  AND  HUGUENOTS. 


ters-patent  were  issued,*  declaring  rebels  without  coming  to  an  engagement.  As 
all  those  who  had  taken  arms;  it  showed  they  were  dispersed  through  the  different 
that  they  were  guilty  of  lese  majesty,  and  provinces,  it  was  a  work  of  time;  and  Co- 
as  such  condemned  them  all  to  death,  con-  ligny  sent  word  to  the  commander  of  the 
fiscated  their  property,  and  declared  them  town,  to  hold  out  as  long  as  possible,  as 
and  their  posterity  for  ever  unfit  for  all  there  would  be  assistance  ere  long.  But 
employs,  honours,  and  dignities.  To  Courges  was  taken  before  the  relief  could 
avoid  the  consequences  which  might  have  arrive.* 

followed,  had  all  hope  of  peace  been  ex- j  A  circumstance  occurred  during  this 
tinguished,  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  ex-  siege,  which  is  highly  characteristic  of  the 
cepted  in  this  edict,  on  the  ground  of  his  violence  of  these  times.  Among  the  dif- 
being  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  ofthe  rebels.!  ferent  convoys  which  Coligny  attacked, 

Considerable  reinforcements  of  Swiss  was  a  considerable  one,  commanded  by  a 
and  Germans  arrived  to  join  the  royal  particular  friend  of  Guise,  named  Chon. 
army,  while  the  confederates  had  the  mor-  He,  observing  the  admiral  approach,  called 
tification  of  observing  their  forces  gradu-  out  to  him,  that  he  should  be  delighted  to 
ally  diminish;  and  as  the  towns,  which  engage  with  him  in  single  combat.  Co- 
had  declared  for  them,  were  very  widely  ligny's  purpose  not  being  to  fight  a  duel, 
situated  from  each  other,  it  frequently  but  to  perform  his  duty  as  a  general,  an- 
happened,  that,  before  Coligny  could  as-  swered  him  by  so  brisk  a  charge,  that  his 
sist  anyplace  that  was  attacked,  it  was  squadron  was  thrown  into  confusion, 
taken.  In  that  manner  the  greater  part  ,  Chon  did  not  lose  sight  of  his  object,  which 
of  Normandy  was  recovered  by  the  Ca-  was  very  discernible,  for  he  called  out  to 
tholics.J  But  these  reverses,  alarming  as  his  men,  "Ah,  cowards!  is  that  what  you 
they  were,  did  not  cause  so  much  uneasi-' promised  me?"  Upon  which  two  horse- 
ness  to  Coligny,  as  the  attempts  and  in-  men  quitted  the  ranks,  and  tried  to  ap- 
trigues  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  to  win  proach  the  admiral,  who,  perceiving  their 
over  the  Prince  of  Conde:  his  fears,  how-  intention,  gave  orders  to  take  them  alive, 
ever,  on  that  subject  were  groundless,  for  .  if  possible.  They  fought  desperately:  one 
Conde  assured  the  admiral  that  he  would  of  them  fell,  after  killing  three  of  the  admi- 
make  no  arrangement  without  consulting  ral's  men,  preferring  death  to  being  taken 
him;  and,  to  prove  his  sincerity,  he  in- 1  prisoner,  although  they  called  out  to  him 
formed  him  fully  of  every  proposal  which]  that  he  should  be  spared.  The  other  was 
was  made  5  i  taken  after  receiving  several  wounds.  He 

The  Triumvirs  proposed  to  attack  Or- j  was  carefully  guarded,  while  Coligny 
leans,  and  finish  the  war  by  the  capture  continued  the  fight  with  Chon,  who  was 
of  Conde  and  Coligny,  who  made  that  obliged  to  abandon  his  convoy,  consisting 
town  their  residence;  they,  on  the  other;  of  provisions  and  ammunition.  The  fight 
hand,  considering  their  reputation  attached  had  scarcely  finished,  when  some  troops 
to  the  preservation  of  that  city,  took  every  were  seen  in  the  distance  coming  to 
measure  for  its  defence.  The  King  of  Chon's  assistance,  which  induced  him  to 
Navarre  then  turned  his  attention  to  return  with  them  and  again  attack  the 
Bourges,  which  was  defended  by  a  much  Huguenots.  But  Coligny,  observing  that 
smaller  garrison.  Conde  exerted  himself  their  forces  would  be  no  longer  equal,  pru- 
to  relieve  the  place,  but  his  force  was  not  dently  resolved  to  set  fire  to  all  the  plun- 
sufficient  to  break  through  the  enemy's  der,  which  would  prevent  his  retreat ;  and, 
lines:  Coligny,  with  his  division,  then  ho-! as  soon  as  he  was  in  safety,  he  examined 
vered  about  the  besiegers,  and  attacked  his  prisoner,  upon  the  reproach  which 
such  parties  as  were  detached  from  the  Chon  had  made  him.  At  first  he  refused 
main  body.  to  give  any  information,  but  at  length  ac- 

He  despatched  messengers,  at  the  samei  knowledged  that  Chon  had  promised  him 
time,  to  urge  the  return  of  many  gentle-  and  his  companion  a  considerable  reward, 
men,  who  had  quitted  him  only  from  the  if  they  could  kill  the  Admiral  Coligny  du- 
dislike  they  had  to  remaining  in  arms  ring  the  combat,  and  that  they  had  been 

*  Dated  20th  July. 

t  Hist.  cluConcile  de  Trentr,  p.  029.  Mem.  de  Conde,  *  Davila,  liv.  3,  p  242.  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  266.  The 
■vol.  iii.  p.  571.  capitulation,  dated  31st  August,  1562,  is  in  the  3d  vol. 

}  Vie  de  Coligny,  P-  265.  §  Ibid.  of  Mem.  de  Conde. 


ROUEN  TAKEN  BY  STORM. 


67 


each  furnished  with  a  proof  cuirass,  and'tlemen,  who  volunteered  to  perish  in  the 


good  arms.  In  a  chivalrous  age,  the  fact 
of  challenging,  and  the  desire  of  fighting 
such  a  commander  as  Coligny,  has  no- 
thing reprehensible  in  it,  rather  the  re- 


defence  of  the  town.*  The  King  of  Na- 
varre commanded  the  besieging  army. 

The  place  was  vigorously  attacked,  and 
as  obstinately  defended.    The  queen,  who 


verse;  but  the  assassins,  who  were  hired  j  was  in  the  camp,  several  times  summoned 
on  this  occasion,  show  that  something  the  inhabitants  to  surrender.  Theparlia- 


more  than  honourable  fighting  was  in- 
tended.   As  Chon  would  not  give  any 
explanation  of  the  affair,  the  original  in- 
stigator could  never  be  discovered.* 
Bourges  being  taken,  the  project  of  at- 


ment  had  been  removed  to  Louviers,  and 
the  principal  citizens  had  quitted  the  city 
before  the  siege;  and  those  who  remained 
were  very  determined,  being  influenced 
by  their  ministers,  who  were  personally 


tacking   Orleans  was  revived,  but  the  \ interested  in  holding  out  to  the  last  ex- 


queen-mother  was  opposed  to  it :  she 
would  not  consent  to  a  measure,  which, 
if  successful,  would  have  given  the  Trium- 
virs too  much  influence:  she  recommended 
the  siege  of  Rouen,  and  founded  her  argu- 
ment on  the  fear  of  the  English  again  es- 
tablishing themselves  in  Normandy.|  Her 


tremity,  as  the  principal  condition  required 
by  the  queen  was  their  banishment.  In- 
stead of  submitting,  they  replied  that  they 
were  faithful  subjects  of  their  king,  but 
that  they  would  not  submit  to  the  Guises: 
they  demanded  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion;  and — asked  to  negotiate  in  the 


representations  were  backed  by  the  ap-jname  of  their  whole  party,  an  honour 
peals  of  the  Parisians,  who  promised  the  |  which  was  not  allowed  them,  notwith- 
king  a  present  of  two  hundred  thousand ,  standing  a  great  wish  on  the  queen's  part 
crowns,  if  he  would  drive  the  Huguenot  to  save  the  town  from  plunder.! 
garrison  from  Rouen,  as  they  suffered  no-j  This  obstinacy,  on  the  part  of  the  be- 
thing  to  go  up  the  river.J  Such  weighty  sieged,  irritated  the  assailants,  who  re- 
considerations could  not  be  overlooked. !  doubled  their  attacks.  A  breach  was  no 
It  was  with  difficulty  the  English  had  [sooner  made  than  the  active  Montgomery 
been  deprived  of  Calais,  and  already  their  j  threw  up  an  intrenchment  behind  it,  losing 
troops  were  in  Havre-de-Grace,  to  make  no  opportunity  for  prolonging  the  defence, 
up  for  that  loss:  again,  the  blockade  ofj as  he  knew  that  Conde  would  endeavour 
the  river  might  cause  a  disturbance  in  to  assist  him.  A  second  assault  was  given 
Paris:  the  royal  army,  in  consequence,  on  the  26th  of  October,  when  Guise  led  his 
marched  into  Normandy,  and  commenced  ■  men  to  the  attack  after  a  spirited  harangue, 


the  siege  of  Rouen  at  the  end  of  Septem 
ber. 

The  town  was  commanded  by  Count 
Montgomery,  the  same  who  had  unfortu- 
nately killed  Henry  II.  in  a  tournament. 
He  was  an  excellent  officer,  very  coura- 
geous, and  capable  of  turning  to  his  ad- 


the  effect  of  which  he  heightened  by  a 
display  of  great  personal  bravery.  The 
explosion  of  a  mine  contributed  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  attack,  which  soon  gave  the 
Catholics  possession  of  the  town.} 

Montgomery  had  only  time  to  leap  into 
a  galley,  which  was  in  the  port,  and  by 


vantage  the  most  untoward  events:  satis-;  the  promise  of  liberty,  he  induced  the  gal- 
fied  that  he  could  expect  no  quarter,  he  ley-slaves  to  row  so  well,  that  they  got 


resolved  to  make  the  place  his  grave,  and 
displayed  an  inexhaustible  stock  of  inven- 
tions for  impelling  the  enemy. 5    As  the 


out  to  sea,  although  they  had  to  pass  a 
chain  which  was  placed  a  few  leagues  be- 
ow,  to  prevent  the  English  sending  any 


Protestants  had  warning  of  this  siege,  the ( assistance  up  the  river.g 
garrison  had  received  a  reinforcement  of'   Rouen,  thus  taken  by  storm,  suffered 
two  thousand  English,  twelve  hundred  i  all  the  horrors  of  pillage  during  three  days, 
choice  infantry  from  Conde's  army,  four 
squadrons  of  horse,  and  one  hundred  gen- 


*  Vic  de  Coligny,  p.  2f>7. 

t  Davila,  liv.  3,  p.  246.  De  Thou,  liv.  33.  Mom.  do 
Comic,  vol  iii.  Queen  Elizabeth  made  a  treaty  with 
Comic,  by  which  she  engaged  to  assist  the  Huguenots 
against  the  Guises.  Her  disposition  for  securing  an 
equivalent  made  this  treaty  a  subject  of  uneasiness  to 
Catherine     The  treaty  is  dated '20th  Sept.  1562. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  269.  §  Ibid.,  p.  271. 


It  is  said,  that  when  Guise  beheld  the  re- 
sult of  his  attack,  while  he  was  yet  upon 
the  ramparts,  he  recommended  three 
things  to  his  followers:  to  respect  the  ho- 

*  Oavila,  liv.  3.  p  250. 

t  Mem  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  98,  and  vol.  iv.  pp.  45,  46. 
I  Davila,  liv  3,  p.  258. 

§  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  271.  Brantume,  vol.  viii.  p.  262. 
De  Thou,  liv.  33. 


63 


DEATH  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE. 


nour  of  the  women;  to  spare  the  lives  of  came  the  tool  of  intriguing  persons:  he 
such  good  Catholics  as  had  remained  in!  thought  himself  the  Duke  of  Guise's  equal, 
the  town  from  necessity ;  and  to  show  no  while  he  was  no  more  than  his  slave, 
mercy  to  the  English,  the  ancient  enemies  Voltaire  says  of  him* — "Anthony  of 
of  France.*  Bourbon,  father  of  the  firmest  and  most 

The  parliament  of  Rouen  resumed  its  intrepid  of  men,  was  the  weakest  and 


functions  when  the  siege  was  over,  and 
gave  the  weight  of  its  authority  to  the  pu- 
nishments inflicted  on  the  rebellious  Hu- 
guenots. Several  citizens  and  ministers, 
who  had  escaped  the  massacre,  were  put 
to  death.f  Among  those  who  suffered 
was  Augustin  Marloratus,  who  had  been 
conspicuous  at  the  conference  of  Poissy : 
he  was  hanged  in  front  of  the  cathedral. 
The  constable  and  his  son  Montberon 


least  decided.  He  was  always  so  waver- 
ing in  his  Catholicism,  that  it  is  doubted 
in  which  religion  he  died.  He  bore  arms 
against  the  Protestants,  whom  he  loved ; 
and  served  Catherine  of  Medicis,  whom  he 
detested,  and  the  party  of  the  Guises,  who 
oppressed  him."  Brantome states,  "That 
he  died,  regretting  his  change  of  religion, 
being  resolved  to  help  the  Protestants 
more  than  ever,  if  he  had  lived ;  and  that 


were  so  unfeeling  as  to  insult  the  vene-  he  sent  word  to  that  effect  to  the  prince 


rable  minister  when  conducted  to  the 
place  of  execution.  The  Protestants  at 
Orleans  exercised  reprisals  on  some  pri- 
soners: they  hanged  the  Abbe  Gastines, 
and  Sapin,  one  of  the  presidents  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris. J  Such  measures  are 
greatly  to  be  deplored,  yet  unhappily  are 
of  too  frequent  occurrence  in  civil  wars. 

The  taking  of  this  important  town  cost 
the  King  of  Navarre  his  life.  He  had  be- 
haved with  the  greatest  courage  through- 


his  brother."!  His  death  deprived  the 
Triumvirs  of  the  influence  of  his  name; 
but  they  had  so  firmly  established  their 
power,  that  the  loss  of  it  was  of  no  im- 
portance. 

Guise  having  obtained  a  great  acces- 
sion of  glory  by  the  success  of  his  attack 
on  Rouen,  the  queen's  anxiety  and  unea- 
siness were  again  excited:  she  had  re- 
course to  her  favourite  plan  of  sowing 
dissensions:  and,  to  check  his  growing  as- 


out  the  siege,  not  sparing  himself  any ;  cendency,  she  would  again  have  consented 
more  than  the  meanest  soldier:  he  had  I  to  protect  the  Huguenots.  She  attempted 
tried  to  eclipse,  if  possible,  the  prowess  of  to  create  a  dispute  between  Guise  and 
the  Duke  of  Guise.  §  On  the  day  before 'Montmorency,  by  recommending  the  im- 
the  final  assault,  he  went  into  the  trenches  [  mediate  siege  of  Havre ;  a  measure  which 
to  observe  the  town,  when  a  discharge  ofjshe  was  sure  was  contrary  to  the  duke's 
musketry  struck  him  in  the  shoulder.  At  .intentions.}  But  the  constable  was  proof 
first  the  surgeons  thought  lightly  of  the  [against  her  insidious  flattery :  he  perceived 

her  object,  and  was  only  the  more  willing 
to  second  the  measures  which  Guise  might 
recommend.  Her  motives  were  equally 
discovered  by  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who, 
however,  pretended  not  to  have  any  sus- 
picion :  he  opposed  her  proposal  with  the 
same  earnestness  of  reasoning,  which  he 


wound,  and  he  had  a  great  wish  to  make 
a  triumphal  entry  into  the  conquered  city; 
but  symptoms  of  danger  were  soon  evi- 
dent, and  he  expressed  a  desire  to  be  trans- 
ported to  St.  Maur,  a  village  near  Paris. 
He  did  not  live  to  reach  that  place,  but 
died  at  Andelys,  the  seventeenth  of  No- 
vember, 15G2,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  would  have  used  if  he  had  not  penetrated 
his  age. ||  All  writers  who  have  given  his  her  views.  He  proved,  that  as  Havre 
character,  describe  him  as  deficient  in  [would  certainly  be  assisted  By  the  En- 
every  princely  quality,  except  personal  glish,  it  was  useless  to  attempt  any  thing 


bravery:  he  was  ambitious,  without  pos- 
sessing foresight,  or  a  capacity  for  seizing 
on  the  noble  part  which  fortune  seemed  to 
have  destined  for  him.  He  might  have 
been  the  head  of  a  powerful  party,  but  be- 

"  Brantome,  vol,  viii.  p.  101.    (Vicde  Quisc.) 
*  Journal  de  Brulart.    Beza,  liv.  H. 
}  D'Aubigne,  vol,  i.  p.  15'J.    Mem.  ile  Conde.  vol.  ii. 
p.  105 

§  Brantome,  vol.  viii  p.  271.    (Fie  de  Ji.  de  Bourbon.) 
|;  Davila,  liv.  3,  p.  2G0;  but  De  Thou  (liv.  33)  says  he 
was  forty  two  years  of  age. 


without  a  good  fleet:  he  contended  that 


*  In  a  note  to  the  Henriade 

t  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  27-2.  It  is  asserted  by  D'Au- 
bigne, that  he  refused  to  listen  to  n  Dominican,  who 
w  ished  to  confess  him.  hot  declared  his  attachment  to 
the  reformed  religion.— Hist.  Univ.  vol.  i  p  15-i.  Pec 
also  liezn,  Hist.  Ecr.les. ;  and  Particularity,  de  la  mortdu 
Roij  de  Jfavarrt,  in  the  Mem  de  Conde,  vol.  iv. 

X  The  letters  of  the  Spanish  ambassador  (Mem.  de 
Condi,  vol.  ii.)  show  that  the  Huguenot*  wished  to  es- 
tablish themselves  securely  in  Normandy,  to  be  more 
ready  to  communicate  with  England.  Guise,  therefore, 
would  be  desirous  of  attacking  them  in  other  parts,  to 
draw  away  their  forces. 


BATTLE  OF  DREUX. 


69 


the  Huguenot  force  should  be  crushed  in 
the  different  parts  of  Prance ;  to  effect 
which,  they  must  atta™  and  vanquish 
them,  for  otherwise  they  would  always 
have  ministers  and  preachings ;  and  con- 
cluded by  showing  that  negotiation  was 
useless,  for  any  treaty  would  soon  be 
broken  by  the  Huguenots,  if  they  fad  not 
what  they  asked  for,  and  by  the  Catholics, 
if  they  were  obliged  to  endure  heresy  any 
longer.  It  was  then  resolved  to  march 
upon  Orleans* 

On  the  other  hand,  Conde  was  in  rather 
an  embarrassed  state,  for  the  only  towns 
of  importance  which  remained  to  his  cause 
were  Lyons  and  Orleans;  too  remotely 
situated  to  assist  each  other.  A  strong 
body,  which  Count  Duras  was  conducting 
to  him,  had  been  defeated  and  scattered; 
and  he  trembled  lest  an  army  of  Reitres, 
which  had  been  raised  in  Germany,  should 
be  unable  to  escape  Marshal  St.  Andre, 
who  watched  that  frontier  with  a  very  su- 
perior force.  His  anxiety  was  at  length 
relieved  by  information,  that  La  Roche- 
foucault  had  collected  the  remains  of  Du- 
ras' division,  and  was  on  his  way  to  join 
him;  and  that  Andelot  was  near  at  hand 
with  between  seven  and  eight  thousand 
men  :  he  had  conducted  the  German  army, 
before  mentioned,  by  circuitous  routes, 
and  had  undergone  the  greatest  difficul- 
ties. A  reinforcement,  at  such  a  time,  and 
of  such  magnitude,  made  the  Huguenots 
forget  the  loss  of  Rouen :  they  thought  no 
more  of  the  decree  of  the  parliament 
against  their  chiefs,  who  were  condemned 
to  death  as  rebels  ;f  the  greatest  joy  per- 
vaded their  ranks,  and,  thinking  their 
forces  quite  a  match  for  their  enemies, 
they  calculated  on  a  victory  if  once  they 
met.  The  Prince  of  Conde  marched  di- 
rect upon  Paris,  and  fixed  his  head-quar- 
ters at  Montrouge,  from  whence  his  troops 
pillaged  the  faubourgs  on  that  side.  This 
movement  brought  back  the  royal  army 
to  the  capital. | 

The  queen-mother  was  not  at  ease  on 
seeing  an  army  of  Huguenots  under  the 
walls  of  Paris :  she  had  recourse  as  usual 
to  negotiation,  and  sent  proposals  for 
peace,  which  she  would  have  been  pleased 
to  conclude  upon,  had  it  been  in  her  power. 

*  Vie  de  Coligny.  p.  273. 

t  Decree,  dated  IGlti  Nov.  1502.  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol. 
iv.  p.  114. 

1  Mem.  deTavannes,  p.  267.  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  101 . 
La  Noue,  p.  583.    Davila,  liv.  3. 


The  constable  and  Guise  pretended  to  ap- 
prove of  them,  because,  by  delaying  the 
contest,  they  expected  the  arrival  of  Mont- 
luc,  with  five  or  six  thousand  men.  Be- 
sides, they  constantly  kept  at  work  on  the 
fortifications,  threw  up  intrenchments  in 
the  faubourgs,  and  took  every  advantage 
of  the  time  which  Conde  gave  them. 
Conde  and  Coligny  were  aware  that  if  the 
negotiation  did  not  succeed,  the  fault  they 
had  committed  was  irreparable ;  but  they 
both  wished  to  terminate  the  war,  and  in- 
dulged in  the  hope  of  a  new  edict  to  con- 
firm that  of  January.* 

When  the  queen  sent  her  proposals,  she 
remarked,  "  that  this  time  her  terms  were 
so  reasonable,  that  she  could  not  conceive 
that  they  could  be  rejected."  She  offered 
to  allow  the  public  exercise  of  the  reformed 
religion,  in  all  places  allowed  by  the  edict 
of  January,  except  Paris  and  Lyons,  the 
seats  of  sovereign  courts,  and  the  frontier 
towns:  the  Prince  of  Conde  wished  it  to 
be  extended  to  the  suburbs  of  all  towns 
and  the  houses  of  nobles  and  gentlemen; 
he  also  demanded  one  of  the  king's  bro- 
thers, and  a  member  of  the  families  of 
Guise  and  Montmorency,  as  hostages, 
which  could  not  be  granted.  The  discus- 
sion was  long;  but  when  the  expected  re- 
inforcement had  joined  the  royal  army, 
the  conferences  were  completely  broken 
off.t 

The  Protestant  army  was  all  this  time 
suffering  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  sea- 
son, while  their  opponents  were  quartered 
in  the  town.  Conde  had  projected  an  at- 
tack on  Paris  by  night;  but  hearing  of 
the  arrival  of  some  Spanish  soldiers,  and 
observing  that  an  unusual  stillness  per- 
vaded the  city,  he  had  suspicions  of  some 
design  against  himself,  and  on  the  tenth  of 
December,  very  early  in  the  morning,  he 
set  out  for  Normandy,  with  a  view  of  join- 
ing some  English  forces  which  Queen  Eli- 
zabeth had  promised  to  send  him,  accom- 
panied by  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
for  his  use.|  He  was  closely  pursued  by 
the  royal  army,  and  overtaken  near 
Dreux,  where  he  found  it  impossible  to 
avoid  giving  battle.^  As  a  large  body  of 
troops  had  been  left  to  protect  Orleans 
from  a  surprise,  there  was  a  considerable 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  275. 

t  Davila.  liv.  3.    Journal  de  Brulart,  Doc.  1502.  De 
Tliou,  liv.  33.    Mem  de  Conde,  vol.  iv.  pp.  144  to  716. 
I  lirantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  109.    (Vie  de  Ouise.) 
$  19th  Dec.  1502. 


70 


BATTLE  OF  DREUX. 


difference  in  the  force  of  the  two  armies : ,  was  lost,  he  rode  up  to  his  brother  Ande- 
that  of  the  royalists  consisted  of  nineteen ;  lot,  and  urged  Injp  to  lose  no  time  in  get- 
thousand  infantry  and  two  thousand  ca- 1  ting  into  Orleans  with  as  many  men  as  he 
valry ;  the  confederates  had  four  thousand  could ;  for  he  foresaw  that  the  next  ope- 


horsemen,  and  only  six  thousand  infantry. 
Montmorency  and  St.  Andre  each  com- 
manded a  division  of  the  army,  while 
Guise  remained  in  reserve,  the  quiet  spec- 
tator of  a  battle  imprudently  commenced 
by  the  constable  attacking  Conde's  divi- 
sion with  only  five  hundred  gentlemen. 
The  prince  received  his  charge  with  such 
resolution,  that  the  Catholics  were  thrown 
into  complete  disorder.  The  light  cavalry, 
which  came  up  to  support  the  constable, 
was  dispersed  by  Coligny.    The  veteran 
tried  to  rally  his  men :  he  led  them  a  se- 
cond time  to  the  charge,  but  with  no  bet- 
ter success.    Being  wounded  in  the  face,  I  themselves  to  slay  him,  or  perish 
and  thrown  from  his  horse,  he  was  pre- 
sently surrounded  and  made  a  prisoner; 
his  third  son,  Gabriel  de  Montberon,  was 
killed  at  his  side  about  the  same  time.   So ' 
much  was  the  constable  detested  by  the  I 
Huguenots,  that  two  gentlemen,  into  whose  j 
hands  he  had  fallen,  consulted  whether  j 
they  ought  not  to  put  him  to  death ;  but 
being  joined  by  a  person  named  Vesins, 
he  persuaded  them  to  abandon  the  idea  of 
so  shameful  an  act.t 

The  fight  lasted  altogether  seven  hours, 
during  which  time  the  advantage  was  con- 
stantly wavering ;  but  at  a  moment  when 
victory  seemed  to  have  declared  for  the 
Protestants,  Guise,  who  had  with  difficulty 
restrained  the  ardour  of  his  men,  seized 
the  opportunity  of  snatching  the  prize 
from  the  Prince  of  Conde.  At  the  head 
of  the  troops  who  formed  the  reserve,  he 
rushed  forward  upon  the  conquerors,  ex- 
hausted by  a  long  and  bloody  fight. 
"March!"  said  he  to  those  around  him, 
"March!  the  victory  is  ours!"t  The 


shock  of  fresh  troops  was  irresistible;  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  almost  alone,  fought 
amidst  the  Catholics,  when  his  horse  fell 
and  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies.  Singular  reverse  of  fortune! 
He  had  but  just  before  considered  his  vic- 
tory as  certain  on  the  capture  of  Montmo- 
rency; and  on  the  renewal  of  the  conflict 
he  became  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
Damville,  Montmorency's  second  son. 
Directly  Coligny  perceived  the  battle 


ration  of  the  enemy  would  be  against  that 
town.  Coligny  then  retired  behind  a 
wood,  to  a  village  called  Blain  ville,  whither 
Guise  followed  him  close,  being  determined 
if  possible  to  annihilate  the  Huguenot 
army,  in  spite  of  the  recommendations  of 
his  friends,  who  wished  him  to  be  satisfied 
with  his  success.  The  fight  was  renewed 
with  great  obstinacy ;  and  unlike  the  bat- 
tles of  modern  times,  in  which  the  can- 
non deals  destruction  without  being  di- 
rected against  particular  persons,  on  this 
occasion  the  object  aimed  at  was  Coligny's 
life.    Several  of  Guise's  army  had  devoted 

But 

the  admiral's  good  fortune  carried  him 
through  the  dreadful  day,  while  almost 
every  one  who  aimed  at  assaulting  his 
person  was  killed.  One  of  them  was 
dressed  in  Guise's  armour,  and  called  on 
Coligny  to  advance,  and  fight  him.  He 
dashed  into  the  admiral's  ranks  in  pursuit 
of  his  object,  and  was  killed.  So  closely 
did  this  person  resemble  Guise,  that  for 
some  time  it  was  thought  the  duke  himself 
was  killed.  The  esquire  rode  a  remark- 
ably fine  charger  of  his  master's,  which 
deceived  the  Huguenots* 

Among  the  slain  was  Marshal  St.  Andre, 
who  was  taken  prisoner,  and  afterwards 
murdered  by  a  person  who  recognised 
him,  and  whom  he  had  formerly  injured.t 
Night  at  length  put  an  end  to  the  conflict; 
when  the  admiral,  observing  his  men  de- 
jected at  the  capture  of  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  availed  himself  of  the  darkness  to 
retire,  and  thus  avoid  renewing  the  fight, 
which  would  have  taken  place  had  he  slept 
there.  About  eight  thousand  men  were 
killed  on  this  occasion ;  among  others,  La 
Brosse,  a  great  favourite  of  Guise,  and 
who  had  begun  the  massacre  at  Vassy : 
his  son  was  killed  by  his  side.}:  Guise  re- 
mained master  of  the  field,  and  attributed 
the  victory  to  himself,  although  his  loss 
was  greater  than  that  of  the  Protestants, 


*  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  1. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  1271. 

I  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  112. 


*  Beza,  in  lot.  Brantome,  Disc,  sur  les  belles  relraites- 
t  There  is  some  difference  in  the  accuunts  of  the  per- 
son who  killed  St.  Andre.  Brantome  calls  him  Aunigny; 
others  Baubigne;  while,  in  the  Life  of  Coligny,  two  Rei- 
tres  are  said  to  have  killed  bim.  Mezeiay  says  it  was 
Bnhigny  Mezieres,  son  of  the  town-clerk  of  Paris  Vielle. 
ville  is  very  minute  in  his  account  of  the  Marshal's 
death. 

|  Beza,  liv.  6.  ■ 


SIEGES  OF  ORLEANS  AND  CAEN. 


71 


in  consequence  of  St.  Andre's  death.  But 
he  sent  some  standards  to  Paris,  and  re- 
port magnified  his  advantage,  by  announ- 
cing the  death  of  Andelot,  who  not  being 
seen  any  where  was  thought  to  be  among 
the  slain.  This  being  the  first  pitched 
battle  in  these  wars,  the  greatest  import- 
ance was  attached  to  it.  The  first  ac- 
count, which  ascribed  the  victory  to  the 
Huguenots,  was  soon  carried  to  Paris. 
The  queen,  on  hearing  it,  is  said  to  have 
observed  coolly,  "  Well,  then,  we  will 
pray  to  God  in  French  ;"*  and  when  she 
received  the  subsequent  accounts,  she  was 
far  from  expressing  any  joy  at  the  event. 
She  could  not  see  without  fear  the  degree 
of  honour  to  which  it  raised  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  who  had  no  longer  any  rival  to 
share  his  triumphs;  and  who  wrote  a  let- 
ter, demanding  the  disposal  of  St.  Andre's 
baton,  in  so  arrogant  a  style,  that  the  king, 
as  well  as  his  mother,  were  astonished.t 

Conde  was  treated  with  great  kindness 
by  Guise,  who  conducted  him  to  his 
quarters:  they  supped  together,  and  the 
prince  accepted  of  the  offer  of  half  the 
duke's  bed. J  He  was  afterwards  taken 
to  court,  where  the  queen-mother  exerted 
herself  to  win  him  back  from  the  Hugue- 
not party;  a  task  which  offered  some 
chances  of  success  to  her  view,  as,  being 
removed  from  the  counsels  of  the  inflexi- 
ble admiral,  she  thought  he  might  be 
easily  biassed.  The  kindness  and  atten- 
tion he  received  from  heron  the  occasion 
excited  the  disapprobation  of  the  Spanish 
ambassador  and  many  Catholics. § 

The  Constable  in  the  mean  time  was 
taken  to  Orleans,  where  he  was  attended 
by  his  neice,  the  Princess  of  Conde, 
who  used  every  persuasive  means  in  her 
power  to  promote  a  reconciliation  be- 
tween that  veteran  and  her  husband.  A 
proposal  was  made  for  the  exchange  of 
the  two  captive  generals;  but  the  royal 
army,  with  Guise  at  its  head,  did  not  re- 
quire Montmorency,  while  the  confede- 
rates stood  in  need  of  the  Prince  of  Conde. 
The  queen  would  have  promoted  an  ac- 
commodation, but  she  had  no  longer  the 
power  to  oppose  the  ambition  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise. 

The  Parisians  prepared  for  conferring 

*  Note  to  the  2d  book  of  I  lie  Henriade. 
f  Vielleville,  vol.  v.  p.  7. 

t  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  2-18.  Mem.  rte  Conde,  vol.  ii. 
p  116. 

§  Mem.  <le  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  128. 


the  honours  of  a  triumph  on  the  defender 
of  the  faith,  the  conqueror  of  the  heretics; 
but  he  would  not  be  diverted  from  his 
purpose  by  such  useless  homage,  and 
without  delay  commenced  the  siege  of 
Orleans.*  His  approaches  to  the  town 
were  effected  with  great  difficulty,  on 
account  of  the  frequent  sorties  made  by 
the  garrison,  in  which  he  lost  a  great 
many  men.  As  he  could  not  expect  the 
admiral  would  suffer  him  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  place  without  making  an  effort 
to  relieve  it,  he  fortified  all  the  avenues 
to  his  camp,  and  made  lines  of  circumval- 
lation  of  unusual  magnitude,  accompanied 
with  every  precaution  likely  to  annoy  an 
enemy. t 

The  admiral  was  not  surprised  to  see 
him  take  such  careful  measures,  and,  in 
order  to  keep  him  in  constant  expectation 
of  an  attack,  he  would  not  retire  to  any 
distance,  but  endeavoured  to  recruit  his 
forces  without  quitting  that  province. 
He  never  despaired  of  his  cause  ;  and 
without  loss  of  time  he  had  himself  pro- 
claimed general  of  the  confederate  army. 
The  ministers  in  all  parts,  of  France  con- 
tributed to  assist  him,  and  knowing  how 
urgent  the  affair  was,  they  sent  him  men 
and  money  as  quick  as  possible:  this, 
with  some  assistance  from  England, 
made  him  as  strong  as  he  was  before 
the  battle.  Still  he  did  not  think  it  pru- 
dent to  attack  Guise  in  his  entrench- 
ments; a  measure  which  he  was  also  the 
less  inclined  to  take,  as  Andelot  sent  him 
word  that  he  need  entertain  no  fear  on 
his  account,  for  he  hoped  that  at  the  end 
of  three  months  the  duke  would  be  no 
more  advanced  than  he  was  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  siege. I 

As  Coligny  could  confide  in  his  bro- 
ther's statement,  and  was  also  convinced 
that  the  season  of  the  year,  the  numerous 
sorties  of  the  garrison,  and  the  incessant 
fatigue  of  a  siege  would  greatly  weaken 
Guise's  force,  he  marched  to  meet  the 
English  troops  in  Normandy,  thinking  to 
return  with  greater  force,  and  he  able  to 
raise  the  siege.  But  when  he  had  got  to 
some  distance,  he  was  deeply  concerned  to 
hear  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  his 
brother's  affairs;  and  a  letter  from  Guise 
to  a  friend  being  intercepted,  he  learned 


*  5th  Feb.  1563. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p,  281.  Davila,  liv.  3. 
I  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  282. 


72 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  DUKE   OF  GUISE. 


that  one  of  the  Faubourgs  had  been  taken,  i 
and  that  Andelot  had  lost  near  six  hun-| 
dred  men  in  defending  it;  with  manyj 
other  untoward  circumstances.  The  letter  | 
concluded  by  stating,  that  Andelot  could 
hardly  keep  the  inhabitants  from  giving 
up  the  town,  and  that  in  four  or  five  days 
he  expected  to  be  master  of  it,  for  he 
proposed  to  bombard  the  place  two  days 
successively,  and  then  give  a  furious 
assault:  as  the  fortifications  were  not 
very  strong,  he  would  probably  have 
succeeded* 

This  news  afflicted  and  perplexed  the 
admiral.  To  return  and  attack  the  duke's 
camp  with  his  forces  when  they  were 
fatimied  would  be  madness,  as  he  had 
considered  it  impracticable  while  they 
were  fresh:  such  a  proceeding  would 
ruin  his  army  without  helping  his  bro- 
ther. His  enemies  already  exulted  in  his 
ruin,  and  it  was  given  out,  that  if  the  two 
Chatillons  could  be  taken  it  would  only 
be  necessary  to  execute  the  decree  of  the 
parliament,  which  condemned  them  to 
death  as  guilty  of  high  treason.  The 
admiral,  being  resolved  to  do  something 
for  his  brother,  went  at  once  and  laid 
siege  to  Caen,  which  was  commanded  "by 
the°Marquis  d'Elbceuf,  brother  of  Guise  ; 
proposing  if  he  could  get  hold  of  him  to 
make  him  a  pledge  for  Andelot's  safety  .f 
No  time  was  to  be  lost;  and,  notwith- 
standing there  was  an  armed  force  in  the 
neighbourhood,  the  admiral  would  not 
make  any  lines,  but  at  once  attacked  the 
'  town,  of  which  he  had  possession  in  two 
days,  by  the  gates  being  opened  to  avoid 
an  assault.  The  marquis  retired  to  the 
castle;  but  being  quite  inexperienced  in 
the  art  of  war,  as  well  as  those  who  were 
with  him,  his  capture  appeared  a  certainty. 
Coligny  consoled  himself  with  the  pros- 
pect of  having  him  for  a  prisoner,  when 
a  courier  arrived,  and  brought  intelligence 
of  the  assassination  of  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
and  the  consequent  safety  of  Orleans. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Assassination  of  the  Duke  of  Guise. 

The  Admiral  Coligny  is  charged  by 
the  Roman  Catholics  with  having  excited 

*  La  Noue.  p  503.  Vie  de  <  nlieny,  p.  282  Two  [et- 
ui's written  by  the  Duke  of  Guise  toconvey  this  intelli- 
gence are  printed  in  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  rV  pp.  224-* 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  2ri4.    La  r>oue,  p.  b03. 


the  murderer  to  this  terrible  act ;  and  the 
enemies  of  the  Reformation  attempt  to 
fix  a  stigma  on  the  Protestant  religion 
when  they  allude  to  it:  it  demands,  in 
consequence,  a  full  and  candid  inquiry. 
That  such  a  charge  should  be  encouraged 
by  the  house  of  Lorrain  is  not  at  all  sur- 
prising: the  members  of  that  family  knew 
the  extent  of  the  animosity  which  sub- 
sisted between  the  parties;  they  might 
also  be  privy  to  the  projected  attempt 
upon  Coligny's  life,  and  would  suppose 
that  the  common  feelings  of  revenge  were 
sufficient  to  excite  him  to  it.  Neither  is 
it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  principal 
Catholic  writers  have  perpetuated  the  ac- 
cusation; for  the  baneful  spirit  of  perse- 
cution, which  afflicted  so  many  countries 
at  this  period,  would  envenom  the  ac- 
counts, either  written  or  verbal,  which 
were  given  of  every  occurrence.  Still 
less  can  we  be  astonished,  that  such 
calumnies  should  be  readily  adopted  and 
promulgated  among  a  multitude  devoid  of 
instruction,  imbued  with  fanaticism,  and 
inflamed  with  bigotry;  they  would  never 
doubt  an  accusation  against  men  whom 
they  were  taught,  not  only  to  hate,  but  to 
abominate.  But  the  truth  cannot  be  en- 
tirely concealed,  and  among  the  numerous 
writers  who  lived  at  this  time,  there  are 
several  who,  by  their  great  minuteness, 
have  contributed  to  render  justice  to  Co- 
ligny's memory.  Brantome  is  the  most 
lemarkable  among  them,  and  his  evidence 
is  of  great  importance:  he  was  a  great 
friend  of  Guise's;  he  was  an  Abbe,  and 
consequently  his  interests  would  never 
incline  him  to  be  favourable  to  the  Hu- 
guenots; and  he  was  present  on  the  occa- 
sion. 

It  appears  that,  very  soon  after  the 
battle  of  Dreux,  a  gentleman  of  Angou- 
leme,  named  John  Poltrot  de  Mere,  ar- 
rived at  the  head-quarters  of  the  Hugue- 
not army,  with  a  letter  of  introduction 
from  Soubise,  who  commanded  for  that 
party  in  Lyons.  Finding,  on  his  arrival, 
that  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  a  prisoner, 
he  addressed  himself  to  the  admiral,  on 
whom  the  command  had  devolved.  Co- 
ligny made  several  inquiries  of  him  re- 
specting the  state  of  affairs  in  the  Lyon- 
naise;  when  Poltrot  shook  his  head,  say- 
ing, "That  things  did  not  go  on  very  well 
there;  and,  fearing  lest  the  religion  should 
be  endangered,  he  was  resolved  to  sacri- 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


73 


lice  himself  for  it:  that  the  Duke  of 
Guise  was  its  most  dangerous  enemy; 
that  lie  believed  him  to  be  brave,  because 
every  body  said  so,  but  that  after  all,  he 
was  not  more  so  than  others ;  and  that, 
if  he  were  so  fortunate  as  to  serve  in  an 
army  engaged  with  him,  he  would  find 
him  out,  if  he  were  in  the  midst  of  fifty 
thousand  men,  and  try  his  own  courage 
against  him.  There  was  a  considerable 
degree  of  temerity  in  this  declaration,  bul 
as  it  did  not  ill  become  a  young  man  of 
five-and-twenty  to  exhibit  an  ardent  dis- 
position, the  admiral  gave  him  encourage- 
ment; he  permitted  him  to  stay  in  his 
army,  and  made  him  a  present  of  one 
hundred  crowns,  purposing  to  put  his 
courage  to  the  proof  on  the  first  opportu- 
nity* 

When  Coligny  suddenly  quitted  the 
neighbourhood  of  Orleans  to  hasten  the 
arrival  of  some  English  troops,  there  ap- 
peared no  chance  of  an  opportunity  for 
signalizing  himself,  and  Pollrot  proposed 
to  pass  into  the  duke's  camp  as  a  spy. 
His  enthusiasm  had  become  a  gloomy  fa- 
naticism: he  burned  with  a  desire  of  dis- 
playing his  zeal  for  the  faith  which  he 
again  professed,  after  several  changes; 
and  no  service  which  he  could  render  it 
appeared  equal  to  that  of  killing  the  most 
terrible  enemy  of  the  Protestants.  A.  re- 
solution to  assassinate  was  very  different 
from  his  first  intention,  which  proceeded 
from  a  courageous  principle;  but  the 
wretched  man's  mind  was  so  bent  upon 
it,  that  the  enormity  of  the  crime  was  lost 
sight  of,  in  the  benefits  which  he  con- 
templated it  would  effect.  He  again  pre- 
tended an  abjuration  of  the  religion  he 
wished  to  serve,  and  presented  himself 
to  Guise,  telling  him,  "That,  being  con- 
vinced of  the  errors  of  the  Huguenots,  he 
had  entirely  renounced  them;  and  now 
wished  to  live  in  the  good  religion,  and 
serve  God  and  the  king."t 

Changes  of  religion  were  so  common 
at  this  period,  that  the  duke  had  no  sus- 
picion of  Poltrot's  veracitv;  and,  as  he 
was  a  man  of  family,  and  possessed  a 
good  exterior,  Guise  received  him  with 
great  kindness,  ordered  him  an  apart- 
ment, and  invited  him  to  dine  with  him.J 
But  such  affability  was  unable  to  subdue 
the  terrible  design  which  occupied  exclu- 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  286. 

t  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  123.  J  tbid. 


sively  his  gloomy  imagination;  and  an 
opportunity  was  all  he  now  wanted  for 
executing  his  purpose. 

An  occasion  soon  presented  itself:' 
Guise,  accompanied  by  a  few  persons, 
was  passing  from  the  trenches  to  his 
head-quarters;  Poltrot,  steady  to  his  pur- 
pose, perceived  his  opportunity,  and  has- 
tened forward.  Somebody  asked  him 
where  he  was  going,  to  which  he  an- 
swered, that  he  wished  to  announce  the 
duke's  arrival  to  the  duchess — an  excuse 
which  seemed  plausible,  as  Guise  had  pre- 
viously intended  sleeping  in  a  tent,  that  he 
might  better  superintend  some  works.t  A 
hedge  offered  a  suitable  place  for  his  mur- 
derous purpose,  and  he  waited  behind  it, 
ready  to  fire  on  Guise  as  he  passed.  The 
duskof  the  evening  would  have  prevented 
his  taking  a  good  aim,  but  a  white  plume 
in  the  duke's  hat  served  as  a  mark;  the 
pistol  was  loaded  with  three  balls,  which 
struck  him  on  the  left  shoulder.  The 
blow  made  him  stagger,  and  he  is  reported 
to  have  said,  "That  was  to  be  expected; 
but  I  think  it  will  be  nothing."!  Those 
persons  who  were  with  him  paid  little 
attention  to  the  assassin,  in  their  earnest- 
ness to  help  the  duke.  They  carried  him 
to  his  quarters,  where  the  best  surgical 
aid  was  summoned,  for  the  preservation 
of  a  life  so  valuable  to  his  cause.  The 
balls  were  declared  to  have  been  steeped 
in  poison,  and  Guise  prepared  to  quit  this 
world. 

On  his  death-bed  he  displayed  consi- 
derable regret  at  many  of  the  circum- 
stances of  his  violent,  ambitious,  and 
warlike  life.  His  late  repentance  served 
only  to  inflict  upon  him  the  sharp  pangs 
of  remorse.  The  massacre  of  Vassy  tor- 
mented his  conscience,  which  could  not 
be  soothed  by  the  praises  of  the  priests, 
nor  the  admiration  of  the  Parisians,  who 
styled  him  the  French  Moses,  and  the 
modern  Jehu.  He  accused  himself  of 
being  the  cause  of  the  bloodshed  which 
had  accompanied  the  civil  war,  but  re- 
peatedly declared  that  the  massacre  of 
Vassy  was  entirely  accidental  §    He  is 

*  16th  Feb.  1563.  t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  287. 

J  Brantome. — The  duke's  expression  is  reported  dif- 
ferently by  almost  every  writer,  as  to  the  words,  but 
they  all  agree  in  the  significations 

6  The  Bishop  of  Kiez  wrote  an  account  of  all  that 
was  uttered  hy  Guise  after  he  was  wounded.  Accord- 
ing to  the  bishop  he  said  to  those  around  him,  "Je  vous 
prie  cioire  qeu  I inconvenient  adventl  B  ceuxde  Vassy,  est 
advent]  contre  ma  vnlnnle  . .  .  J'ai  elu  deliendeur,  non 
agresseur." — Mem.  de  Condi,  vol.  iv.  p.  258. 


74 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  DUKE   OF  GUISE. 


said  to  have  alluded  to  Coligny,  when 
speaking  of  the  assassination :    "  And 
you,  too,  I  forgive,  who  are  the  author 
of  it."*    His  wishes,  which,  all  through 
his  life  had  prompted  him  to  the  exter- 
mination  of  every    heretic,   had  now 
changed;  and  his  dying  advice  to  the 
queen  was  in  favour  of  mild  and  tolerant, 
measures/!"    After  going  strictly  through 
all  the  duties  prescribed  by  his  religion,! 
he  heaved  his  last  sigh,  on  the  eighth  day  | 
from  the  assassination.^    The  genius  of! 
civil  war  seemed  to  make  a  halt  before 
his  bier;  the  animated  attacks  upon  Or-; 
leans  entirely  ceased;  and  the  animosity 
between  the  contending  parties  gave  way! 
to  the  renewal  of  negotiations  for  a  gene-; 
ral  reconciliation. 

In  the  mean  time  the  assassin  was 
arrested.  Directly  he  had  fired  on  the! 
duke,  he  called  out,  "  Take  him  !  take1 
him!''  and  began  running,  as  if  in  pur- 
suit of  some  one;§  but  terror  having  seized 
upon  his  mind,  he  was  unable  to  act  with 
sufficient  promptitude  to  make  his  escape. 
He  wandered  about  all  night,  and  when 
he  thought  himself  ten  leagues  from  the 
camp,  the  return  of  day  showed  him  that 
he  wasstill  in  the  neighbourhood.  When 
seized,  he  declared  that  he  had  committed 
the  act  solely  by  divine  inspiration,  and 
that  he  was  so  far  from  repenting  of  it, 
that  he  would  do  the  same  thing  over 
again. ||  But  violent  tortures  were  in- 
flicted upon  him,  to  draw  out  a  confession 
of  the  names  of  those  who  were  supposed 
to  have  excited  him  to  such  a  crime.  He 
accused  Coligny,  La  Rochefoucalt,  Sou- 
bise,  and  the  Viscount  Aubeterre,  of  being 
his  accomplices;  some  accounts  include 
Beza  in  the  charge.  When  particulars 
were  demanded,  he  stated  that  he  had  re- 
ceived a  present  from  the  admiral  for  the 
promises  he  had  made.  The  criminal 
was  examined  in  the  presence  of  the 
court,  and  made  to  sign  a  long  confession 
implicating  Coligny ;  but  it  must  be  re- 
inembeied,  that  Catherine  was  very  anx- 
ious to  fix  the  stigma  upon  him  for  seve- 
ral reasons:H  she  thought  it  would  weaken 
the  Huguenot  cause,  by  diminishing  their 
confidence  in,  and  esteem  for  their  leader; 


she  anticipated  a  greater  compliance  with 
her  views  on  Coligny's  part,  if  he  had 
such  a  charge  hanging  over  him;  and  she 
feared  that  otherwise  she  might  be  sus- 
pected herself:  for,  since  the  King  of 
Navarre's  death,  she  had  been  quite  a 
slave  to  the  ambition  of  Guise,  and  her 
complaints  on  the  loss  of  her  authority 
were  generally  known.*  Poltrot's  con- 
fession was  printed  and  widely  circulated; 
and  orders  were  given  to  lose  no  time  in 
executing  the  sentence  of  the  parliament.- 
When  Coligny  heard  of  what  had  oc- 
curred, and  that  the  assassin  accused  him 
of  complicity,  he  wrote  to  the  queen,  de- 
manding a  safe  conduct  in  order  to  be 
confronted  with  him.t  Such  a  request 
proves  much,  especially  as  his  avowed 
enemies  refused  to  grant  it.  If  the  court 
expected  that  Poltrot's  confessions  could 
have  been  substantiated,  they  would  not 
have  hurried  his  condemnation  and  exe- 
cution, which  was  not  only  precipitate, 
but  barbarous:  his  breasts  were  torn 
with  hot  pincers,  and  his  body  was  torn 
asunder  by  four  horses:  to  add  to  the 
cruelty  of  his  sentence,  he  was  compelled 
to  undergo  an  examination  after  suffering 
the  first  part  of  it.J 

While  he  remained  in  prison,  he  had 
always  varied  in  his  confessions.  Bran- 
tome  says,§  "  he  confessed  every  thing, 
and  I  spoke  to  him  myself:  he  always  ad- 
mitted that  Soubise  and  Aubeterre  had 
excited  and  persuaded  him  to  it,  but,  as 
to  the  admiral,  he  varied  and  contradicted 
|  himself  very  much  in  his  examinations, 
i  when  tortured,  and  at  his  death."    It  is 
certain  that  he  retracted  before  the  chief 
president  de  Thou,  and  acknowledged 
j  having  made  use  of  this  means  to  retard 
his  condemnation,  and  contrive  eventual 
j  chances  of  escape:  nor  is  this  affected  by 
jhis  renewal  of  the  charge  on  going  to  ex- 
ecution; for  the  hope  of  postponing  the 
moment  of  such  a  dreadful  punishment 
might  still  make  him  utter  a  calumny. 

Upon  what,  then,  is  the  charge  against 
Coligny  founded?  On  the  accusations  of 
a  wretch  who  had  yielded  to  the  impulses 


*  llranjome,  vol.  viii.  p.  120. 

t  [rAubigu'e,  vol.  i.  p.  180.  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente, 
p.  061. 

t  Francis  of  Lorrain,  Duke  of  Guise,  died  24th  Feb. 
15(>3,  aged  44  years. 

§  BrantoniP,  vol.  viii  p.  ]24. 

|  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  293.  U  Ibid.  p.  288. 


*  The  queen  subsequently  said  toTavannes,  "Ceux 
de  Guyse  se  vouloient  faire  Roys;  je  les  en  ay  bien 
garde  de  vant  Orleans." — Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  87'.  In 
another  part,  (p.  276,)  he  says  the  queen  was  said  to 
have  consented  to  the  employment  of  Poltrot. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  288. 

j  Relation  de  la  btessure,  &c— Mem  de  Condi,  vol.  iv. 
p.  240. 
§  Vol.  v.  iii.  p.  127. 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE   DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


75 


of  fanaticism,  without  partaking  of  the 
strength  which  that  execrable  feeling 
usually  imparts;  who  had  arranged  every 
thing  for  his  escape,  and,  failing  in  that, 
would  hesitate  at  nothing  calculated  to 
procure  a  delay,  or  a  commutation  of  his 
punishment.  Poltrot  alone  is  Coligny's 
accuser,  and  it  has  therefore  been  justly 
declared,  that  history  should  not  hesitate 
to  acquit  him.* 

But  the  absence  of  proofs  of  guilt  (espe- 
cially in  an  affair  which  from  its  nature 
would  be  shrouded  in  secrecy),  although 
it  may  protect  the  accused  before  the. 
laws,  must  be  accompanied  with  a  con- 
viction that  the  charge  was  unfounded, 
or  posterity  will  arraign  the  reputation  of 
the  individual.  Here,  then,  the  legal 
axiom  is  reversed,  and  it  is  our  task  to 
show  that  Coligny  was  innocent  of  this 
terrible  crime. 

The  principal  points  for  and  against 
him  shall  therefore  be  placed  in  array  ;  by 
which  means,  if  the  admiral's  innocence 
be  not  entirely  proved,  at  least  the  im- 
probability of  his  guilt  will  be  made  to 
appear.  The  arguments  in  support  of  the 
charge  are  as  follow:  — 

1.  The  great  interest  which  Coligny 
had  in  the  death  of  Guise  at  that  particular 
time.  His  brother,  whom  he  tenderly 
loved,  and  Orleans,  the  stronghold  of  his 
cause,  were  both  on  the  eve  of  falling  into 
his  power.  There  seemed  no  other  chance 
of  relief  for  the  Protestants;  and  it  was 
very  difficult  to  persuade  the  nation,  that 
an  event  so  much  to  his  advantage  had 
occurred  without  his  preparing  it. 

2.  The  probability  that  Coligny  would 
wish  to  revenge  some  attempts  on  his 
own  life,  particularly  that  which  was  pro- 
jected during  the  siege  of  Bourges.  There 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  Cuise  himself 


Poltrot:  this  is  admitted  to  be  a  fact  by 
almost  every  one,  except  Brantome,  who 
gives  a  particular  account  of  the  purchase 
of  a  horse  by  Poltrot.  He  adds,  "It  was 
said,  that  the  admiral  had  given  him  this 
money,  but  he  was  too  wary  to  do  such  a 
thing:  besides,  Poltrot  made  no  such 
avowal."*  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind, 
that,  in  this  age,  when  a  gentleman  was 
obliged  to  serve  without  any  remunera- 
tion, there  was  nothing  extraordinary  in 
a  commander's  helping  to  equip  him. 

4.  The  admissions  of  writers  favourable 
to  the  Huguenots,  particularly  that  of 
John  de  Serres,  in  his  Commentaries,! 
which  has  been  laid  hold  of  by  the  Abbe 
Anquetil,  who  makes  thereon  the  follow- 
ing remarks  :| — "  It  appears  from  the  nar- 
rative of  Serres,  that  the  admiral  was  ac- 
quainted with  Poltrot's  design  against  the 
Duke  of  Guise.  He  says,  that  Poltrot 
went  to  the  admiral,  charged  with  letters 
of  recommendation  from  Roubise,  and 
that  he  offered  to  join  Guise's  army  as 
a  spy,  and  even  to  kill  the  duke;  that  the 
admiral  approved  of  the  firmer  proposal, 
and  ridiculed  the  latter;  that  he  gave  him 
at  first  twenty  golden  crowns,  and  after- 
wards a  hundred,  to  purchase  a  horse. 
This  manner  of  receiving  the  proposal  of 
an  assassination  as  if  it  were  a  joke,  and 
afterwards  giving  money,  without  being 
informed  of  the  way  in  which  it  was  to  be 
employed,  does  not  tend  to  clear  the  ad- 
miral." 

This  extract  alone  is  sufficient  to  show 
what  inconsistencies  may  be  written  by 
the  supporters  of  a  false  accusation.  The 
Abbe  states  that  the  present  was  for  the 
purchase  of  a  horse,  and  afterwards  as- 
sumes that  it  was  given  without  inquiring 
to  what  use  it  was  destined. 

D'Aubigne  also  admits,  that  Poltrot  had 


thought  so,  for,  when  he  received  the  publicly  declared  his  intention  of  killing 


wound,  he  observed,  "  That  it  was  to 
have  been  expected."! 

3.  The  present  which  Coligny  made  to 


*  Lacrclelle,  Hist,  ties  Querres  de  Religion,  vol.  ii. 
p.  133 

t  It  is  related  by  V  nril  I  as  ami  others,  that  an  attempt 
was  made  nn  I lie  duke's  life  during  tin:  siege  nf  Knuen, 
and  the  assassin  is  said  to  have  acknowledged  "Thai 
he  wished  to  deliver  his  religion  from  its  worst  enemy  " 
The  following  reply  lots  been  attributed  to  Guise:  "  If 
your  religion  teaches  you  to  kill  one  who  has  never  in. 
lured  you.  mine,  conformable  to  the  gospel,  orders  me  to 
pardon  you."  Such  an  expression  is  ridiculous  in  the 
mouth  of  so  notorious  a  persecutor,  the  very  champion 
of  bigotry;  and  Mr.  Bayle  has  blended  a  little  sarcasm 
with  his  remarks  upon  it  in  his  dictionary  —  An  Fran- 
Ch  Duke  of  Quite. 


Guise,  but  that  little  attention  was  paid 
to  him,  for  he  was  considered  a  madman. § 
But,  whether  he  was  believed  or  not  in 
these  declarations,  it  is  scarcely  possible 
that  such  a  thing  could  be  publicly  talked 
of  without  reaching  the  ears  of  some  of 
Guise's  friends.  Besides,  Poltrot's  propo- 
sal to  become  a  spy  is  a  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  such  persons  were  often  em_ 

*  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  123. 

t  Commentariorum  de  statu  religionis  et  reipublics  in 
egno  (iallia*,  lihn  ties 
1  Preface  to  Esprit  de  In  Ligue,  p  C7. 
j  Hint.  Univ.  vol.  i.  p  170. 


76 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


ployed  at  this  period  ;  and  if  Coligny  had 
entertained  any  thought  of  such  an  at- 
tempt, he  was  too  prudent  to  suffer  its 
becoming  the  gossip  of  his  camp. 

5.  An  expression,  which  it  is  said  the 
admiral  would  frequently  repeat,  de- 
claring, "  That  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it,  nor  would  he  have  been  its  author  on 
any  account,  but  that  his  death  had  deli- 
vered the  Protestant  religion  from  a  dan- 
gerous enemy."  Brantome  observes 
thereon,*  "  that  many  were  surprised 
that  lie,  who  was  usually  so  cool  and 
sparing  of  his  words,  should  continually 
allude  to  an  event  so  long  gone  by."  But 
Coligny  could  not  forget  that  such  a 
charge  had  not  only  been  made,  but  was 
continually  renewed ;  for  the  queen  con- 
stantly excited  the  family  to  demand  jus- 
tice against  him.  His  frequent  allusion 
to  the  subject  therefore  amounts  to  no- 
thing. 

6.  An  insinuation  of  Brantome's  must 
also  be  added  to  the  preceding  articles. 
"  The  admiral,"  says  he,  "  was  too  keen 
to  give  Poltrot  instructions  or  advice  about 
it ;  but  he  acted  like  the  shepherd  in  the 
fable,  who  refused  to  tell  the  huntsmen 
where  the  stag  had  taken  refuge,  and  at 
the  same  time  pointed  with  his  finger  to 
the  spot."f  But  it  must  be  allowed  that 
this  observation  is  completely  at  variance 
with  his  remarks  in  general. 

Except  the  foregoing,  I  cannot  find  any 
argument  for  maintaining  the  accusation: 
let  the  witnesses  for  the  defence  be  now 
examined. 

1.  Coligny's  voyage  to  Normandy,  and 
his  attack  upon  Caen,  are  reasons  for 
supposing  he  had  no  expectation  of  Guise's 
death.  He  would  have  remained  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Orleans,  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  event,  and  not  have  been  con- 
tented with  the  mere  removal  of  a  rival. 
Before  he  could  with  prudence  approach, 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  decided  upon,  very 
much  against  his  wish.  "This  treaty," 
said  he,  "  ruins  more  churches  than  the 
enemy's  force  could  have  destroyed  in  ten 
years."|  Besides,  if  he  had  been  nigh  at 
hand,  the  murderer  might  have  been 
sheltered  from  arrest ;  the  confessions 
would  never  have  been  extorted  from 
him ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that,  in  the 


*  Vol.  viii.  p,  120,  t  Ibid,  p,  12?. 

t  Hist  du  (Joncile  de  Trente.  p.  074.   Davila,  liv.  3, 

p.  306. 


absence  of  Poltrot's  confession,  the  affair 
would  assume  a  different  aspect. 

2.  His  letter  to  the  queen  bears  great 
testimony  in  his  favour.  It  was  written 
from  Caen*  and  stated  that  he  feared 
nothing  so  much  as  the  execution  of  Pol- 
trot  before  the  truth  was  ascertained. 
After  reminding  the  queen  of  circum- 
stances which  would  indicate  the  impro- 
bability of  his  projecting  such  a  crime,  it 
expressed  his  anxiety  lest  the  parliament 
should  hasten  the  condemnation  and  exe- 
cution of  this  prisoner,  in  order  to  fix  a 
stigma  upon  him.  He  adds,  "  Do  not 
think,  however,  that  I  feel  any  regret  for 
Guise's  death;  for  I  consider  it  the  best 
thing  which  could  have  happened  to  this 
kingdom,  and  to  the  church  of  God;  and 
particularly  to  me  and  my  family."  A 
sentiment  which  no  one  would  be  very 
forward  in  avowing,  who  was  conscious 
that  the  death  in  question  had  been  effect- 
ed by  his  contrivance  or  subornation. 

3.  The  demand  of  a  safe-conduct,  in 
order  to  be  confronted  with  the  prisoner, 
has  already  been  mentioned:  the  refusal 
is  a  decided  proof  of  the  queen's  doubts 
respecting  the  truth  of  the  accusation  ; 
while  the  haste  of  the  parliament  in  exe- 
cuting the  sentence  of  the  law,  betrays  a 
fear  lest  the  assassin  should  make  known 
the  means  resorted  to  for  modelling  his 
confession.!  His  death  prevented  all  cor- 
roboration; the  thing  to  be  desired  above 
all  others,  where  justice  is  the  aim,  and 
truth  the  object  of  a  judicial  inquiry. 

4.  Among  the  different  means  made 
use  of  to  repel  the  charge  arising  from  this 
assassination,  "  it  was  verified,''''  says 
Brantome,^  "that  the  admiral  had  sent 
word  to  Guise  some  days  before,  to  take 
care  of  himself,  for  there  was  a  man  hired 
to  murder  him."  I  rather  doubt  of  this 
information  having  been  sent,  as  it  is 
completely  at  variance  with  every  re- 
ceived account,  and  is  moreover  impro- 
bable, as  no  measures  of  precaution  were 
adopted.  Coligny,  it  is  true,  might  have 
sent  such  intelligence,  and  the  letter  miss 
its  destination.  But  whether  Brantome's 
account  be  true  or  false,  the  bare  mention 
of  such  a  circumstance,  by  one  so  devoted 


*  12th  March,  1563.  It  is  to  he  found  in  the  Memoirs 
of  Conde. 

f  It  was  considered  generally,  at  the  time,  that  Pol- 
trot  had  been  promised  a  pardon,  if  his  instigator  could 
be  brought  to  justice  —  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  293. 

}  Vol,  viii.  p.  120. 


EDICT  Of  AMBOISE. 


77 


to  the  House  of  Lorrain,  and  in  a  great 
measure  dependent  on  that  family,  is  a 
proof  that  he  had  not  the  least  idea  of  the 
admiral's  guilt. 

5.  In  the  narrative  which  precedes,  no- 
tice has  been  taken  of  Brantome's  account 
of  the  contradictory  nature  of  Poltrot's 


What  degree  of  importance  is  to  be  at- 
tached to  these  several  arguments,  for  or 
against  the  accusation,  is  not  here  to  be 
pronounced.  The  facts  of  history  are  ap- 
proved or  condemned,  according  to  the 
light  in  which  they  are  viewed  by  poste- 
rity.   That  is  the  only  tribunal  compe- 


confessions ;  the  same  writer  gives  positive  tent  for  such  decisions;  and  the  lapse  of 
testimony  in  favour  of  the  admiral  in  ano-  two  centuries  and  a  half  leaves  Coligny  as 
ther  place.*  "The  admiral  who  was  |  much  as  ever  exposed  to  censure  if  guilty ; 
suspected  of  it  (the  death  of  Guise)  was  j  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  long  duration 


not  so  guilty  as  was  thought.  Others 
were  far  more  criminal,  who  never  suf- 
fered anything  on  that  account ;  but  this 
great  captain  was  obliged  to  pay  the  reck- 
oning for  all  the  others,  and  the  young 
duke  used  to  say,  that  he  alone  was  wor- 
thy of  his  hatred  and  his  vengeance." 

6.  The  general  tenor  of  Coligny's  life 
may  be  fairly  brought  forward  to  show 
the  improbability  of  his  becoming  the  em- 
ployer of  an  assassin  :  a  recent  work  on 
this  subject  contains  the  following  remark: 
— "If  the  previous  life  of  Coligny  be  an 
answer  to  this  terrible  accusation,  what 
he  did  afterwards,  in  two  other  civil  wars, 
repels  the  charge  still  better. 


of  a  calumny,  so  far  from  imparting  au- 
thenticity to  its  own  existence,  becomes 
an  additional  reason  for  carefully  and  im- 
partially investigating  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Edict  of  Amboise— Havre  taken — Charles  IX.  declared 
of  age — Coligny  accused  of  the  murder  of  Guise — Pins 
IV.  excommunicates  the  Queen  of  Navarre  and  some 
Bishops — Encroachments  on  the  liberty  of  the  Pro- 
testants. 

Guise's  death  put  an  end  to  the  Trium- 
virate, and  the  queen-mother  again  pos- 
sessed the  supreme  authority.  A  generar 
How  could  |  reconciliation  became  the  wish  of  all  par- 
a  man  capable  of  such  a  crime  have  so  ties.  The  English  had  established  them- 
constantly  abstained  from  the  fury  of  ven-  selves  in  Normandy.  The  land,  being 
geance,  and  reprisals,  which  appeared  law-  uncultivated,  provided  no  means  of  alle- 
ful'f't  viating  the  scarcity  which  afflicted  the 

7.  An  accusation,  the  malice  of  which  I  country ;  and  the  labourers,  taken  from 
it  is  impossible  entirely  to  conceal,  must 'their  usual  occupations  to  swell  the  ranks 


be  received  with  caution.  What  other 
motive  could  have  induced  the  enemies 
of  the  Protestants  to  insert  Beza's  name 
in  Poltrot's  confessions  ?  Catholic  writers 
refer  to  the  document,  and  exultingly  as- 
perse that  eminent  divine;  but  Brantome, 
who  was  on  the  spot,  makes  no  mention 
whatever  of  his  name. 

8.  There  is  in  Poltrot's  confession  one 


of  the  contending  parties,  now  Jived  by 
robbery.  Never  was  peace  more  requi- 
site for  any  kingdom.  Catherine,  more- 
over, was  desirous  of  concluding  some 
treaty,  for  the  Huguenots  would  very  soon 
have  been  able  to  dictate  their  own  terms, 
as  there  was  no  one  to  be  found  capable 
of  taking  the  command  of  the  royal  army ; 
the  queen  had  offered  that  post  to  the 


point  which  bears  the  characteristic  of  a 'Duke  of  Wirtemburg,  but  he  refused  it.* 
false  origin:  Poltrot  states  that  when  he  Her  fears  were  excited  by  the  known  in- 
arrived  at  the  camp  he  was  referred  to  j  flexibility  of  Coligny,  who  would  be  sure 
the  Seigneur  de  Chatillon,  &c,  whereas!  to  insist  upon  the  full  establishment  of  the 
the  persons  who  are  said  to  have  used  that  I  Protestant  religion,  as  the  basis  of  the 
expression  never  called  him  otherwise  than 'treaty ;  it  was  therefore  her  interest  to 
Monsieur  PAmiral.  Coligny,  in  his  reply,  |  come  to  some  conclusion  while  he  was  at 
published  at  the  time,  alludes  to  this,  tola  distance.! 
show  that  his  enemies  dictated  the  confes- 
sion to  the  suffering  wretch,  who  would 
say  what  he  thought  would  be  most  agree- 
able to  the  persons  around  him. 


*  Hist,  do  Charles  IX.  (vol.  ix.  p.  417  ) 
t  Lacrelellc,  Hist,  des  Querrej  de  Religion,  vol.  ii.  p. 


I?,J 


7* 


*  Beza's  History,  (Bonk  li)  contains  the  negotiation 
at  length  One  of  the  Duke's  reasons  for  declining  the 
offer  is,  '•  that  as  the  Prince  of  Conde  and  his  party  de- 
[Handed  only  the  observance  of  the  edict  of  January,  and 
as  the  troubles  and  cruelties  proceeded  from  Ihe  differ 
eiice  of  religion  alone,  he  could  not  join  in  any  thing 
which  might  be  prejudicial  to  those  of  the  same  faith  as 
himself,  some  trifling  difference  excepted." 

t  Letter  from  the  Spanish  ambassador,  dated  20th 
March.   Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  145. 


78 


HAVRE  TAKEN. 


To  win  over  the  Prince  of  Conde  she 
was  exceedingly  lavish  of  her  caresses; 
she  tenderly  embraced  the  princess,  and 
entreated  her  assistance  in  turning  the  ob- 
stinacy, not  only  of  her  husband,  but  of 
her  uncle  Coligny.  An'interview  between 
the  prince  and  Montmorency  was  soon 
arranged,  and  the  bases  of  a  treaty  were 
then  discussed.* 

Conde  demanded  the  full  execution  of 
the  edict  of  January,  and  Montmorency 
protested  that  he  would  never  subscribe 
to  a  measure  so  prejudicial  to  the  Catholic 
religion.  Each  was  persuaded  to  relax 
by  repeated  solicitations,  and  the  result  of 
the  conference  produced  the  edict  of  Ara- 
boise.t  By  it  the  Protestants  were  per- 
mitted the  exercise  of  their  religion,  in  all 
the  towns  which  were  in  their  possession 
on  the  7th  of  March ;  the  general  permis- 
sion to  preach  in  the  country  places, 
which  the  edict  of  January  allowed,  was 
considerably  restrained  in  the  present.  In 
order  to  heal  animosities,  the  edict  made 
no  mention  of  amnesty,  as  that  implied 
previous  rebellion  :  but  it  carried  complete 
oblivion  of  the  past;  declared  the  prince 
and  his  partisans  faithful  subjects  of  the 
king ;  and  acknowledged  that  they  had 
taken  arms  with  pure  intentions,  and  for 
promoting  the  good  of  his  cause.}  An  ad- 
ditional article  stipulated,  that  both  parties 
should  concur  in  driving  the  English  out 
of  the  kingdom.  Some  church-lands  were 
sold  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war: 
the  pacification  in  consequence  contained 
the  seeds  of  future  troubles.J  and  has  been 
considered  as  both  insulting  to  the  king, 
and  pernicious  to  religion.|| 

This  edict,  however,  rendered  it  neces- 
sary to  abandon  many  of  their  churches, 
which  lowered  Conde  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Protestants.  Coligny  no  sooner  heard 
of  it  than  he  hastened  to  the  prince,  and 
remonstrated  with  him  on  the  fault  he  had 
committed,  in  contenting  himself  with  such 
trifling  concessions,  when  his  circum- 
stances placed  him  in  such  a  commanding 
position.1T  He  saw  clearly  that  there  was 
no  chance  of  such  another  opportunity, 
and  had  great  fears  that  the  present  edict 
would  be  of  very  little  protection  to  them 
when  their  forces  were  disbanded.  But 


*  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iv  p.  275 

t  Dated  ]!)th  March,  1562-3.        J  De  Thou,  liv.  34. 

§  l'asquier,  vol.  ii.  p  108. 

II  Pallavicini,  lib.  20,  p.  407. 

IT  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Tiente,  p.  G74. 


his  observations  had  no  effect  upon  the 
prince,  who  was  weary  of  the  war:  con- 
siderations of  humanity  and  the  general 
interest  were  urged,  to  allay  the  vexation 
and  doubts  of  the  admiral ;  and  it  appears 
that,  if  Conde  had  not  felt  himself  bound 
to  preserve  appearances,  he  would  have 
been  contented  with  still  less  favourable 
terms.* 

Calvin,  Beza,  and  other  ministers,  also 
reproached  the  prince  with  having  sacri- 
ficed their  cause:  they  all  told  him  he 
would  not  be  long  before  he  repented  of 
it:  but  the  affair  was  concluded,  and  there 
was  no  revising  it.  The  prisoners  were 
set  at  liberty,  the  towns  restored,  and  the 
troops  disbanded.  The  registration  of  the 
edict,  however,  met  with  great  opposition 
in  all  the  parliaments.t 

The  admiral,  before  he  dismissed  his 
companions  in  arms,  paid  them  great  at- 
tentions, that  he  might  be  able  to  calcu- 
late upon  their  assistance  in  case  of  need. 
The  queen  was  displeased  at  this  precau- 
tion, and  complained  of  it  to  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  whom  she  tried  to  separate  from 
him  by  various  methods. 

Conde  told  her  in  reply,  that  this  con- 
duct of  Coligny  ought  to  be  attributed 
solely  to  a  grateful  desire  of  acquitting  his 
obligations  to  the  nobility  ;  and  that  it  was 
the  least  he  could  do  for  those  who  had 
quitted  their  homes  and  families  to  serve 
him.  Catherine  did  not  expect  such  an 
answer  from  the  prince,  whom  she  had 
endeavoured  to  impress  with  the  belief, 
that  the  confidence  of  the  Protestants  in 
Coligny  was  to  his  prejudice  ;  but  Conde 
was  aware  of  her  motives,  and  was  cau- 
tious of  taking  the  bait.}. 

The  cessation  of  intestine  commotions 
enabled  the  French  to  unite  in  expelling 
their  common  enemy;  negotiations  were 
at  first  entered  into,  but  without  success  ;§ 
arms  were  then  resorted  to,  and  the  En- 
glish were  soon  dispossessed  of  Havre. 
That  town  had  been  delivered  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  as  a  security  for  money  she  had 
lent  the  Prince  of  Conde.  Nothing  can 
justify  this  conduct  of  the  prince;  to  give 
up  an  important  town  to  another  govern- 
ment, and  thus  facilitate  the  entry  of  an 
enemy  into  the  heart  of  a  kingdom,  is  a 
measure  which  will  be  reprobated  by 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  281      t  Davila,  liv.  3.  p.  308. 

J  Vie  de  Coligny,  p  291. 

$  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol  ii.  p.  103. 


CHARLES  IX.  DECLARED  OF  AGE. 


79 


every  one  possessing  the  least  spark  of 
patriotism.  The  circumstances  of  this 
case  still  admit  of  some  palliation,  as  it  was 
apparently  the  only  means  of  saving  the 
Huguenots  from  extermination ;  but  Conde 
was  so  anxious  to  efface  the  blot,  that  he 
offered  his  services  to  retake  the  town. 

Havre  was  defended  by  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick, with  a  garrison  of  four  thousand 
men.  In  addition  to  the  brisk  attacks  of 
the  French,  he  was  assailed  internally  by 
a  pestilence,  which  rapidly  destroyed  his 
men.  He  also  felt  astonished  at  the  fury 
with  which  the  Huguenots  repaid  his  coun- 
try, for  the  assistance  which  had  been  sent 
them  ;*  while  they  fought  the  more  ear- 
nestly, in  order  to  clear  their  character 
from  the  reproach  of  having  introduced 
foreigners  into  France.  The  town  capitu- 
lated on  the  twenty-seventh  of  July,  and 
the  next  morning  the  governor  had  the 
mortification  cf  seeing  an  English  fleet  ar- 
rive with  reinforcements.  When  the  ships 
came  in  sight,  the  French  commander  sent 
Lignerolles  in  a  small  vessel  to  acquaint 
the  English  admiral  "  that  the  town  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  King  of  France ; 
and  that  if  he  wished  to  land  for  refresh- 
ments, the  queen  (Catherine)  would  re- 
ceive him  in  a  friendly  manner;  for  as  the 
most  Christian  King  had  recovered  what 
belonged  to  him,  he  did  not  pretend  to 
continue  at  war  with  the  Queen  of  En- 
gland, "f 

Elizabeth  was  very  indignant  when  she 
heard  of  the  loss  of  this  town,  which  she 
hoped  would  have  compensated  for  Ca- 
lais. She  is  reported  to  have  said,  that  if 
the  admiral  again  required  her  assistance, 
she  should  know  how  to  act;  but  when 
her  anger  had  subsided,  she  observed,  that 
the  King  of  France  was  happy  in  having 
such  faithful  subjects.:): 

As  the  king's  minority  had  afforded 
pretexts  for  all  the  attempts  against  the 
government,  Catherine  was  desirous  that 
he  should  be  declared  of  full  age:  that 
measure  would  not  affect  her  influence 
over  her  son,  while  it  would  protect  her 
from  the  intrusions  of  the  princes  of  the 
blood,  and  the  great  personages  of  the 
state.  Charles  IX.  entered  his  fourteenth 
year  during  the  siege  of  Havre,  and  she 

*  Piaconra  an  vray  do  la  reduction  du  Havre-de-Grace, 
&c  — Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  iv. 

t  Letter  of  Spanish  ambassador.  —Mem.  de  Condi,  vol. 
ii.  p.  171. 

\  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  297. 


wished  the  parliament  to  make  the  decla- 
ration without  delay,  according  to  the  law 
of  Charles  the  Wise,  which  fixed  the  ma- 
jority of  the  king  at  fourteen  years.  The 
Chancellor  l'Hopital,  who  also  wished  for 
the  measure,  considered  that  the  parlia- 
ment of  Paris  would  not  readily  consent 
to  it ;  and  he  recommended  the  queen  to 
apply  to  that  of  Rouen  in  preference.  A 
bed  of  justice  was  held  there  the  seven- 
teenth of  August,  and  the  king  was  de- 
clared of  full  age,  the  parliament  agreeing 
with  the  chancellor,  that  the  year  being 
entered  on  was  deemed  complete.  AH 
the  other  parliaments  registered  the  edict, 
except  that  of  Paris,  which  made  strong 
remonstrances.  As  that  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  states-general,  and  the  first 
court  in  the  kingdom,  it  was  deemed  very 
derogatory  to  its  dignity,  that  such  an 
edict  should  be  presented  to  the  other  par- 
liaments before  it  had  received  the  appro- 
bation of  that  body.  The  chief  president 
and  two  counsellors  were  deputed  to  con- 
vey these  sentiments  to  the  king,  who  as- 
sumed as  much  severity  as  he  was  able, 
telling  them  to  obey,  and  not  meddle  with 
public  affairs  which  depended  upon  his 
will ;  and  dismiss  the  idle  notion,  that  they 
were  the  guardians  of  the  king,  the  de- 
fenders of  the  kingdom,  and  the  protectors 
of  the  city  of  Paris  * 

The  king  delayed  returning  to  Paris  till 
after  the  parliament  had  become  con- 
formable :  a  further  delay  was  occasioned 
by  the  queen's  illness.  Instead  of  pro- 
ceeding direct  to  the  capital  he  made  a 
stay  at  Meulan,  to  which  place  the  mo- 
ther, the  widow,  and  the  children  of  Guise, 
with  a  numerous  train  of  relatives  and 
friends,  all  clothed  in  deep  mourning,  went 
in  a  body,  and  on  their  knees  presented 
a  request  demanding  justice  on  his  mur- 
derer.t  This  step  was  at  the  queen's  in- 
stigation ;  and  in  order  to  blind  the  public, 
as  to  the  part  she  had  taken  in  urging  the 
family  to  such  a  proceeding,  she  told  them 
that  she  could  not  conceive  why  they 
should  complain,  for  Poltrot  had  been 
punished  as  rigorously  as  they  could  pos- 
sibly wish.  This  gave  them  an  opportu- 
nity of  better  explaining  themselves,  and 
they  stated,  that  as  Coligny  had  been 
charged  by  the  confessions  and  declara- 

*  Davila,  liv.  3,  p  318.   Journal  de  Brulart,  in  he. 
t  Mem.  de  Conde ,  vol.  v.  p.  24.  Tlie  request  was  dated 
■2(>lh  iept.  1503. 


80 


COLIGXY  ACCUSED    OF  THE  MURDER  OF  GUISE. 


tions  of  Poltrot,  it  was  proper  that  he. 
should  justify  himself  from  the  accusation,' 
or  suffer  the  punishment  due  to  such  a  I 
crime.*     The  king  promised  them  his 
support,  and  the  parliament  commenced 
an  inquiry.     Many  of  the  counsellors 
thought  the  duchess  ought  not   to  be] 
allowed  to  risk  another  civil  war  by  pur- 
suing the  affair;  but  the  queen  gave  them 
to  understand  her  wishes,  and  the  parlia- 
ment commenced   proceedings  against 
the  admiral.    Catherine  was  in  hopes  of 
thus  compelling  Coligny  to  yield  to  her] 
authority  and    influence,   but   it  only 
strengthened  the  union  between  him  and 
Conde,  who  reproached  the  queen  with 
having  excited  this  odious  accusation.  A] 
memorial  was  also  presented  to  the  king,  l 
representing  that,  as  the  government  had 
refused  to  delay  Poltrot's  execution,  it1 
was  not  right  to  argue  from  his  deposi- 
tion ;  and  that,  as  oblivion  was  promised 
for  all  that  occurred  during  the  war,  if 
the  duchess  were  permitted  to  accuse  the: 
admiral,  he  ought  to  be  allowed  to  insti-] 
tute  proceedings  against  the  duke's  me-! 
mory  and  character,  in  order  to  condemn 
him  for  the  massacre  of  Vassy,  which  was 
the  cause  of  the  civil  wart    It  was  evi- 1 
dent  that  the  duchess  only  acted  from  the 
queen's  suggestions,  and  the  proceeding! 
was  looked  upon  as  a  persecution.  Mar-j 
shal  Montmorency,  eldest  son  of  the  Con-i 
stable,  warmly  espoused  Coligny's  cause, 
and  the  queen  became  fearful  of  the  con-i 
sequences  of  her  conduct.}    The  admi-t 
ral's  party  appeared  still  more  important 
when  he  entered  Paris  to  join  the  king,] 
accompanied  by  a  greater  train  of  nobles, 
and  gentlemen  than  had  been  seen  for  many  ] 
years.§  The  Guises  were  astonished,  andt 
immediately  placed  their  hotel  in  a  state1 
of  defence.  But  they  persisted  in  accusing 
Coligny,  and  at  last  the  king  issued  a  de- 
cree suspending  all  inquiry  for  three  years, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  public  discussion! 
of  the  affair.il 

In  the  mean  time,  the  insufficiency  of1 
the  edict  of  Amboise  for  securing  the1 
peace  became  very  evident.  Wherever 
the  Protestants  were  most  numerous,  they 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p,  202.    Davila,  liv.  3.  p.  321. 
t  Vie  tie  Coligny,  p.  293. 

J  Letter  of  the  Spanish  ambassador.— Mem.  dc  Condi. 
vol.  ii.  p.  181. 

§  Brief  disconrs  dc  tout  re  quie  a  este  negotie  pour  la 
querelle  qui  est  entre  les  maisons  de  Guysc  et  de  Chas- 
tillon,  &c  — Mem.  de  Condi,  vol.  v. 

I  The  decree  is  dated  5th  January,  1563-4. 


extended  the  liberty  of  the  edict;  and 
when  they  were  the  weaker  party,  they 
were  unable  to  enjoy  its  benefit.  The 
Catholics  in  general  were  angry  at  the 
concessions  made  to  the  Protestants,  and 
loudly  manifested  their  discontent.  No 
one  was  more  displeased  about  it  than  the 
constable,  notwithstanding  the  treaty  was 
principally  his  own  work.  These  mur- 
murs were  repeated  by  a  number  of  dis- 
contented persons,  who  made  his  house 
their  rendezvous.  Montmorency  argued 
that  the  Huguenots  would  necessarily 
increase  in  numbers  and  influence  if  the 
peace  continued,  and  that  therefore  a  war 
was  the  only  remedy  for  the  evil.  A  plan 
was  formed  for  raising  a  disturbance  in 
the  capital,  and  about  three  hundred  of 
the  principal  protestants  were  marked  out 
for  destruction :  this  violent  measure  it 
was  supposed  would  cause  another  war. 
Every  thing  was  arranged  for  execution  : 
persons  were  posted  to  stir  up  the  popu- 
lace, and  engage  them  to  fall  on  the  Cal- 
vinists,  murder  them,  and  plunder  their 
houses.  The  constable  himself  gave 
orders  for  carrying  the  plan  into  effect; 
but  the  queen  received  timely  information, 
and  the  plot  was  frustrated.  Montmo- 
rency retired  in  confusion  to  Chantilly, 
and  some  of  the  most  furious  of  his  ac- 
complices were  hanged  at  their  own  win- 
dows, without  any  form  of  trial:  the 
others  were  allowed  to  escape.* 

This  attempt  was  not  confined  to  the 
capital.  Damville,  Tavannes,  and  other 
governors  attempted  similar  measures. 
Like  most  persecutions,  it  received  great 
encouragement  from  the  clergy,  whose 
zeal  could  not  remain  inactive  when  the 
Pope  had  hurled  his  thunders,  and  the 
council  its  anathemas,  against  the  vic- 
tims; added  to  which,  several  foreign 
princes  solicited  severe  measures  against 
them,  and  sent  embassies  to  convey  their 
threats  if  such  were  not  adopted.^ 

Pius  IV.,  who  at  this  time  directed  the 
politics  of  the  Vatican,  readily  perceived 
that  the  temporal  authority  of  his  see 
would  be  undermined  if  the  Protestants 
could  enjoy  liberty  in  France  :  his  object 
was  therefore  to  make  them  hateful  to  (he 
government.  To  prevent  the  clergy  from 
giving  them  countenance,  he  determined 
on  punishing  those  French  prelates  who 

*  Vielleville,  liv.  9,  <  h.  32  an  I  35. 

t  D'Aub!gne,  vol.  i.  p.  197.   De  Tho  i,  liv.  33. 


COLIGNY  ACCUSED  OF  THE  MURDER  OF  GUISE. 


81 


had  adopted  the  new  doctrines,  or  had 
been  guilty  of  tolerance.  He  excommu- 
nicated the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon ;  St. 
ltomain,  Archbishop  of  Aix  ;  Montluc,  Bi- 
shop of  Valence;  Carraccioli  ofTroyes; 
Barbancjon,  of  Pamiers;  and  Guillart  of 
Chartres:  they  were  all  summoned  to  ap- 
pear before  him,  and  give  an  account  of 
their  conduct* 

The  audacity  of  the  pontiff  was  the 
means  of  saving  those  prelates  from  his 
wrath,  by  rendering  it  necessary  for  the 
king  of  France  to  interfere.  The  pope 
cited  the  queen  of  Navarre  to  give  an 
account  of  her  faith  ;t  and  if  within  the 
space  of  six  months  she  did  not  appear 
before  the  sovereign  pontiff,  he  declared 
her  proscribed,  convicted  of  heresy,  fallen 
from  royalty,  and  deprived  of  her  estates 
and  dignities,  which  were  given  to  the 
first  occupant.}  Such  an  attack  upon  a 
crowned  head,  and  a  near  relative  of  the 
King  of  France,  caused  a  strong  represen- 
tation from  the  French  ambassador;  and 
the  pope  in  consequence  withdrew  his 
bull.} 

A  new  edict  was  published  about  the 
same  time:  it  was  called  a  declaration, 
and  was  avowedly  to  explain  the  doubt- 
ful part  of  that  of  Amboise,  but  in  reality 
to  curtail  the  liberty  of  the  Protestants. || 
Several  of  the  clergy  had  performed  i 
divine  service  in  their  churches,  according 
to  the  new  rite,  and  many  had  permitted 
it  in  their  dependencies.  By  the  new 
edict,  all  lands  and  buildings  belonging  to 
the  church  were  excepted  from  the  liberty 
of  worship:  similar  means  were  resorted 
to  for  curtailing  their  liberty  of  preaching  in 
general ;  and  as  many  persons  had  quitted 
the  monastic  life,  and  had  married,  they 
were  enjoined  to  return  to  their  convents, 
and  renounce  their  illegal  marriages,  or 
quit  the  kingdom. 

Such  an  encroachment  on  the  edict  of 
Amboise  could  not  be  submitted  to,  with- 
out an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Protest- 
ants to  defend  their  rights.  They  inun- 
dated the  kingdom  with  apologies,  com- 
plaints, and  remonstrances  to  the  king, 
the  queen,  and  particularly  the. Prince  of 


*  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trentc,  p.  769. 

t  The  hull  is  dated  2Hih  Sept.  1503;  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fourth  vol.  of  Mem.  de  Condi. 

t  D'Auhigne,  vol.  i.  p.  201.  Maimbotirg,  Hist,  de  Cal- 
vinisme,  liv.  4. 

§  Hist,  du  Uoncile  de  Trente,  p.  T96.  Mem.  de  Conde, 
vol.  iv.  p.  G80. 

II  Dated  Hth  December,  1503. 


Conde,  as  he  was  in  some  decree  answer- 
able for  the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty,  having 
prevented  the  admiral  from  securing 
better  terms.  But  Catherine  had  artfully 
surrounded  him  with  every  charm  and 
variety  of  pleasure,  and  he  was  too  much 
engaged  to  bestir  himself  on  their  account. 
His  amorous  disposition  made  him  an 
easy  prey  to  the  intrigues  set  on  foot  by 
the  queen.  She  amused  him  with  the 
hope  of  being  lieutenant-general  of  the 
kingdom,  and  encouraged  him  to  pursue 
his  brother's  claims  to  Sardinia:  she  pro- 
jected at  the  same  time  a  marriage  be- 
tween him  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  as 
his  princess  had  lately  died.  Conde's 
wit  and  vivacity,  added  to  his  reputation 
for  courage  and  skill,  made  him  a  great 
favourite  at  court,  and  the  widow  of  Mar- 
shal St.  Andre  and  Isabella  de  la  Tour  cfe 
Turenne  disputed  for  his  hand :  the  prince 
resigned  himself  to  luxury,  and  for  a  time 
the  queen's  object  was  effected.* 

Coligny  had  great  difficulty  in  dis- 
suading the  prince  from  marrying  the 
widow,  who  was  so  deeply  enamoured, 
that  she  gave  him  the  chateau  of  Vallery  ;f 
nor  was  this  the  only  proof  of  her  tender- 
ness, according  to  the  memoirs  of  the  ad- 
miral. 

The  noblesse  were  ensnared  in  a  simi- 
lar manner.  Catherine's  maids  of  honour, 
young  and  beautiful  girls,  were  the  syrens 
employed  to  captivate  the  Huguenot  lead- 
ers. The  queen  hoped  to  lull  them  into 
security,  in  order  more  completely  to  have 
them  in  her  power.  Treachery  was  the 
leading  feature  of  her  conduct:  her  aim 
being  bad,  she  would  not  be  scrupulous 
about  the  means,  and  the  morals  of  her 
court  would  be  exposed  to  but  little  scru- 
tiny. Those  who  were  most  successful 
received  the  greatest  honour;  and  de- 
bauchery and  perfidy  entered  very  early 
into  the  habits  of  Charles  IX. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Conclusion  of  the  Council  of  Trent — Secret  arrange- 
inents  made  for  the  destruction  of  heresy— Arrest  of 
(  liarlesdu  Moulin — Journey  to  Bayonne— Interviews 
between  Catherine  and  the  Duke  of  Alva — Plot  for 
seizing  the  Ctueen  of  Navarre  and  her  son. 

The  month  of  December,  1563,  was 
rendered  remarkable  by  the  conclusion 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  35.  |  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  3. 


82 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  TRENT. 


of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Pius  IV.  had 
renewed  the  sessions,  with  a  determina- 
tion to  come  to  some  decision ;  he  was 
convinced  that  unless  some  fixed  princi- 
ples were  adopted,  some  boundary  esta- 
blished for  the  church,  the  most  sincere 
Catholics  might  be  seduced  into  heresy, 
by  the  arguments  of  those  who  claimed 
the  right  of  interpreting  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures for  themselves.  The  different  dis- 
cussions during  the  twenty-five  sessions 
of  this  council  embraced  the  whole  range 
of  subjects  which  affected  the  power,  the 
wealth,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  court 
of  Rome.  The  decrees  were  prefaced 
with  the  following  style,  "  The  holy  (Ecu- 
menic Council,  legitimately  assembled 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  apostolical  legates  presiding."*  But 
as  the  pope  had  the  council  under  his 
control,  nothing  was  discussed  beyond 
what  the  legates  proposed :  and  instead  of 
deliberating  upon  the  spiritual  interests  of 
Christendom,  for  effecting  a  complete  abo- 
lition of  the  corruptions  and  superstitions, 
which  were  the  grounds  of  Luther's  at- 
tack, there  were  only  proposed  some 
slight  modifications  of  the  most  glaring 
abuses,  while  additional  authority  was 
conferred  upon  almost  every  point,  in 
which  the  councils  and  traditions  appeared 
at  variance  with  the  Scriptures;  and  what 
was  intended  to  reform  the  church,  thus 
served  only  to  confirm  its  errors.  It 
could  hardly  be  otherwise,  for  the  council 
was  chiefly  composed  of  men  devoted  to 
the  pope,  and  whose  number  he  could  in- 
crease at  his  pleasure;  while  the  most 
learned  divines  of  the  different  nations 
were  never  invited  to  attend,  and  if  any 
one  ventured  to  express  an  opinion  con- 
trary to  the  papal  interests,  he  was  soon 
put  to  silence.  It  was  observed  at  the 
time,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  sent  from 
Rome  in  a  portmanteau.! 

The  concluding  act  of  the  council,  was 
to  establish  the  dogma  of  the  pope's  infal- 
libility. The  council  declared  that  the 
authority  of  the  holy  see  remained  invio- 
late, and  the  decision  of  any  difficulties, 
without  exception,  which  might  arise  out 
of  the  decrees,  was  referred  to  the  pope, 
as  sovereign  pastor  of  the  church.} 

The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  appeared  at 

*  Hist.  <lu  Concile  de  Trente,  p.  124. 
t  Turretin,  Mist.  Eccles. 

I  Maimbour?.  Hist,  du  Lutheranisme,  Fra  Paolo. 
Hist,  du  Concile  de  Trente. 


the  council  with  great  splendour;  and 
the  occasion  for  discussing  some  genera! 
plan  for  the  annihilation  of  heresy  was  not 
lost.  He  conferred  with  the  emperor,  and 
conversed  with  the  pope;  and  the  em- 
bassy to  France  soon  after,  on  the  part 
of  the  pope,  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  was  generally  attri- 
buted to  that  conversation*  The  pro- 
position was  kept  very  secret  ;  and  both 
the  court  and  the  deputies  carefully  con- 
cealed what  was  discussed.  But  Coligny, 
who  had  good  active  spies  abroad,  pene- 
trated the  nature  of  the  embassy,  and 
roused  the  Prince  of  Conde  to  exert  him- 
self ;  the  queen  feared  a  renewal  of  the 
war,  and  acted  accordingly.! 

When  the  ambassadors  arrived  at  Fon- 
tainebleau,  where  the  king  then  was,  they 
could  only  obtain  vague  answers.  They 
demanded,  among  other  things,  that  the 
Council  of  Trent  should  be  received  ,in 
France;  that  the  heretics  should  be  pu- 
nished without  mercy;  and  that  the  au- 
thors of  the  death  of  Guise  should  be  con- 
demned as  guilty  of  high  treason.  Charles 
assured  them  that  he  would  live  in  the  re- 
ligion of  his  fathers,  that  he  was  disposed 
to  render  justice  to  all  his  subjects,  and 
that  for  the  rest  he  would  write  to  their 
masters.} 

But  so  much  did  the  ultramontane  inte- 
rest predominate  in  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  that  the  Catholics  of 
France  were  very  averse  to  their  recep- 
tion. A  celebrated  lawyer,  named  Charles 
du  Moulin,  published  a  memoir,  showing 
that  this  council  was  null  and  vicious  in 
all  its  parts,  contrary  to  former  decrees, 
and  prejudicial  to  the  dignity  of  the  crown, 
and  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican  church. 5 
He  was  arrested  for  this  publication,  while 
going  up  the  steps  of  the  Palace  of  Justice, 
and  that  circumstance  nearly  caused  a 
tumult;  for  the  other  lawyers  felt  indig- 
nant at  such  treatment  of  a  man  who  was 
an  honour  to  their  profession,  and  they 
excited  their  clerks  to  attempt  a  rescue. 
The  Conciergerie,  however,  being  close 
at  hand,  the  archers  very  soon  secured 
their  prisoner,  and,  by  a  prompt  flight, 
escaped  the  vengeance  of  their  pursuers. 
No  sooner  did  this  affair  reach  the  ears  of 
Coligny,  than  he  made  the  case  his  own 

*  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  108. 
t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  302. 

J  D'Aiibignt:,  vol.  i.  p.  203.  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  v.  p.  4A. 
§  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  v.  pp.  81  at  seq. 


SECRET  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  HERESY.  83 


(for  he  had  encouraged  Du  Moulin  to  pub- 
lish the  memoir:)  he  went  to  the  queen, 
and  by  a  full  representation  of  the  affair, 
and  its  probable  results,  obtained  an  order 
for  Du  Moulin  to  be  set  at  liberty* 

Catherine  had  for  some  time  entertained 
a  great  wish  to  travel  through  the  king- 
dom, and  show  the  young  monarch  to  his 
people.  The  communications  from  the 
ambassadors  had  created  an  additional 
motive,  for  it  became  necessary  to  ascer- 
tain the  strength  of  the  Huguenots  in  the 
provinces.  She  was  attended  by  all  the 
lords  of  the  court,  and  the  whole  royal 
family,  with  the  exception  of  the  Duke  of 
Alengon  and  the  Prince  of  Conde.  The 
population  crowded  on  the  passage  of  this 
brilliant  escort,  and  saluted  the  king  with 
their  acclamations.  The  young  monarch's 
presence  dissipated  every  where  that] 
gloomy  distrust  which  had  lately  showed 
itself;  and  every  one  thanked  him  for  the 
peace  he  had  bestowed  on  France.  These 
testimonials  of  affection  should  have  en- 
gaged Charles  IX.  to  merit  them  by  a  pa- 
ternal administration  of  the  public  affairs : 
but  the  queen  would  not  quit  her  son  a 
single  moment;  she  beheld  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  with  indifference,  and  the 
rising  feelings  of  gratitude  were  stifled  in 
the  king's  breast.  Catherine  also  took 
especial  care  to  revive  the  expiring  sparks 
of  fanaticism,  by  encouraging  shouts  of 
Vive  le  Roi,  la  Reine,  el  La  Messe .' 
Skilful  agents  controlled  the  multitude, 
who  mingled  abuse  of  the  Protestants  with 
expressions  of  loyalty  to  the  king;  but 
that  did  not  prevent  the  Huguenots  from 
making  their  complaints. f 

The  queen  did  not  long  conceal  her  per- 
fidious intentions.  The  king's  steps  were 
at  first  directed  to  Lorrain,  to  visit  the 
duke,  who  had  married  his  sister.  A  num- 
ber of  fetes  were  given  in  honour  of  this 
visit,  and  the  court  was  occupied  with 
pleasure :  but  Catherine  availed  herself  of 
the  opportunity  to  negotiate  with  the 
neighbouring  German  princes,  and  prevent 
their  subjects  from  coming  to  France  to 
assist  the  Protestants:  she  offered  to  pay 
them  for  this  civility.  The  Duke  of  Wir- 
temburg,  the  count  palatine,  and  the  Duke 


*  Vie  do  Coligny,  p  304.  and  Journal  de  Brulart,  Tlh 
June,  1504.  Yet,  within  a  short  time,  Du  Moulin  drew 
up  a  most  violent  accusation  against  the  Protestants, 
entitled  Fails  et  Informations,  &c;  inserted  in  Villeroy, 
vol.  vii. 

t  Mem.  de  Conde,  vol.  ii.  p.  194. 


of  Deux  Ponts,  contended  for  the  right  of 
assisting  their  friends;  the  Marquis  of 
Baden,  and  one  or  two  others,  accepted 
her  proposal,  and  engaged  besides  to  send 
troops  to  her  assistance :  she  had  thus 
gained  a  great  point  towards  the  accom- 
plishment of  her  project.* 

From  Lorrain,  Charles  IX.  went  to- 
wards the  southern  parts  of  France.  The 
Duke  of  Savoy  approached  the  king,  to 
offer  his  respects,  as  the  court  passed  by 
that  frontier.  To  some  this  act  appeared 
only  a  courtesy  on  the  part  of  the  duke; 
but  many  expressed  their  suspicions  of  the 
secret  interviews  which  he  had  with  the 
queen.  At  Avignon  the  honours  of  the 
place  were  rendered  by  the  vice-legate, 
but  the  pope  had  sent,  at  the  queen's  de- 
sire, a  Florentine,  his  confidant :  he  dis- 
cussed the  secret  affairs,  while  the  public 
functionaries  attended  to  pageantry  and 
pleasure.  Catherine  could  there  declare 
sentiments,  which  she  had  feared  to  im- 
part to  ordinary  legates.! 

As  if  her  policy  required  no  mask,  Ca- 
therine gave  orders  for  destroying  the  for- 
tifications of  the  places  where  the  Pro- 
testants were  numerous;  and  citadels 
were  built  to  keep  the  great  towns  in 
check.  Every  day  witnessed  some  en- 
croachment on  the  edict  of  Amboise.  Se- 
veral other  edicts  had  been  passed,  inju- 
rious to  the  Protestants,  by  restraining 
their  liberty:  the  edict  of  RoussillonJ  de- 
clared that  the  liberty  of  public  worship 
on  their  estates,  which  had  been  given  to 
the  gentry,  was  only  intended  for  their 
servants  and  vassals :  it  forbade  the  col- 
lection of  any  money  for  the  minister's 
support ;  and  repeated  the  injunction  to 
the  priests,  monks,  and  nuns,  who  had 
contracted  marriages,  to  resume  their  for- 
mer conditions,  or  to  quit  the  kingdom. 
The  Prince  of  Conde  addressed  a  remon- 
strance to  the  king,  which  was  probably 
the  cause  of  two  royal  proclamations, 
which  were  issued  soon  after,  enjoining 
all  governors,  &c,  to  observe  the  edict  of 
pacification. J 

The  court  arrived  at  Bayonne,  the  10th 
of  June,  1565,  when  the  king  was  met  by 

*  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  309.    I>avila,  liv.  3,  p.  329. 

t  Davila,  liv  3.  Maimbourg  adds,  that  the  legate 
was  mcrrcdleuscmr.vt.  tatitfait  With  this  conference. 
Hist,  du  Calcinisme,  liv.  5 

X  Dated  4th  Aug.  1504. 

$  Proclamations,  dated  Marseilles,  8th  and  9th  Nov. 
15G4  ;  ihey  are  given  at  length  in  (he  first  vol.  of  Mem. 
de  Conde;  the  prince's  remonstrance  is  in  vol.  v.  p.  201. 


84 


JOURNEY  TO  BAYONNE. 


his  sister,  the  Queen  of  Spain,  who  had 
been  sent  by  her  husband,  Philip  II.,  an 
unconscious  instrument  of  his  dark  policy. 
She  was  accompanied  by  a  numerous  and 
brilliant  suite,  and  her  principal  attendant 
was  the  ferocious  Duke  of  Alva :  an  envoy 
quite  equal  to  the  commission  confided  to 
him,  by  his  talents  and  his  sanguinary, 
bigoted  disposition. 

At  this  time,  when  all  the  luxury  and 
pomp  of  the  court  of  France  was  em- 
ployed in  fetes  and  pageantry,  when  the 
French  and  Spanish  courts  endeavoured 
to  outvie  each  other's  splendour,  the  queen- 
mother  wished  it  to  be  thought  that  her 
stay  at  Bayonne  was  only  to  divert  her 
daughter.  Her  attention,  however,  was 
directed  to  another  object;  for,  under  pre- 
tence of  going  to  see  her,  by  a  gallery 
which  she  had  ordered  to  be  constructed 
to  connect  their  apartments,  she  conversed 
every  night  with  the  Duke  of  Alva.* 
Subsequent  events  have  shown  that  these 
conferences  were  about  a  secret  alliance 
between  the  two  kings,  for  the  entire  ex- 
tirpation of  heresy  in  France. j  Cathe- 
rine was  discussing  the  best  means  of  ef- 
fecting that  object,  when  the  Duke  of  Alva 
observed,  that  "  ten  thousand  frogs  were 
not  worth  the  head  of  a  salmon."|  These 
words  were  overheard  by  the  young 
prince  of  Beam,  whose  penetration  was 
far  beyond  his  years :  he  considered  them 
as  applicable  to  Conde  and  Coligny,  and 
immediately  informed  his  mother,  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  of  what  he  had  heard. 

This  prince,  who  will  hereafter  occupy 
a  very  considerable  share  of  our  attention, 
was  born  at  Pau  in  Beam,  the  13th  of 
December,  1553.  He  was  the  son  of  An- 
thony of  Bourbon  and  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre. Henry  d'Albret,  King  of  Navarre, 
had  a  presentiment  that  his  grandson 
would  one  day  avenge  the  injuries  he  had 
received  from  the  King  of  Spain ;  and, 
while  he  lived,  he  superintended  those  who 

*  De  Tliou,  liv.  37. 

t  The  following  testimony  is  above  suspicion,  "  Les 
Rnynesne  France  et  d'Espagne  a  Bayonne.  assistees  do 
Due  d'Albe,  resoulent  la  mine  des  heretiques  en  Prance 
et  Flandrcs."— Mem.  de  Tavanncs,  p.  282.  Strada's  his 
lory  also  mentions  it. 

J  Mathieu,  in  his  History  of  France,  admits  a  consul- 
tation for  crushing  the  I'rotestants,  by  previously  re- 
moving their  leaders,  but  rejects  the  idea  of  the  Pt.  Bar- 
tholomew being  then  in  contemplation.  The  words  used 
on  this  occasion  are  given  in  a  different  form  by  almost 
every  writer,  but  the  animus  is  the  same  in  all.  Ac- 
cording to  Brantnine,  it  was  a  favourite  phrase  with  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  who  made  use  of  it  when  he  entrapped 
the  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn  to  be  massacred.  See  his 
Jiife  of  the  I'rince  of  Orange. 


had  the  care  of  him.*  His  education  was 
unlike  that  of  princes,  for  he  was  exer- 
cised like  a  young  Spartan,  and  nourished 
with  food  of  the  coarsest  kind.  His  first 
years  were  passed  amidst  the  rocks  of 
Beam,  and  the  children  of  the  peasants 
were  his  companions.  This  hard  ap- 
prenticeship prepared  him  for  his  heroic 
destinies.  His  mother,  in  the  mean  time, 
provided  him  an  excellent  tutor,  named 
La  Gaucherie,  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  day ;  and  his  death  occurring 
soon  after,  a  Protestant,  named  Florent 
Chretien,  was  charged  with  his  tuition. 
When  he  was  presented  at  the  court  of 
France,  the  blunt  frankness  of  the  little 
mountaineer  prince  caused  some  amuse- 
jment  to  the  courtiers;  but  his  wit  and 
[gracefulness  gained  him  the  kindness  of 
Catherine,  who  liked  to  have  him  con- 
I  stantly  with  her.t  There  was  also  a  great 
[interest  excited  in  his  favour  while  at 
j  Bayonne,  on  account  of  a  conspiracy 
against  him,  which  had  recently  failed. 
The  object,  was  to  seize  and  carry  off  the 
Queen  of  Navarre  and  her  son,  and  deliver 
them  into  the  hands  of  the  King  of  Spain. 
What  their  fate  would  have  been  can  only 
be  conjectured,  but  there  was  every  thing 
to  be  feared  on  their  account  from  such  a 
sanguinary  prince,  who  found  in  religion 
a  pretext  for  every  crime,  and  who  had 
authority  from  the  pope  to  possess  her 
kingdom.  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Spain, 
heard  of  the  plot,  and  trembled  for  the 
life  of  her  relative:  she  sent  immediate 
information  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre  and 
the  queen-mother,  and  the  project  failed  in 
consequence.  It  is  uncertain  whether  this 
plot  was  of  French  or  Spanish  origin  ;  but 
memoirs  of  the  time  mention  that  Mont- 
luc  and  several  Catholic  generals  knew  of 
it.  Catherine  thought  it  sufficient  to  have 
prevented  the  effect  of  the  conspiracy,  and 
refrained  from  inquiring  into  the  guilt  of 
any  one  concerned  in  it :  the  rank  and 
number  of  the  criminals  rendered  that  po- 
licy necessary.! 

The  fetes  at  Bayonne  being  concluded, 
the  Queen  of  Spain  returned  to  her  hus- 
band, and  the  French  court  set  out  for 
Nerac  in  Gascony,  the  residence  of  the 


*  Henry  d'Albret  was  born  at  Sangnesa.  in  Navarre, 
in  15t)3;  he  died  1555.  Charles  V.  considered  him  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  men  of  his  age. 

t  Cayet,  vol.  i.  p.  236,  H  seq. 

j  Recitd'une  enterprise  faicteen  1'an  15(55  contre  la 
royne  de  Navarre,  &c,  inserted  in  Villeroy,  vol.  ii. 


AFFAIR  BETWEEN  MONTMORENCY  AND  CARDINAL  OF  LORRAIN.  85 


Queen  of  Navarre.  Charles  restored  the 
Catholic  worship  in  those  parts,  and  at- 
tempted, but  in  vain,  to  bring  back  the 
queen  to  that  faith.  She  joined  the  reti- 
nue of  the  court,  and  the  king  loaded  her 
with  civilities  and  attentions.  Catherine, 
determined  on  keeping  alive  her  son's 
hatred  of  heresy,  pointed  out  to  his  notice 
the  ruined  monasteries,  the  overthrown 
crosses,  and  the  mutilated  images  of  saints, 
which  were  often  in  view.  Her  words 
were  deeply  impressed  on  the  young  king's 
mind,  and  created  a  distrust  of  the  Pro- 
testants which  nothing  could  remove. 
He  frequently  repeated  the  remark  made 
by  the  Duke  of  Alva,  and  from  that  time 
adapted  his  policy  to  that  object.* 

The  court  arrived  at  Blois  at  the  close 
of  the  year;  and  an  assembly  of  all  the 
great  personages  was  convoked  to  meet 
atMoulins,  in  the  month  of  January,  1566: 
at  that  assembly  an  edict  was  passed 
which  confirmed  that  of  Roussillon,  and 
others,  which  had  been  made  during  the 
king's  journey;  but  whatever  new  dispo- 
sitions were  made,  were  of  a  civil  nature, 
and  had  no  reference  to  the  Protestants. t 
Catherine  did  not  find  events  favourable 
to  her  views,  or  she  would  on  this  occa- 
sion have  adopted  the  suggestions  of  the 
Duke  of  Alva :  at  least  such  was  the  gene- 
ral opinion  among  the  Protestants,  and  all 
confidence  in  the  queen  was  from  that 
time  destroyed.^ 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Affair  between  Marshal  Montmorency  and  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine— Attempts  to  assassinate  Coligny — Per- 
fidious conduct  of  Charles  IX. 

The  king  had  been  absent  from  Paris 
nearly  two  years.  During  that  time  a 
disturbance  occurred,  which  warmly  in- 
terested the  whole  court.  An  edict  had 
prohibited  all  persons  from  carrying  fire- 
arms, as  the  irritated  state  of  the  nation 
made  it  dangerous  for  either  party  to 
have  weapons  at  hand:  the  prohibition 
extended  to  all  ranks;  but  the  Cardinal  of 


*  Davila,  liv.  3. 

t  Thanks  to  the  energy  of  the  chancellor,  whose 
firmness  in  opposing  the  projects  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorrain  obtained  for  him  some  insulting  remarks  in  the 
assembly.  The  scene  is  detailed  in  the  Mem.  de  LKstoile 
•vol.  i.  p.  12.    Edit.  Cologne,  1719. 

X  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  314.   Davila,  liv.  3.   De  Thou, 


Lorrain,  fearing  a  fate  similar  to  his  bro- 
ther's, had  obtained  permission  under  the 
great  seal  to  be  attended  by  guards  well 
accoutred.  On  his  return  from  the 
Council  of  Trent,  in  January,  1565,  he 
invited  all  his  friends  to  join  him  and 
swell  his  escort,  that  he  might  make  a 
sort  of  triumphal  entry  into  Paris. 

Marshal  Montmorency  was  at  that 
time  governor  of  Paris,  and  was  desirous 
of  mortifying  the  cardinal's  vanity:  he 
well  knew  that  certain  persons  were  pri- 
vileged in  spite  of  the  edicts,  and  that  the 
cardinal  was  among  the  number;'  but  to 
put  a  good  appearance  on  his  conduct, 
he  went  to  the  parliament,  and  said  that 
he  had  information  that  somebody  pro- 
posed coming  to  Paris  with  armed  fol- 
lowers, which,  if  it  occurred,  he  would 
resist  with  open  force. 

The  cardinal  was  informed  of  the  mar- 
shal's design,  but  paid  no  attention  to  it, 
and  entered  boldly  into  the  city.  Mont- 
morency soon  arrived,  and  ordered  him 
and  his  followers  to  put  away  their  pis- 
tols. He  had  sent  a  messenger  to  make 
the  same  communication  before  the  car- 
dinal had  entered;  but  that  person  was 
not  well  received,  and  the  marshal  im- 
mediately set  out  at  the  head  of  a  bodv 
of  horsemen.  A  skirmish  ensued;  the 
cardinal  jumped  from  his  horse,  and  ran 
into  a  shop,  from  whence  he  gained  his 
own  hotel  in  the  night 

The  cardinal  felt  the  affront  too  much 
to  overlook  it.  All  the  partisans  of  the 
Guises  were  summoned,  and  an  explana- 
tion was  demanded.  The  cardinal  urged 
the  permission  he  had  to  go  armed:  the 
marshal  contended  he  ought  to  have  ex- 
hibited that  authority.  Montmorency, 
far  from  yielding  to  the  cardinal,  paraded 
before  his  house  with  armed  men;  and 
having  written  to  his  different  friends, 
he  received  a  great  reinforcement.  Co- 
ligny brought  with  him  twelve  hundred- 
gentlemen;*  Andelot  also  brought  some 
with  him;  and  the  Prince* of  Conde,  and 
the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon  supported  him 
by  their  presence.  Th$  marshal  ex- 
pressed his  determination''^  compel  the 
cardinal  to  obey  him;  while  he  fearing 
his  hotel  should  be  forced  in  the  night, 
consulted  some  counsellors  of  the  parlia- 
ment, who  offered  to  convince  Montmo- 

*  According  to  De  Thou,  he  arrived  in  Paris,  22d 
Jan.,  1565. 


8G 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ASSASSINATE  COLIGNY. 


rency  of  his  authority  to  carry  arms.  The 
admiral  also  joined  in  accommodating 
the  business,  as  he  feared  otherwise  ano- 
ther civil  war  might  be  kindled.  The 
cardinal  was  induced  to  send  a  copy  of 
the  king's  permission  to  carry  arms,  but 
Montmorency  demanded  the  original. 
Upon  this,  Coligny  persuaded  the  mar- 
shal that  he  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
deference  which  had  been  shown  him; 
and  that  the  cardinal  was  severely  pu- 
nished, in  undergoing  such  a  mortifica- 
tion, in  sight  of  a  great  city,  where  he 
had  expected  to  be  received  with  accla- 
mations. 

The  Duke  of  Aumale,  brother  of  the 
cardinal,  was  determined  to  resent  the 
affront  put  upon  his  family.  He  col- 
lected a  number  of  gentlemen,  and  ap- 
peared before  Paris.  Montmorency 
wished  to  go  out  and  settle  the  affair  in 
the  field,  but  was  dissuaded  from  it  by 
Coligny,  who  knew  that  a  renewal  of  the 
war  would  inevitably  take  place  if  they 
came  to  blows:  still  the  marshal  was 
about  to  give  way  to  his  feelings,  when 
orders  arrived  from  the  king  for  both 
parties,  to  lay  down  their  arms.* 

The  whole  noblesse  was  divided  into 
two  parties  about  this  affair:  one  contend- 
ed that  the  marshal  was  right;  the  other 
blamed  his  conduct.  The  Prince  of 
Conde  observed  respecting  it, — "If  not 
a  joke,  it  is  too  little;  if  it  be  one,  it  is 
too  much."t  The  Duke  of  Montpen- 
sier,  receiving  his  account  from  the  car- 
dinal, was  led  to  take  up  the  affair 
warmly:  he  wrote  a  severe  letter  to  the 
marshal,  giving  him  to  understand  that 
all  the  princes  of  the  blood  were  affec  ted 
by  his  behaviour  to  the  cardinal.  The 
marshal  in  his  reply  explained  the  dif- 
ference there  was  between  princes  of  the 
blood  and  foreigners:  he  thus  gave  the 
affair  a  different  appearance,  and  ap- 
peased the  queen-mother.l 

Coligny  quitted  Paris  when  he  found 
that  his  cousin  had  no  farther  occasion 
for  his  assistance.  He  had  not  been 
long  at  home,  before  he  received  clear 
evidence  that  the  queen-mother  had  been 
busy  in  forming  a  league  with  the  pope 
and  the  Spaniards,  for  the  extermination 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  37.  Vie  <ie  Coligny,  p.  213.  Davila, 
liv.  3.  p.  341.  Brantnme,  Discours  sur  les  Duels,  and 
Feliliieri,  Hist,  dc  Paris,  vol.  ii.  p.  1092. 

t  f)e  Thou,  liv.  37,  vol.  v.  p.  11. 

I  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  169. 


of  the  Protestant  religion.  At  first  he 
was  inclined  to  doubt  the  intelligence; 
but  the  same  news  being  confirmed,  and 
repeated  in  different  quarters,  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  adopt  some  measures  of  pre- 
caution: he  consulted  with  Conde,  and 
they  agreed  to  take  arms  at  the  first  spark 
which  might  appear.  When  the  king, 
soon  afterwards,  held  the  assembly  at 
Moulins,  before  mentioned,  Coligny  and 
the  prince  went  well  accompanied:  by 
that  means  Catherine's  aim  was  frus- 
trated, and  she  feared  to  attempt  the  very 
thing  for  which  the  meeting  had  been 
appointed* 

The  charge  brought  against  Coligny 
by  the  Guises  had  been  renewed  at  the 
assembly,  and  the  queen-mother,  in  or- 
der to  allay  any  suspicions  in  the  admi- 
ral's mind,  exerted  herself  to  effect  a 
complete  reconciliation.  The  widow 
and  the  cardinal  were  at  length  per- 
suaded to  say,  that,  after  the  oath  Co- 
ligny had  taken,  they  believed  him  in- 
nocent. They  embraced  each  other, 
and  promised  to  banish  all  resentment. 
The  form  agreed  upon  was  scarcely 
finished  when  the  son  of  the  deceased 
Guise  observed  that  he  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  ceremony.  Aumale  chal- 
lenged Coligny  to  a  single  combat,  and 
the  admiral  complained  to  the  queen  of 
the  Guises  wishing  to  assassinate  him.t 

There  were  in  fact  two  attempts  to  as- 
sassinate the  admiral.  One  of  them  was 
discovered  by  his  intercepting  some  let- 
ters from  one  of  his  gentlemen,  named 
Hambervilliers.  The  purport  was,  that 
the  persons  whom  he  addressed  need 
take  no  trouble,  and  that  before  long  he 
would  settle  the  admiral's  business  for 
him.  Every  precaution  had  been  used 
in  disguising  the  writing,  and  concealing 
the  name  of  the  party  to  whom  it  was 
sent,  as  that  would  have  shown  plainly 
who  had  promoted  the  attempt. 

Coligny  was  loth  to  entertain  suspi- 
cions of  such  a  man,  but  was  resolved  on 
inquiring  more  into  it.  He  sent  for 
Hambervilliers,  and  desired  him  to  ex- 
plain what  it  meant.  He,  surprised  at 
such  an  accusation,  denied  having  writ- 
ten it.  "I  am  glad  of  it,"  said  Coligny; 
"  but  as  it  is  important  that  I  should  be 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  314. 

t  Journal  de  lirulart,  29lh  Jan.,  15fifi.  Pasquier,  vol. 
ii.  p.  110.  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  315.  Davila,  liv.  3.  I)e 
Thou,  liv.  39. 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ASSASSINATE  COLIGNY. 


87 


assured,  I  beg  you  will  take  a  pen,  that  I 
may  compare  the  writing,  and  be  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  what  you  say." 
Hambervilliers,  unable  to  refuse  such  a 
test,  attempted  to  write  as  differently  as 
possible;  but  he  was  so  alarmed  at  his 
position,  that  writing  a  very  few  words 
sufficed  to  show  that  he  was  the  author  of 
the  letter.  Coiigny  plainly  told  him  his 
opinion,  when  Hambervilliers  threw 
himself  at  his  feet  to  implore  his  mercy. 
The  admiral  took,  no  other  revenge  than 
expelling  him  from  his  service,  and  tell- 
ing him  to  inform  those  who  had  em- 
ployed him  that  there  were  other  me- 
thods, and  more  honourable  than  that, 
for  getting  rid  of  a  man  whom  they 
wished  to  injure.  Coiigny  did  not  even 
press  him  for  information,  but  told  him 
that  he  forgave  him  as  he  was  from  Lor- 
rain,  and  might  therefore  consider  him- 
self bound  to  serve  the  house  of  Guise. 
He  gave  orders,  however,  to  his  steward 
that  he  should  carefully  inspect  what- 
ever was  intended  for  his  table.* 

The  other  attempt  to  murder  the  ad- 
miral was  the  following.  He  was  hunt- 
ing, and  was  accosted  by  a  man  who  had 
formerly  been  in  his  service,  but  who  at 
that  time  kept  an  inn  at  Chatillon.  This 
man,  named  Demay,  told  him  that  the 
animal  he  was  pursuing  had  gone  in  a 
certain  direction,  and  offered  to  take  him 
by  a  short  route,  so  that  he  could  arrive 
before  the  doo-s. 

The  admiral  thanked  him,  and  re- 
quested he  would  walk  on  and  show  the 
way.  This  was  not  what  the  other 
wished,  as  he  intended  to  make  his  blow 
from  behind;  added  to  which,  a  gentle- 
man overtook  Coiigny,  and  kept  close  to 
him.  This  so  disconcerted  the  man, 
that  they  both  suspected  something. 
They  soon  found  that  the  road  they  were 
in  could  not  lead  to  where  the  hunt  was, 
for  Demay  had  conducted  them  into  the 
depths  of  the  forest.  Colignv  then  drew 
his  sword,  and  laid  hold  of  the  man,  sav- 
ing, "Tell  me  this  moment,  you  scoun- 
drel, where  you  are  conducting  me,  and 
what  is  your  design!"  The  gentleman 
laying  hold  of  him  at  the  same  time,  he 
was  unable  to  resist,  or  do  any  thing  in 
desperation.  As  he  would  give  no  ex- 
planation, they  searched  him,  and  a  pis- 
tol being  found  upon  him,  was  a  proof  of 
*  Vie  de  Coiigny,  p.  31o\ 


some  bad  intention.  He  persisted  in 
keeping  silence;  so  Coiigny  and  his  com- 
panion bound  him,  and  delivered  him 
into  the  hands  of  justice.  The  fellow 
was  well  known  to  the  magistrates,  and 
had  escaped  the  punishment  due  to  a 
multitude  of  crimes,  solely  because  it 
was  thought  the  admiral  would  protect 
his  old  servant.  This  affair,  however, 
disabused  them  upon  that  point,  and  he 
was  tried  and  condemned  to  be  hanged. 
To  prolong  his  life,  and  create  a  pos- 
sibility of  escape,  he  appealed  to  the  par- 
liament, stating  that  this  was  a  false  ac- 
cusation,—a  persecution  on  account  of 
his  having  refused  to  assist  in  poisoning 
the  queen.  But  the  counsellors  saw 
through  his  motives,  and  confirmed  his 
sentence  of  death,  changing  the  punish- 
ment from  hanging,  to  be  broken  on 
the  wheel.  Before  he  died,  he  acknow- 
ledged that  his  intention  was  to  murder 
the  admiral,  at  the  request  of  the  Duke 
of  Aumale,  who  had  given  him  a  hun- 
dred crowns,  with  a  great  many  pro- 
mises, if  he  succeeded.* 

To  lull  Coiigny  into  supineness 
Charles  and  his  mother  pursued  a  new 
line  of  conduct.  He  became  in  great 
favour  at  court,  and  received  innumerable 
kindnesses  from  the  perfidious  king, 
whose  secret  aim  was  to  destroy  him. 
Coiigny  even  felt  ashamed  of  having  lent 
an  ear  to  the  advice  which  had  been  sent 
him  from  Bayonne:  and  had  not  con- 
tinued complaints  been  addressed  to  him 
from  the  provinces,  wary  as  he  was,  he 
would  have  fallen  into  the  snare.  But  in 
spite  of  the  edicts  in  their  favour,  the 
Protestants  could  not  have  the  enjoyment 
of  their  liberty;  and  bigots  derived  en- 
couragement from  the  impunity  with 
which  they  pursued  their  persecutions, 
for  justice  was  deaf  to  the  appeals  of 
the  Huguenots.  Catherine,  grieved  that 
such  events  should  thwart  her  design, 
was  eager  to  convince  the  admiral,  that, 
whatever  misht  take  place  in  the  pro- 
vinces, she  and  her  son  were  favourable 
to  his  cause.  She  went  beyond  all  pre- 
cedent in  paying  him  attentions.  The 
king  was  to  be  god-father  to  the  Prince 
of  Conde's  child,  and  chose  Coiigny  to 
represent  him  at  the  font.  He  after- 
wards dined  at  the  same  table  with  the 

*  Vie  de  Uollgny,  p.  321.  De  Thou,  liv.  3!»,  gives  an 
imperfect  account  of  this  affair,  but  what  he  does  state 
corroborates  the  text. 


83 


PERFIDIOUS  CONDUCT  OF  CHARLES  IX. 


king,  and  was  waited  upon  by  the  offi- 
cers of  the  household,  in  the  same  style 
in  which  a  sovereign  prince  would  have 
been  received.    Coligny  was  fearful  of 
exciting  the  envy  of  the  courtiers,  and 
attempted  to  decline  the  honour,  but  in 
vain:  his  prudence,  however,  did  not  for- 
sake him  in  the  blaze  of  splendour  which 
surrounded  him,  and  nothing  could  pre- 
vent his  retiring  to  his  own  house  in  the 
evening.    Charles  tried  every  method  to 
induce  his  guest  to  remain  in  the  palace, 
l*  in  hopes,"  says  the  admiral's  biogra- 
pher, "that  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
seizing  him  would  present  itself."  But 
Coligny  was  firm,  and  retired  in  safety.* 
During  the  conferences  at  Bayonne  the 
Duke  of  Alva  had  obtained  the  king's 
permission  to  traverse  part  of  France, 
with  an  army  intended  to  crush  the  re- 
bellion in  Flanders.   Coligny,  who  never 
lost  any  opportunity  of  serving  the  Pro- 
testant cause,  entertained  hopes  of  per- 
suading the  king  to  assist  the  Flemings, 
by  showing  the  great  advantages  which 
would  arise  from  such  a  measure.  But 
the  plan  agreed  upon  at  Bayonne  was 
directly  at  variance  with  this  suggestion: 
the  most  advantageous  treaty  with  Flan- 
ders, even  its  annexation  to  his  crown, 
could  not  compensate  this  infatuated  and 
cruel  king  for  the  opportunity  of  sup- 
pressing heresy  in  France;  and  that  op- 
portunity he  expected  to  derive  from  the 
co-operation  of  the  Spaniards  in  Flan- 
ders. 

When  Coligny  found  that  the  king 
could  not  be  brought  to  prevent  the  Spa- 
nish army  from  traversing  the  kingdom, 
he  resolved  to  take  some  measures  for 
protecting  the  French  Protestants  from 
dangers,  which  the  arrival  of  so  ferocious 
a  commander  rendered  imminent.  He 
addressed  the  queen  on  that  subject:  she 
was  willing  enough  to  adopt  a  proposal, 
which  she  could  afterwards  turn  against 
the  Huguenots;  and  nothing  could  have 
suited  her  views  better,  for  she  wished 
to  have  an  armed  force  at  hand,  but  had 
delayed  taking  any  measures  for  it,  lest 
she  should  thereby  excite  suspicions  in 
Coligny's  mind:  an  order  was  issued 
without  delay  for  the  levy  of  six  thou- 
sand Swiss. t 

It  was  the  Prince  of  the  Roche-sur- 
Yonne  who  represented  to  the  admiral, 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  318.  f  Davila,  liv.  4. 


what  an  error  he  had  committed,  in  thus 
preparing  means  for  his  own  oppression; 
the  Swiss,  he  showed  him,  would  not  be 
dismissed  when  the  occasion  for  calling 
them  was  past,  and  Catherine  would 
thus  possess  additional  force  for  destroy- 
ing the  Huguenot  party.  Indeed  it  re- 
quired very  little  penetration  to  discover 
that  it  would  be  so  employed;  for  every 
day  beheld  an  increase  of  the  persecu- 
tions which  the  Protestants  had  to  un- 
dergo. 

The  letters  of  the  nuncio,  Prosper  de 
St.  Croix,  to  Cardinal  Borromeo  prove 
that  during  1564  and  1565  measures 
were  secretly  taken  for  overthrowing  the 
Protestant  religion.  "  In  a  short  time," 
says  he,  "  we  shall  have  no  more  Hugue- 
nots in  France;  and  every  one  acknow- 
ledges how  much  we  are  indebted  for  that 
to  the  good  counsels  of  your  eminence."* 

Such  treatment  naturally  produced  a 
great  number  of  petitions  and  remon- 
strances. Coligny  was  constantly  em- 
ployed in  urging  their  claims  with  the 
king  and  queen.  Charles  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  conceal  his  sentiments,  for  though 
he  had  been  well  instructed  in  dissimula- 
tion, he  was  inexperienced;  and  impa- 
tience drew  from  him  remarks,  indicative 
of  his  latent  hatred.  The  admiral  one 
day  entreated  his  attention  to  the  prayer 
of  a  petition,  which  made  him  say,  "It 
is  not  long  since  you  were  satisfied  with 
toleration  from  the  Catholics;  now  you 
demand  to  be  their  equals;  shortly  you 
will  wish  to  drive  us  from  the  kingdom." 
Coligny  retired;  and  Charles  went  in  a 
rage  to  his  mother,  and  said,  in  the  hear- 
ing of  the  chancellor,  "  The  Duke  of  Alva 
is  right:  such  lofty  heads  are  dangerous  for 
a  state;  address  serves  to  no  purpose,  we 
must  use  force."  The  queen  had  diffi- 
culty in  pacifying  him;  and  she  could  only 
do  so,  by  showing  him  the  danger  of  dis- 
covering himself  too  much.t 

An  embassy  arrived  about  the  same 
time  from  some  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany,  who  solicited  justice  and  pro- 
tection for  the  Huguenots.  Charles  was 
enraged  at  their  demands — one  of  which 
was  that  liberty  of  conscience  in  its  full- 
est sense  should  be  granted:  for  some 
time  he  could  hardly  speak;  he  then  told 

*  Leller,  dated  Chalons,  24ih  April,  1564.  This  cor- 
respondence, in  Italian  and  French,  is  given  in  Les 
Synodes  dcs  Eglises  reformies  cn  France,  La  Haye,  1710. 

t  Davila,  liv.  4. 


PROJECT  FOR  SUPPRESSING  THE  PROTESTANT  RELIGION. 


89 


them  that  he  would  remain  friendly  with 
their  masters,  if  they  would  interfere  with 
his  kingdom  no  more  than  he  did  with 
their  governments;  adding,  scornfully, 
"I  am  very  much  inclined  to  request 
them  also  to  allow  the  mass,  and  Ca- 
tholic preachers  in  their  towns."*  His 
argument  was  unanswerable;  but  the  worst 
consequences  were  argued  from  his  sen- 
timents, which  then  became  known;  and 
the  result  has  proved  that  those  fears 
were  too  well  founded. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Project  forsnppvessingthe  Protestant  religion— Attempt 
to  seize  the  Kini  at  Meaux — Battle  of  St.  Dennis — 
Death  of  the  Constable. 

Among  the  different  promises,  with 
which  the  queen  had  won  over  the  Prince 
of  Conde  to  consent  to  a  peace,  one  was 
that  he  should  be  made  lieutenant-general 
of  the  kingdom:  the  Duke  of  Alva's  pas- 
sage through  France  gave  him  an  oppor- 
tunity fop  demanding  its  fulfilment.  The 
constable  alone  had  a  right  to  oppose  it, 
but  Conde  had  obtained  his  consent  for 
filling  that  office.  Catherine,  however, 
had  not  the  least  intention  of  keeping  her 
word,  and  her  fertile  mind  readily  pro- 
vided an  occasion  for  breaking  it.  She 
raised  up  a  powerful  competitor  in  the 
person  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  king's 
next  brother.t  Her  artful  insinuations 
were  almost  generally  irresistible,  and  she 
had  therefore  no  difficulty  in  kindling  a 
proper  feeling  in  the  mind  of  her  son. 
She  represented  that  a  prince  like  him 
ought  to  cherish  the  ambition  of  being-  a 
great  captain;  that  he  would  have  good 
opportunities  of  earning  that  reputation,  if 
he  were  at  the  head  of  the  forces,  with 
the  title  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  kino-- 
dom;  but  that  if  the  Prince  of  Conde  ob- 
tained that  post,  he,  born  on  the  throne,  and 
brother  of  the  reigning  prince,  would  be 
necessarily  idle,  or  compelled  to  submit  to 
a  general  born  to  obey  and  to  respect 
him. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou's  ambition  was 
kindled  by  his  mother's  remarks,  and  he 
felt  great  indignation  that  Conde  should 
have  dared  to  demand  a  charge,  to  which, 
as  the  king's  brother,  he  alone  was  en- 

*  Davila,  liv.  4.  f  Ibid. 


titled.  It  soon  after  happened  that  he 
met  the  prince  at  a  supper  given  by  the 
queen:  he  immediately  took  hold  of  his 
arm,  and  led  him  apart  into  the  recess  of 
a  window,  where  he  talked  very  roughly, 
and  upbraided  him  for  his  boldness  in 
daring  to  seek  an  appointment  to  which 
he  had  so  incontestable  a  right;  then,  put- 
ting his  hand  to  his  sword,  he  threatened 
that,  if  the  prince  persisted  in  his  appli- 
cation, he  would  make  him  as  little  as  he 
wished  to  be  great.* 

The  Duke  of  Alva,  in  the  mean  time, 
was  marching  quietly  through  France; 
and  the  Swiss,  under  Colonel  Pfeiffer, 
•advanced  into  the  interior.  The  Pro- 
testants in  general  entertained  great  fears 
that  the  rumoured  plans  were  immediate- 
ly to  be  put  into  execution.  The  liberty 
which  had  been  granted  them  by  different 
edicts  was  infringed  upon  continually,  so 
that  it  was  reduced  almost  to  nothing: 
they  were  attacked  and  massacred  every 
where  with  impunity,  and  they  could  not 
obtain  justice  either  of  the  parliaments  or 
the  king's  council.  It  had  become  the 
general  wish  to  take  arms  immediately; 
but  Conde  and  Coligny  persuaded  them 
to  remain  quiet,  and  suffer  any  thing  ra- 
ther than  do  so:  for  a  second  war  would 
make  them  the  horror  of  all  France;  and 
so  violent  a  hatred  would  be  kindled 
against  them  in  the  king's  mind,  that  no- 
thing could  ever  efface  it.t 

It  is  probable  that  the  Protestants 
would  have  abstained  from  taking  arms, 
had  not  the  prince  of  theRoche-sur-Yonne 
informed  Coligny  that  a  secret  council 
had  been  held,  in  which  it  was  resolved 
to  arrest  the  Prince  of  Conde  and  himself: 
to  imprison  the  prince  for  life,  and  bring 
him  to  a  scaffold;  to  place  garrisons  of 
two  thousand  Swiss  in  Paris,  Orleans, 
and  Poictiers;  to  increase  the  garrison  of 
suspected  places  with  the  armies  then  on 
service;  and  to  revoke  the  edict  of  pacifi- 
cation, and  forbid  every  where  the  exer- 
cise of  the  new  religion.! 

The  king  gave  orders  to  Tavennes  to 
enrol  his  good  subjects  of  the  ancient  and 
Catholic  faith,  that  he  could  depend  upon 
in  case  the  Protestants  should  make  any 
attempt  against  his  authority  and  edicts. 
A  species  of  league  was  formed  in  conse- 

*  Brahtqme,  vol,  viii.  p.  240. 
t  Mezerav.  -Abrege  Cfirov. 

I  La  None,  p.  606.   Davila,  li v.  4,  p.  378.    De  Thou, 
liv.  4'2.   Discourse  de  la  vie  de  Catherine,  p.  380. 


90 


ATTEMPT  TO  SEIZE  THE  KING  AT  MEAUX. 


quence,  called  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
llolij  Spirit:  in  addition  to  the  oath  of 
obedience  to  the  chief,  and  of  friendship 
to  each  other,  the  members  swore  to  make 
no  mention  of  the  association  to  any  per- 
son whatever.*  This  discovery,  con- 
nected with  the  information  given  to 
Coligny,  was  enough  to  drive  the  Pro- 
testants to  arms. 

AVhen  the  Protestant  generals  met  at 
Chatillon,  to  consider  what  was  to  be 
done  in  such  an  emergency,  neither  Con- 
de  nor  Coligny  were  willing  to  commence 
another  war;  but  Andelot  was  less  scru- 
pulous than  his  brother,  and  less  im- 
mersed in  pleasures  than  the  prince:  he 
showed  them,  that  unless  they  came  at 
once  to  some  resolution,  it  would  soon 
be  out  of  their  power  to  do  any  thing; 
and  he  brought  them  to  join  in  antici- 
pating the  movements  of  their  enemies.* 
The  court  was  then  at  Monceaux, 
a  pleasant  summer  residence,  but  quite 
destitute  of  defence.    The  queen  lived 
with  as  little  precaution  as  if  she  had 
never  thought  of  a  measure,  which,  by 
creating  desperate  feelings  on  an  acciden- 
tal discovery,  might  urge  the  Protestants 
to  the  most  hazardous  undertaking.  In 
the  midst  of  this  feeling  of  security,  ru- 
mours were  spread,  in  the  beginning  of 
September,  15G7,  of  movements  in  some 
of  the  provinces.    Couriers,  who  Arrived 
from  different  parts,  declared  that  they 
had  never  seen  so  many  persons  on  the 
different  roads.    But  little  or  no  attention 
was  paid  to  these  reports,  and  the  diver- 
sions of  the  court  were  continued. 

In  the  middle  of  the  same  month,  Cas- 
telnau  arrived  at  Monceaux:  he  was  a 
man  of  great  judgment,  and  had  been  to 
Flanders  on  a  mission  from  the  king.  He 
related,  that  several  gentlemen  of  Picardy 
requested  permission  to  join  his  suite,  and 
that  during  their  journey  their  conversa- 
tion had  reference  to  some  sudden  aitack. 
The  constable,  unwilling  to  allow  that  he 
could  be  surprised,  said,  "  If  there  were 
an  army  of  Huguenots  on  foot,  I  should 
know  of  it."!  The  chancellor  declared, 
"  that  it  was  a  capital  crime  to  bring  to 
the  sovereign  false  news,  tending  to  make 
him  distrust  his  subjects."  "  At  least," 
represented  Castelnau,  "let  me  be  per- 


*  Mem.  d'>  Tavennes.  p.  297. 

t  Vie  df  Coligny,  p.  325.  La  Noue,  p.  C09.  D'Aubignc, 
vol.  i.  p.  209. 
J  Mem.  de  Castelnau,  lay.  6,  ch.  4. 


initted  to  send  some  one  to  observe  the 
admiral's  chateau."  It  was  agreed  to, 
and  he  sent  his  two  brothers.  The  report 
of  the  first  was  to  little  purpose;  that  of 
the  second  induced  the  queen  to  retire  at 
once  to  Meaux;  while  a  nobleman,  whom 
the  king  sent  to  Coligny  upon  some  pre- 
text, brought  back  word,  that  he  found 
him  dressed  as  a  farmer,  and  looking  af- 
ter his  vintage.*  This  was  the  26th  of 
September;  and  two  days  afterwards  all 
France  was  in  a  flame. 

The  rendezvous  had  been  fixed  at  Ro- 
soy,  in  Brie,  for  the  28th  of  September. 
Conde,  Coligny,  Andelot,  and  La  Roche- 
foucault,  easily  possessed  themselves  of 
the  town,  with  about  four  hundred  gentle- 
men, who  had  arrived  one  by  one.  Their 
plan  was  to  seize  the  whole  court  the  fol- 
lowing day,  when  the  king  would  be 
holding  a  chapter  of  the  order  of  St.  Mi- 
chael. The  queen  having  retired  to 
Meaux,  their  attempt  was  foiled;  and 
their  next  resolution  was  to  march  against 
the  Swiss  troops,  which  were  scattered  in 
some  villages  around  Monceaux,  and  from 
whence  they  went  by  turns  to  guard  the 
king's  person.  That  force  was  his  only 
protection,  and  if  they  had  done  this  at 
once,  they'might  easily  have  defeated  the 
different  detachments,  and  there  would 
have  remained  nothing  to  prevent  their 
getting  possession  of  Meaux.  The  queen, 
suspecting  their  plan,  or  perceiving  the 
danger  of  their  thinking  of  it,  sent  Marshal 
Montmorency  to  amuse  them,  while  the 
Swiss  troops  were  collected  in  Meaux. 
Andelot  was  for  rejecting  all  discussion, 
till  after  they  had  executed  their  resolution; 
but  others  although  they  agreed  with  him, 
were  reluctant  to  push  things  to  extremity: 
they  informed  the  marshal  what  they 
wanted,  and  he  reported  their  demands  to 
the  king.t 

The  Swiss  having  entered  Meaux  the 
fears  of  the  court  subsided:  but  the  Hugue- 
not army  was  constantly  increasing,  and 
information  arrived  that  they  would  soon 
be  numerous  enough  to  undertake  any 
thing:  a  council  was  held  in  consequence, 
to  consider  if  the  king  should  not  be  con- 
ducted to  Paris.  The  advice  given  by 
the  constable  was,  that  the  king  should 

*  Mem.  de  Tavennes,  p  299.  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p. 
117-  Mem.  du  Due  de  Bouillon,  p.  35  (vol.  xxxv.  of 
Petitot's  collection.) 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  326,  et  scq.  Davila,  liv.  4.  De 
Thou,  liv.  42.  Journal  de  Brulart.  Mem.  de  Castelnau , 
liv.  6,  ch.  3. 


BATTLE  OF  ST.  DENIS. 


91 


not  quit  Meaux,  because  that  could  not 
be  done  without  the  risk  of  an  engagement, 
the  result  of  which  was  uncertain.  The 
chancellor  said  the  same  thing;  and  added 
that  if  once  the  sword  were  drawn,  an  ac- 
commodation could  never  be  made:  for 
the  king  would  feel  an  eternal  resentment 
against  the  Huguenots,  while  they  would 
have  a  perpetual  necessity  for  remaining 
armed,  for  fear  of  his  vengeance.  The 
Cardinal  of  Lorrain  recommended  the 
removal  of  the  king;  and  it  was  the  un- 
fortunate destiny  of  France  that  his  party 
should  prevail  in  the  council.*  The  king 
set  out  for  Paris  in  the  night:  he  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  Swiss,  who  surrounded 
him,  and  eight  hundred  horsemen  of  his 
suite — a  train  more  likely  to  embarrass 
than  to  protect  him. 

They  had  not  proceeded  many  leagues, 
when  the  Prince  of  Conde  appeared,  and 
prepared  to  encounter  them,  with  about 
five  hundred  horsemen.  The  Swiss  were 
firm,  and  showed  themselves  ready  to  re- 
ceive the  charge.  Charles  was  in  a  vio- 
lent passion,  and  ordered  them  to  attack 
the  Huguenots;  which  would  have  been 
done,  had  not  the  constable  prudently 
prevented  it.  He  urged  the  king  to  quit 
the  Swiss  escort,  and  go  on  to  Paris  by 
another  route,  adding  that  it  must  be  done 
promptly,  for  the  prince  to  know  nothing 
of  it.  Charles  went  away  with  two  hun- 
dred men,  while  the  confederates,  thinking 
him  still  with  the  main  body,  hovered 
constantly  about,  with  a  view  of  attack- 
ing it  if  possible,  and  some  skirmishes 
took  place  on  the  flanks  and  rear.  The 
king  arrived  safe  at  Paris  in  the  evening. 
Speaking  of  this  affair  he  said,  "  With- 
out the  Duke  of  Nemours,  and  my  good 
companions  the  Swiss,  my  life  and  my 
liberty  were  in  great  danger."  True  it 
is  that,  but  for  their  firmness,  Conde 
would  have  made  the  whole  court  prison- 
ers.! 

The  Protestants  then  seized  upon  the 
principal  avenues  leading  to  Paris:  they 
occupied  Montoreau,  Poissy,  and  Argen- 
teuil,  and  their  head  quarters  were  at  St. 
Denis.  Their  troops  were  not  sufficient 
to  establish  a  blockade;  but  by  destroying 
the  mills  around  Paris,  and  preventing  the 


*  De  Thou  says,  that  the  cardinal  considered  the 
troubles  of  France  highly  suited  to  his  views,  as  he 
wished  to  bring  forward  his  nephews,  liv.  42,  vol.  v.  p. 
352. 

t  La  Noue,  p.  614.  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  328.  Davila, 
liv.  3. 


usual  arrivals  from  the  country,  they  con- 
trived to  inflict  great  hardships  and  in- 
conveniences on  the  capital ;  which,  how- 
ever, only  increased  the  king's  anger,  and 
the  hatred  of  the  Parisians.* 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  king  after  his 
arrival  in  Paris,  was  to  issue  an  edict,  en- 
joining all  the  confederates  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  promising  amnesty  for  all  who 
did  so  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  in- 
viting all  loyal  persons  to  help  him  to  sub- 
due those  who  refused.!  But  the  Protest- 
ants paid  no  attention  to  these  menaces ; 
and  they  persevered  in  their  attempt  to 
blockade  the  capital  with  a  handful  of  men. 
They  were  able  to  seize  all  the  bridges, 
and  stop  the  communications  in  every 
direction.  The  queen  had  recourse,  as 
usual,  to  negotiations :  she  proposed  terms 
of  accommodation,  which  were  discussed 
for  eight  days.  But  the  Protestants  having 
made  an  attempt  to  win  the  multitude  by 
demanding  a  diminution  of  the  taxes,  ren- 
dered excessive  by  the  Italian  collectors, 
the  queen  took  offence,  declared  that  they 
asked  more  than  could  or  would  be  grant- 
ed, and  broke  off  all  treaty.}: 

Another  method  became  necessary,  for 
the  chancellor  and  the  constable  were  very 
earnest  in  their  attempts  to  prevent  the 
shedding  of  blood  by  another  civil  war. 
A  herald  was  sent  to  St.  Denis§  with  an 
order  from  the  king,  signed  by  two  secre- 
taries of  state,  containing  the  alternative 
either  to  lay  down  their  arms,  or  to  de- 
clare that  they  confirmed  their  revolt;  that 
then  he  might  know  how  to  act  towards 
them.  It  was  addressed  by  name  to  all 
the  chiefs  of  the  confederate  army,  and 
embarrassed  them  considerably,  as  it 
placed  all  the  responsibility  of  the  war 
upon  them.  When  Conde  saw  the  herald 
advance,  he  said  to  him  angrily,  "Take 
care  about  what  you  are  going  to  do:  if 
you  bring  hither  any  thing  contrary  to  my 
honour,  I  will  have  you  hanged."  The 
herald  replied,  "I  come  from  your  master 
and  mine;  and  your  threats  will  not  pre- 
vent me  from  obeying  his  orders."  So 
saying,  he  presented  the  message.  The 
prince  announced  that  he  would  give  an 
answer  in  three  days:  "  You  must  give  it 
in  twenty-four  hours,"  answered  the  he- 
rald, who  then  withdrew. || 


*  Paequier.  vol.  ii.  p.  118.  t  Journal  de  Brularl 
\  Mem  de  Castelnau,  liv.  C,  ch.  5.  De  Thou,  liv.  42. 
§  7  Oct.  15G7. 

||  Da  Vila,  liv.  4,  p.  394.   D'Aubigne,  vol  i.  p.  21& 


92 


DEATH  OF  THE  CONSTABLE. 


The  confederates  resolved  to  address 
a  new  request  to  the  king,  drawn  up  with 
more  moderation  and  less  haughtiness 
than  the  former.  The  conferences  were 
renewed  by  Conde  and  Montmorency,  at 
La  Chapelle,  a  village  between  Paris  and 
St.  Denis.  Conde  demanded  as  a  sine 
qua  non  the  public  exercise,  general' and 
irrevocable,  of  the  reformed  religion. 
Montmorency's  powers  did  not  go  beyond 
the  concessions  of  the  last  edict  of  Am- 
boise :  a  short  conversation  ensued  in 
which  the  constable  stated,  that,  in  grant- 
ing the  Huguenots  their  privileges,  the 
king  had  never  intended  it  for  a  perma- 
nency ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  his  intention 
was  to  suffer  but  one  religion  in  his  do- 
minions. Warm  altercation  ensued  be- 
tween the  parties,  after  which  they  sepa- 
rated, both  resolving  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion in  the  field.* 

The  confederate  army  was  every  day 
increasing,  and  Conde's  intention  was  to 
wait  the  arrival  of  some  Reitres,  before  he 
attempted  any  thing.  Still  the  royal  army 
in  Paris  was  much  more  numerous, 
and  the  Parisians  complained  against  the 
constable  for  suffering  so  small  a  force  to 
insult  the  capital:  they  even  said  that  he 
was  in  league  with  his  nephew.  Such 
imputations  roused  the  bold  veteran:  he 
left  Paris  on  the  10th  of  November,  and 
attacked  the  confederates  at  St.  Denis. 
As  he  went  out  with  his  troops,  he  said  to 
the  citizens  that  his  fidelity  would  be 
proved  on  that  occasion,  and  they  would 
see  him  again  either  dead  or  victorious. 
The  combat  was  most  unequal,  for  the 
royal  army  consisted  of  sixteen  thousand 
infantry  and  five  thousand  cavalry,  while 
the  confederates  had  only  twelve  hundred 
infantry  and  fifteen  hundred  horsemen, 
their  force  being  so  distributed  in  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  surrounding  places.  Mont- 
morency thought  that  they  would  not  dare 
to  wait  for  him  in  the  field,  with  such  an 
insignificant  force,  and  without  artillery.! 

The  Protestants,  however,  burned  with 
impatience  to  engage,  and  well  sustained 
the  attack  of  the  numerous  troops  who 
advanced  against  them.  The  shock  was 
terrible.}    The  field  and  the  spoil  re- 


*  Davila,  liv.  4.  De  Thou,  liv.  42.  Mem.  de  Caslel- 
nau,  liv.  6,  ch.  6. 

t  D'Auhiqne.vol.  i.  p.  214.  La  Noue,  p  614.  Davila, 
liv.  4.  De  Thou,  liv.  42.  Le  Lahoureur. — Sdditions, 
&c.  vol.  ii.  p  458. 

t  The  Cardinal  de  Chatilton  was  engaged  :  according 


mained  to  the  Catholics,  but  the  honour 'of 
the  day  belongs  to  the  Huguenots,  who 
fought  so  desperately  that  this  victory  was 
worse  than  many  defeats.*  The  Catho- 
lics lost  many  of  their  valuable  officers; 
their  general,  the  constable,  was  among 
the  number.  He  had  received  several 
wounds  through  his  cuirass,  which  was 
barely  proof  on  account  of  the  weight,  but 
still  continued  fighting  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemy's  horse.  He  was  recognised  and 
attacked  by  Robert  Stuart,  a  Protestant 
officer.  Montmorency  tendered  him  his 
sword,  but,  instead  of  receiving  it,  Stuart 
drew  his  pistol — "You  do  not  know  me, 
then  ?"  said  Montmorency.  Stuart  an- 
swered, "  It  is  because  I  do  know  you  that 
I  give  you  that,"  and  immediately  fired. 
The  ball  struck  the  constable  in  the 
shoulder;  he  fell,  and  both  parties  con- 
tended for  some  time  for  the  possession  of 
this  trophy. f  The  numbers  of  the  Catho- 
lics prevailed ;  their  enemies  were  re- 
pulsed; and  they  conducted  the  expiring 
constable  back  to  Paris,  rather  against  his 
desire,  for  he  wished  to  die  on  the  field  of 
battle.}  He  expired  the  next  day,  in  the 
seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

His  character  is  a  compound  of  bigotry, 
bravery,  loyalty,  and  ambition.  As  a 
general,  a  negotiator,  and  a  minister,  he 
had  on  various  occasions  shown  great 
ability  and  talents;  but  fortune  was  un- 
favourable to  him,  and  the  victory  of  St. 
Denis,  the  only  one  he  gained  in  his  long 
military  career,  cost  him  his  life.  His 
zeal  for  religion  has  been  vaunted  by  some 
Catholic  writers,  but  it  was  the  zeal  of  a 
barbarian,  and  his  religious  ideas  were 
entirely  confined  to  formalities.  Bran- 
tome's  account  of  him  is  well  known: — 
"  He  never  failed  in  his  devotions  or  his 
prayers,  for  every  morning  he  would  re- 
peat his  paternosters,  whether  he  was  in 
the  house,  or  on  horseback,  or  among  the 
troops;  which  caused  the  saying,  Take 
care  of  the  constable's  paternosters;  for 
while  he  was  repeating,  and  muttering 


lo  Bran  tome,  "  II  fit  ires  bien,  et  eombattit  tres  vaillam 
ment"  vol.  vi  p.  420. 

*  Tavannea,  in  his  remarks  upon  this  hattle,  says. 
"  Fan t  confeaaer  que  I'Amiral  de  Coligny, estoit  Capi 
taine. — Memoires,  p.  83. 

t  Davila.  liv.  4.  But  Pnsquier  (vol.  ii.  p.  122)  stales 
that,  when  called  upon  tn  surrender,  the  constable 
struck  his  antagonist  on  the  mouth  and  broke  Iwo  of 
his  teeth,  which  made  Stuart  lire  upon  him.  De  Thou 
states  the  same,  liv.  42. 

I  llrantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  124.  Dufaure  says  that  he 
died  at  his  residence,  Hotel  de  Mesmes,  Rue  St.  Avoye. 


DEATH  OF  THE  CONSTABLE. 


93 


them,  as  occasions  presented  themselves, 
he  would  say,  'Go  hang  up  such  a  one; 
tie  him  up  to  a  tree;  run  him  through  with 
the  pikes  this  instant ;  shoot  all  those  fel- 
lows before  me ;  cut  in  pieces  those  vaga- 
bonds who  wished  to  hold  out  that  church 
against  the  king;  burn  me  that  village; 
set  fire  to  the  country  for  a  quarter  of  a 
league  around ;  and  such  like  sentences 
of  justice  and  of  war  he  would  utter  ac-  j 
cording  to  the  circumstance,  without 
leaving  off  his  paternosters  until  he  had 
quite  finished  them,  and  thinking  he, 
should  commit  a  great  error  if  he  had  de- 
ferred saying  them  to  another  time  ;  so 
conscientious  was  he."*  The  same  writer : 
adds,  "  That  he  fasted  every  Friday,  and 
that,  when  he  was  at  court,  the  queen 
placed  a  chair  for  him,  and  conversed  j 
while  they  were  at  supper,  but  that  he 
would  never  eat  any  thing."  At  the! 
closing  scene  of  his  life,  when  such  minute 
attention  to  trifles  would  lead  us  to  expect; 
something  from  his  blind  devotion,  we  are 
surprised  by  a  display  of  stoicism  quite 
inconsistent  with  his  character.  A  Fran- 
ciscan monk  attended  to  confess  him,  and, 
attempted  to  inspire  proper  sentiments,  by 
long  exhortations;  "Leave  me,  father,"] 
said  the  constable,  "  leave  me :  do  you 
think  I  have  lived  with  honour  near  four-i 
score  years,  and  not  learned  to  die  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour!"f 

The  news  of  the  sad  victory  of  Saint 
Denis  was  received  at  court  with  a  sullen 
silence.  "  It  is  not  your  majesty  who  has 
gained  the  battle,"  said  Marshal  Vielleville 
frankly  to  the  king.  "And  who  then  1" 
Charles  asked  hastily.  "  The  King  of 
Spain,"  replied  the  marshal.]:  Philip  was 
pleased  to  see  France  again  involved  in  a 
war;  and  whether  the  news  of  Coligny's 
proposal  had  reached  him  or  not,  the 
chance  of  the  Flemings  receiving  assist- 
ance was  always  probable  if  France  re- 
mained quiet.  Pius  V.  had  written  a  let- 
ter exhorting  him  to  assist  the  King  of 
France  against  the  rebellious  heretics. 
"  Your  majesty,"  says  the  letter^  "  will  do 
all  in  your  power  to  help  this  king,  both 
because  it  is  religion  which  is  concerned, 

*  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  70.  f  Davila,  liv.  4.  p.  404. 
I  Vielleville.  vol.  v.  p.  175. 

§  Dated  13tli  October,  1567.  The  letters  of  Saint 
Pius  V.,  winch  will  be  frequently  referred  to,  were 
published  at  Antwerp,  in  1640,  by  Francil  Goubau,  se- 
cretary to  the  Spanish  embassy  at  Rome.  Those  which 
concern  the  history  of  France  have  recently  been  pub- 
lished in  Paris,  translated  by  M.  de  Xotler. 


and  because  you  are  allied  to  him."  But 
Philip  did  not  desire  a  speedy  destruction 
of  the  Protestants  of  France :  he  wished 
the  war  to  continue,  that  he  might  have 
that  fine  country  at  his  mercy  when  it  was 
exhausted.  The  aid  he  sent  was  confined 
to  some  companies  of  infantry,  which  the 
Duke  of  Alva  despatched  from  his  army. 

The  queen  felt  no  regret  at  the  loss  of 
the  constable,  as  she  was  thus  freed  from 
the  remaining  check  upon  her  authority  :* 
neither  would  she  suffer  the  vacant  office 
to  be  filled  up.  The  king  offered  to  con- 
fer the  dignity  on  Vielleville;  but  he  knew 
the  wishes  of  the  queen-mother,  and  de- 
clined the  honour.f  Catherine  afterwards 
had  the  Duke  of  Anjou  declared  comman- 
der-general of  the  forces.  That  prince 
was  only  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and  re- 
quired men  of  experience  to  assist  him  in 
the  office :  his  mother  took  care  to  place 
around  him  persons  upon  whom  she  could 
depend  for  securing  to  herself  the  real 
direction  of  affairs. 

The  commencement  of  this  civil  war 
appears  to  have  had  an  extensive  ramifi- 
cation. At  the  close  of  September,  Jac- 
ques de  Crussol,  Seigneur  d'Acier,  arrived 
at  Uzes,  with  instructions  from  Conde  to 
prepare  a  general  rising  of  the  Protestants 
of  Languedoc ;  and,  within  a  very  few 
days,  a  dreadful  scene  occurred  at  Nismes. 
A  number  of  Catholics  were  inhumanly 
butchered ;  all,  in  fact,  who  were  unable 
to  conceal  themselves  or  flee.  This  sad 
event  is  termed  the  Michelade,  from  its 
being  intended  to  take  place  on  Michael- 
mas-day. According  to  most  Catholic 
writers  the  Protestants  were  the  aggres- 
sors, and  their  crime  is  represented  as  al- 
together unprovoked.  The  odium  is,  on 
the  other  hand,  almost  generally  admitted 
by  the  silence  of  Protestant  writers;  none 
of  whom  have  attempted  to  extenuate  the 
charge.  Yet  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that 
the  accusation  is  in  some  degree  modified 
by  a  historian,  highly  esteemed  among  the 
Catholics  as  a  correct  writer  and  diligent 
investigator.  He  observes:  "They  did 
no  harm  to  the  wives  of  the  Catholics; 
their  animosity  being  directed  against 
priests,  monks,  and  heads  of  families;  and, 
among  them,  they  selected  as  victims 
those  only  who  had  molested  or  declared 
against  them."    Four  of  the  leaders  in 

*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  306. 
t  Vielleville,  vol.  v.  p.  17!)  etseq. 


94 


PROTESTANTS  ADVANCE  TO  MEET  THE  REITRES. 


this  butchery  were  condemned  and  exe- 
cuted at  Toulouse  in  15G9.* 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Protestants  advance  to  inept  the  Reitres— General  con- 
tribution of  the  Army  to  pay  their  Allies— Capture  of 
Orleans  and  RocheUe — l'eace  of  Longjnmeau — Settle 
ment  of  the  Protestants  in  America — Hold  enterprise 
of  Dominic  de  Gourges. 

The  battle  of  Saint  Denis  was  far  from 
destroying  the  hopes  or  the  strength  of  the 
Protestants.  Andelot  arrived  with  his 
division  the  day  after  the  fight,  and  en- 
couraged them  to  advance  boldly  upon 
Paris :  they  continued  to  destroy  the  mills 
and  country-houses  close  to  the  walls. 
After  employing  a  few  days  in  this  way, 
they  set  out  to  meet  the  troops  expected 
from  Germany,  under  Prince  Casimir,  son 
of  the  elector  palatine.  They  were  suffered 
to  go  away  to  some  distance  before  the 
royal  army  made  any  attempt  to  pursue 
them;  a  circumstance  which  it  is  difficult 
to  explain,  as  their  ruin  might  have  been 
completed  without  much  risk,  on  account 
of  the  inequality  of  their  forces.  One 
reason  which  has  been  assigned  is,  that 
the  queen  feared  her  son  would  be  master 
if  he  found  he  had  no  need  of  her  counsel ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  said  that  she 
dismissed  those  commanders,  who  by  their 
negligence  had  allowed  the  Protestants  to 
escape.t 

The  Catholic  army  at  length  went  in 
pursuit  of  them  :  they  were  overtaken  and 
their  rear-guard  defeated  at  Chalons ;  but, 
crossing  the  Meuse  at  St.  Michael's  in 
Bar,  they  were  out  of  their  enemies'  reach. 
Here  they  waited  the  arrival  of  the  Rei- 
tres.  After  staying  five  days  they  had  no 
more  news  of  them,  says  La  Noue,  than 
when  they  were  before  Paris,  which  cre- 
ated murmurs  among  many  even  of  the 
noblesse,  who  displayed  very  rude  impa- 
tience to  their  leaders  upon  it. J  Every 
thing  combined  to  make  their  attendance 
irksome,  for  the  weather  was  extremely 
cold,  the  month  of  December  being  far 
advanced. 

The  delay  in  the  arrival  of  their  auxilia- 
ries was  caused  by  the  queen's  agency : 
she  had  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Protest- 

*  Menard,  Hist,  de  Nimes,  vol.  v.  pp.  22  and  45. 

t  Vie  ile  Coligny,  p  333. 

I  La  Noue,  Viscours  politiques,  &c.  p.  024. 


ant  princes  of  Germany,  to  inform  them, 
that  this  war  was  not  at  all  on  account  of 
religion,  for  full  liberty  was  granted  to  the 
Huguenots,  but  that  the  royal  authority 
was  openly  attacked.  This  representation 
induced  the  Duke  of  Saxony  and  the  Mar- 
quis of  Brandenburg  to  forbid' the  levies 
in  their  dominions:  the  elector  palatine 
was  greatly  inclined  to  do  the  same,  and 
did  retain  those  troops  which  his  son  had 
assembled ;  but  hearing  the  real  account 
from  some  one  who  had  returned  to 
France  with  the  envoy,  and  who  had 
seen  the  Prince  of  Conde,  he  exhorted 
his  son  to  continue  his  march.* 

But  the  joy  which  the  Protestant  leaders 
experienced  on  the  arrival  of  the  Reitres 
soon  gave  place  to  the  vexations  of  a 
most  serious  embarrassment.  The  Prince 
of  Conde  had  agreed  to  give  their  auxilia- 
ries a  hundred  thousand  crowns  directly 
they  joined  his  army;  but  Elizabeth, 
Queen  of  England,  on  whom  he  relied  for 
the  money,  feeling  indignant  at  the  way 
in  which  her  last  assistance  had  been  re- 
quited, was  not  so  forward  in  contributing 
to  help  the  Huguenots;  and  the  whole 
stock  in  the  military  chest  did  not  exceed 
two  thousand  crowns.  The  case  was  very 
distressing  for  Conde;  but  his  great  popu- 
larity with  his  army  enabled  him  to  effect 
a  thing  unheard  of  with  any  other  gene- 
ral ;  his  own  troops  received  no  pay  from 
him,  and  yet  he  ventured  to  propose  that 
they  should  pay  the  sum  required  for  the 
Reitres.t  An  appeal  was  made  to  the 
zeal  and  devotedness  of  the  Protestant 
army  in  their  critical  position,  and  every 
one  answered  the  call;  everyone  made 
a  sacrifice  of  his  money,  and  effects  which 
would  produce  it,  such  as  chains,  rings, 
and  jewels.  There  was  a  general  emula- 
tion of  disinterestedness  and  patriotism  : 
"  Only,"  says  a  contemporary,  already 
quoted  on  several  occasions,  "when  it  was 
proposed  to  press  the  disciples  of  plunder, 
who  have  the  faculty  of  knowing  how  to 
take  so  boldly,  and  to  give  so  basely, 
there  was  the  struggle.  For  all  that,  they 
acquitted  themselves  in  it  much  better 
than  was  thought  for:  to  the  very  boys, 
every  one  gave;  and  the  emulation  was 
so  great,  that  at  last  they  thought  it  a  dis- 
honour to  have  given  so  little."}. 

This  reinforcement  of   the  Reitres, 

*  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  218.      f  Davila,  liv.  4. 
I  La  Noue,  p.  626. 


CAPTURE  OF  ORLEANS  AND  ROCHELLE. 


95 


added  to  others  brought  from  the  pro- 
vinces by  noblemen  of  the  Protestant 
party,  increased  their  army  to  above 
twenty  thousand  men:  they  re-entered 
France  in  the  beginning  of  January. 

Hitherto  we  have  only  noticed  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  principal  body  of  Protest- 
ants :  the  operations  of  their  partisans  in 
different  parts  have  also  a  claim  upon  our 
attention.  The  rendezvous  at  Rosoy  for 
seizing  upon  the  whole  court  was  natu- 
rally to  be  supported  by  movements  in 


well  as  to  have  in  his  hands  a  city  of  such 
importance.  La  None  was  intrusted  with 
the  undertaking,  and  he,  following  care- 
fully the  good  instructions  of  Coligny,  and 
being  seconded  by  the  inhabitants,  became 
master  of  the  town  in  a  short  time,  to  the 
great  mortification  of  the  Catholic  party.* 
The  Protestants,  in  addition,  had  posses- 
sion of  many  towns  in  the  southern  parts 
of  the  kingdom. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs,  when 
the  army  of  the  confederates  entered 


other  parts.  La  Rochefoucalt,  Mouy,  |  France,  in  the  beginning  of  1568.  It  was 
and  La  Noue  collected  numerous  troops  no  longer  a  wandering  troop,  retreating 
in  Poitou,  the  Angoumois,  and  Saintonge;  before  a  victorious  enemy ;  but  a  nume- 
indeed  they  were  joined  by  more  than  rous  and  disciplined   body,  capable  of 


they  had  the  means  of  supporting:  but 
the  most  eminent  of  their  services  was 
obtaining  possession  of  Rochelle,  which 
was  for  many  years  the  refuge  of  Pro- 
testantism in  France.* 

The  reform  had  been  early  introduced 


effecting  the  designs  of  its  leaders,  and 
calculated  to  alarm  the  court  and  capital 
on  its  approach.  The  Protestants  tra- 
versed Burgundy;  laid  siege  to  Chartres, 
which  was  obstinately  defended  by  An- 
thony de  Lignieres,  who  had  a  numerous 


there;  and,  in  1534,  a  girl  named  Mary  i  garrison ;  and  promised  themselves  that, 
Belandelle  was  burned  for  her  religious !  after  taking  this  town,  they  would  again 
opinions.  The  obscurity  of  her  condition  I  attack  Paris.  The  besiegers,  after  some 
did  not  deter  her  from  challenging  a  Fran- 1  delay,  diverted  from  its  channel  the  river 
ciscan  to  controversy:  her  dauntless  con-j  which  turned  the  mills:  had  they  done  so 
duct  ensured  a  capital  condemnation;  but  I  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  the  inhabi- 
she  beheld  the  fatal  pile  without  emotion,  tants  would  soon  have  felt  the  want  of 
and  died  with  constancy.    In  1546,  seve- !  bread  ;  but  Catherine  had  not  waited  till 


ral  nuns  cancelled  their  vows,  and  were 
married;  and  in  1552,  three  Protestants 
were  condemned  to  be  burned  before  the 
church  door;  but  only  two  suffered,  the 


this  time  to  set  negotiation  on  foot,  and  a 
treaty  was  concluded  time  enough  to  save 
the  town.t 

Even  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of  St. 


third  being  flogged  and  banished.  This !  Denis,  the  queen  had  attempted  to  draw 
severity  did  not  suppress  the  rising  sect,  j  the  Prince  of  Conde  into  a  snare,  and 


In  1558,  when  the  King  and  Queen  of 
Navarre  made  Rochelle  their  residence,  a 
priest,  named  David,  preached  without  a 
surplice  in  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
and  expounded  the  new  doctrines,  which 
he  had  openly  embraced.  From  that 
time,  the  reform  took  deep  root  in  Ro- 
chelle.t 

Orleans  was  likewise  attached  to  the 
Protestant  cause ;  and  the  queen,  feeling 
doubts  about  that  place,  had  placed  there 
a  governor  entirely  devoted  to  her.  The 
inhabitants  entertained  a  great  dislike  to 
this  governor,  who  conducted  himself  in 
a  haughty  and  distrustful  manner;  and 
they  wrote  to  the  admiral,  begging  him 
to  send  some  one  to  enable  them  to  throw 
off  the  yoke.  Coligny  was  very  willing 
to  do  so,  on  account  of  relieving  them,  as 


*  D'Auhism;,  vol.  i.  p.  218. 

f  Arcere,  IJist.  de  Rochelle,  vol.  i.  pp.  323  and  333. 


made  overtures  to  prevent  his  going  to 
join  Prince  Casimir.  But  he  having 
suddenly  set  out  for  the  frontier,  nothing 
more  was  done  till  the  month  of  January, 
when  the  queen  had  a  conference  at 
Chalons  with  the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon, 
who  was  invested  with  due  powers 
by  the  confederates.  Not  being  able  to 
come  to  an  agreement,  Catherine  appoint- 
ed another  meeting  at  Vincennes;  and 
that  conference  was  equally  unsuccessful.! 
At  last,  perceiving  that  there  was  no 
medium — that  she  must  consent  to  a 
prompt  peace,  or  have  a  battle  in  the 
heart  of  France — she  appointed  a  final 
meeting  at  Longjumeau.  The  plenipo- 
tentiaries on  one  side  were  Gontaut  de 
Biron,  and  Henry  de  Mesmes,  Lord  of 

*  Vie  de  Ci>li!fny,  p.  334.    Biantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  323. 
Davila,  liv.  4.    Amiraiilt,  Vic  dc  La  AT./iio,  p.  14. 
t  La  Noue,  p.  633.   Davila,  liv.  4.    De  Thou,  liv.  42. 
X  D'Aubign6,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 


96 


PEACE  OF  LONGJUMEAU. 


Malassise,  master  of  the  court  of  requests; 
on  the  other,  were  the  Cardinal  of  Cha- 
tillon  and  his  counsel :  several  ambassa- 
dors were  present  as  mediators.* 

The  instructions  given  by  the  queen  to 
her  delegates  were  not  very  ample :  they 
were  to  make  peace  on  any  terms,  pro- 
vided the  Prince  of  Conde  was  to  take  no 
part  in  the  government  of  the  country. 
In  fact,  the  prince's  intention  was  to  that 
purpose,  but  Coligny  counteracted  him  as 
much  as  possible,  for  two  reasons:  first, 
if  Conde  should  obtain  his  demands,  he 
feared  that  he  would  no  longer  trouble 
himself  about  the  Protestants;  secondly, 
it  might  cause  slanders,  for  the  Catholics 
would  say,  that  it  was  solely  for  that  ob- 
ject he  had  taken  arms.  The  Cardinal  of 
Chatillon  understood  his  brother's  views, 
and  at  the  first  meeting  he  declared,  that 
the  only  thing  to  be  agreed  upon  was  the 
exercise  of  the  reformed  religion.  Biron 
and  Mesmes,  seeing  him  inflexible  on  that 
point,  signed  the  treaty,  by  which  the  king 
bound  himself  to  execute  the  last  treaty  of 
pacification,  revoking  and  annulling  all 
edicts  subsequently  passed,  which  were 
contrary  to  it,  and  particularly  the  edict  of 
Roussillon.t 

It  was  stipulated  in  this  treaty,  that  the 
Protestants  should  restore  all  the  towns, 
strong  places,  and  castles  which  they  had 
taken;  that  both  parties  should  disband 
their  foreign  troops;  and  that  the  king 
should  advance  the  funds  for  paying  the 
Reitres.  It  was  signed  on  the  20th  of 
March,  and  verified  and  published  the  23d 
of  the  same  month  :  it  was  called  the 
treaty  of  Longjumeau4 

In  consequence  of  the  peace,  the  siege 
of  Chartres  was  raised,  and  the  Protestants 
gave  up  most  of  the  towns  they  held ;  but 
Rochelle  refused  to  submit  to  the  king, 
and  the  example  was  followed  by  some 
other  towns.  The  queen  called  upon 
Conde  to  send  away  Prince  Casimir  and 
the  Germans;  without,  however,  intending 
to  dismiss  the  Swiss,  Spanish,  and  Italian 
troops  which  had  come  to  her  support.  A 
large  sum  was  due  to  the  Reitres,  and 
Catherine  wished  to  pay  them  with  her 


*  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  428. 

t  Davila,  1 1 v.  4.    Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  341. 

X  The  Protestants  in  general  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  treaty,  and  called  it  La  paix  boiteuse  el  malassise ; 
in  allusion  to  Uiron's  lameness  and  the  seignorial  ap- 
pellation of  his  colleague  :  it  is  also  known  as  La  petite 
faiz. 


valuable  promises;  but  they  were  not 
satisfied  with  such  a  proposal,  and  threat- 
ened to  attack  Paris  if  they  were  not  paid. 
It  was  considered  necessary  to  treat  with 
them,  and  Castelnau  was  charged  with 
the  commission.  He  paid  them  some 
money,  and  gave  them  reason  to  expect 
more  when  on  their  march  ;  they  set  out, 
confiding  in  that  promise,  but  they  found 
that  the  farther  they  went  from  Paris,  the 
less  chance  there  was  of  their  being  paid, 
and  they  resolved  on  carrying  off  Castel- 
nau himself  as  a  hostage.  The  affair  was 
at  length  terminated,  and  they  left  the 
kingdom,  loaded  with  plunder,  and  gave 
Castelnau  his  liberty.* 

The  perfidious  Catherine,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  Huguenots  from  again  re- 
ceiving such  help  from  Germany,  wrote 
to  Tavannes,  who  commanded  in  Bur- 
gundy, to  attack  and  destroy  them,  in 
spite  of  the  safe-conduct  given  by  the 
king.  Tavannes  prudently  refused  to 
obey,  knowing  that  the  order  would  be 
disavowed  by  the  queen;  he  would  then 
be  blamed  for  an  infraction  of  the  peace, 
and  the  princes  of  the  blood  would  become 
his  enemies.t 

Coligny  was  well  aware  that  Catherine 
had  made  the  peace  with  no  other  view 
than  to  be  better  able  to  choose  her  own 
time  for  effecting  the  ruin  of  the  Protest- 
ants :  he  knew  that  so  violent  was  her 
hatred  to  Conde  and  himself,  that  she 
would  never  rest  so  long  as  either  of  them 
lived.  He  did  not  consider  it  sufficient 
that  Rochelle  was  well  fortified,  and  that 
several  other  towns  were  in  the  hands  of 
his  party;  he  wished  to  establish  some 
colonies  of  Protestants  in  the  New  World, 
|  whither  he  and  his  friends  could  retire,  if 
their  affairs  should  ever  render  it  neces- 
sary for  them  to  leave  France. J  An  ex- 
pedition had  been  sent  to  Brazil  in  1555, 
which  completely  failed ;  but  he  was  not 
deterred  from  making  another  experi- 
ment. 

A  settlement  was  also  commenced  in 
Florida,  at  the  first  peace  in  1563,  but  dis- 
ease and  scarcity  of  provisions  prevented 
the  colonists  from  making  any  progress. 
Ships  were  occasionally  sent  to  join  them; 
many,  however,  never  reached  their  des- 
tination, for  the  Spaniards,  having  appro- 

*  Mem.  de  Castelnau,  liv.  6,  ch.  11. 
t  Mem.  de  Tavannes.  p.  314. 
J  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  345. 


BOLD  ENTERPRISE  OF  DOMINIC   DE  GOURGES. 


97 


priated  all  that  part  of  the  world  to  them- ,  and  two  hundred  soldiers.  On  landing 
selves,  treated  the  French  settlers  as  he  entered  into  friendship  with  some 
pirates,  and  seized  their  ships  whenever :  tribes  of  natives,  who  had  sufTered  greatly 
they  could.  Coligny  made  great  exer-  from  the  Spaniards;  he  then  attacked  the 
tions  to  send  substantial  assistance  to  the!  fort,  of  which  he  got  possession,  with  two 
colonists,  but  that  expedition  was  also 'others  they  had  built  in  the  neighbour- 


unfortunate.* 

A  squadron  was  sent  from  the  Ha 
vanna  to  destroy  the    infant  colony, 


hood.  The  garrison  consisted  of  eight 
hundred  men:  those  who  escaped  into  the 
woods  were  killed  by  the  natives;  such 


which,  but  for  this  cruel  attack,  might  I  as  were  made  prisoners  were  hanged 


have  afforded  a  retreat  for  many  families, 
who  were  compelled  to  stay  in  France, 
having  no  place  to  flee  to.  The  massa- 
cres, under  Charles  IX.  and  Louis  XIV., 
might  then  have  been  rendered  unneces- 
sary to  the  bigoted  policy  of  those 
monarchs,  as  the  kingdom  would  pro- 
bably have  been  freed  from  a  great  num- 
ber of  those  who  so  sturdily  adhered  to 
the  reformation,  in  spite  of  their  persecu- 
tions :  like  the  ancient  Israelites,  they 
would  willingly  have  quitted  polished 
society  for  a  wilderness,  if  when  there, 
they  could  have  been  sure  of  enjoying 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. 


with  this  inscription  over  them,  Not  as 
Spaniards,  but  as  perfidious  murderers.* 
On  his  return  to  France,  Dominic  de 
Gourges'  life  was  in  great  danger:  the 
Spanish  ambassador  demanded  his  head, 
and  the  court  was  quite  willing  to  give  it; 
but  Coligny  and  his  friends  enabled  him 
to  escape  from  his  perilous  situation. t 
This  would  however  have  been  scarcely 
possible,  had  not  the  Huguenots  refused 
to  receive  the  king's  garrisons  in  several 
towns,  viz.  Rochelle,  Sancerre,  and  Mon- 
tauban.  It  was  a  great  point  gained  for 
their  protection;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it 
compelled  the  court  to  think  of  more 


The  Spanish  squadron  appeared  off  severe  measures  against  them:  besides 
Fort  Charles  very  soon  after  the  arrival  which,  Rochelle  became  the  cause  of 
of  John  Riband,  who  had  been  sent  over  complaints  from  the  King  of  Spain,  who 
by  Coligny  to  help  the  colony:  he  had  [accused  the  Huguenots  of  fitting  out  a 
brought  with  him  seven  ships,  and  directly !  considerable  number  of  ships  at  that  port, 
he  saw  the  enemy  approach  he  stood  out  for  the  assistance  of  the  Prince  of  Orange 
to  sea  to  attack  them.  Unfortunately  a  (in  the  Low  Countries.^ 
hurricane  arose,  which  drove  several  of 
his  ships  against  the  rocks  of  that  coast. 
Those  of  the  crews  who  reached  the 
shore  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards; 
they  took  the  fort,  and  put  all  their  pri- 
soners to  death  in  the  most  barbarous 
manner  which  can  be  conceived.  Pedro 
Melandez,  the  Spanish  commander,  an- 
nounced that  they  were  treated,  not  as 
Frenchmen,  but  as  Lutherans  and  here- 
tics. 

The  news  of  this  affair  produced  no 
effect  upon  the  court  of  France,  which 
might  be  considered  half  Spanish  in  its 
interests,  and  entirely  so  in  its  views.  No 
attempt  being  made  to  demand  justice  for 
the  massacre,  an  individual  named  Domi- 
nic de  Gourges,  a  native  of  Mont-Marsan 
in  Gascony,  undertook  to  avenge  this  in- 
sult on  his  country.  By  selling  his  own 
property,  and  borrowing  money  of  his 
brother,  he  equipped  a  few  ships  and 
sailed  to  Florida,  with  a  hundred  sailors 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  44. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Plan  for  seizins  the  Protestant  leaders— Flight  of  Cond* 
and  Coligny  from  Noyers — Renewal  of  the  war. 

The  short  duration  of  the  peace  of 
Longjumeau  excited  no  astonishment,  for 
the  interval  between  the  cessation  and  the 
renewal  of  hostilities  had  exhibited  no 
signs  of  reconciliation.  The  contending 
parties  seemed  vexed  that  they  must  de- 
sist from  assailing  each  other,  and  the 
treaty  became  a  mere  truce,  to  make  pre- 
parations for  soon  entering  on  another 
campaign:  the  king  kept  his  forces  to- 
gether, and  placed  bodies  of  men  at  all  the 
important  posts. §  Short  however  as  it 
was,  the  peace  was  imbrued  with  the 
blood  of  the  Protestants.    In  the  large 

*  D'Aubiane,  vol.  i.  p.  355.    De  Thou,  liv.  44. 
■f  De  Thou  states  that  he  arrived  in  France,  13th  June 
1568. 

{  Mem.  de  Castelnau,  liv.  7,  ell.  1. 
§  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  125. 


98 


PLAN  FOR  SEIZING  THE  PROTESTANT  LEADERS. 


towns,  the  populace,  excited  by  furious 
preachers,  gave   themselves  up  to  the 
greatest  excesses  against  the  Protestants; 
and  the  representations  of  their  chiefs 
were  unavailing  with  the  government, 
which  scarcely  deigned  to  apologize  for 
the  impunity  which  was  allowed  the  per- 
secutors.    Indeed,  the   system  of  the 
court  appeared  completely  changed.  Hi- 
therto the  Protestants  had  met  with  pro- 
mises of  protection,  and  had  hopes  of  re- 
dress held  out  to  them:  the  promises  cost 
nothing,  for  they  were  never  realized,  and 
the  hopes  had  invariably  led  to  disappoint- 
ment; but  at  this  time  their  complaints 
were  not  even  attended  to.    The  pulpits 
resounded  with  the  horrid  maxims,  that 
faith  need  not  be  kept  with  heretics,  and 
that  to  massacre  them  was  just,  pious, 
and   useful    for   salvation.*     Such  dis- 
courses produced  tumults  and  assassina- 
tions, which  were  never  brought  to  jus- 
tice; and  the  dagger,  poison,  and  the 
dungeon,  awaited  not  only  the  Huguenots, 
but  those  also  who  were  connected  with 
them. 

The  Protestants  had  neither  peace,  nor 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  were  in  greater 
perils  than  during  the  war.  In  three 
months'  time  there  were  murdered  above 
two  thousand  of  them.  At  Ligny  in  Bar, 
a  Huguenot,  having  refused  to  ornament 
his  house,  on  occasion  of  the  Fete-Dieu 
in  June,  1568,  was  dragged  from  his  home 
bv  the  populace,  in  the  presence  of  the 
magistrates:  he  was  burned  alive  without 
any  form  of  trial,  and  with  wood  actually 
taken  from  his  own  store.t  Some  Pro- 
testants, who  were  desirous  of  concluding 
the  peace,  are  reported  to  have  said,  "  We 
have  committed  a  folly;  do  not  let  us 
therefore  think  it  strange  that  we  must 
drink  of  its  effects;  at  any  rate,  it  seems 
the  draught  will  be  bitter."! 

The  different  chiefs  having  retired  to 
their  chateaux,  the  queen  beheld  their  de- 
pal  ture  with  satisfaction,  as  she  was  glad 
to  be  freed  from  their  surveillance  and 
importunity;  but  she  soon  experienced 
alarm  about  them,  and  not  without  some 
reason.  Coligny  and  Conde  were  visited 
in  their  retirement  by  all  the  Protestant 
nobility,  who  foresaw  the  approaching 
and  unavoidable  rupture.  Conde  Was  at 
his  castle  of  Noyers  in  Burgundy!  Co- 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  44.   Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  350. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  44.  t  La  Noue,  p.  638. 


ligny  at  his  estate  at  Chatillon.    "  Their  . 
retreat,"  says    the   admiral's  historian, 
"  would  have  been  extremely  satisfactory 
to  this  princess,  if  she  had  not  seen  that 
one-half  of  the  kingdom  paid  their  court 
to  them;  and,  in  fact,  so  great  was  the 
confluence  at  Chatillon  and  Noyers,  that 
the  Louvre  was  a  desert  in  comparison. 
All  the  noblesse  of  their  party  went  in 
crowds  to  see  them,  and  when  ten  gen- 
tlemen went  out  by  one  door,  twenty 
went  in  at  another.    This  obliged  the  ad- 
miral to  incur  great  expense;  and,  if  he 
had  not  been  a  careful  man  in  every  thing 
else,  it  would  have  been  enough  to  ruin 
him.    However,  he  was  so  much  be- 
loved, that  a  thousand  presents  were  con- 
stantly brought  to  him;  and  although  he 
forbade  his  attendants  taking  them,  that 
did  not  prevent  the  same  thing  from  being 
done  every  day.    The  different  churches 
collected  and  sent  a  hundred  thousand 
crowns  to  prevent  the  prince  and  him 
from  entirely  bearing  such  a  charge.* 

As  money  is  the  nerve  of  war,  the 
queen  resolved  to  deprive  the  Prince  of 
Conde  of  every  financial  resource.  Pay- 
ment was  demanded  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns,  advanced  on  his  account,  to 
get  the  Reitres  out  of  the  country;  fear- 
ful, however,  lest  the  levying  of  this  sum 
should  afford  him  a  pretext  for  collecting 
more,  the  king  announced  that  he  did  not 
claim  that  money  from  the  Protestants 
generally,  but  only  from  the  chiefs  who 
had  guarantied  the  payment  to  the  fo- 
reigners. The  object  of  the  demand  was 
evident  to  all:  to  ward  off  such  a  blow, 
Teligny,  a  young  man  of  great  merit,  was 
sent  to  court;  and  the  Duchess  of  Savoy 
was  applied  to,  that  she  should  use  her 
influence  with  Catherine,  and  conjure  her 
not  to  drive  them  into  a  state  of  despera- 
tion.t 

The  siege  of  Rochelle  was  already  re- 
solved on;  but  the  queen  considered  that 
it  would  be  almost  impracticable  while 
the  prince  and  the  admiral  were  at  large, 
and  able  to  relieve  the  place:  it  became 
necessary  therefore  to  seize  upon  their 
persons.  With  this  object  in  view,  she 
sent  an  engineer  to  Noyers,  to  see  in  what 
manner  the  castle  was  built,  what  people 
were  there,  and  if  it  would  be  possible  to 
get  possession  of  it.    He  entered  the 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  346. 
t  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  439. 


FLIGHT  OF  CONDE  AND  COLIGNY  FROM  NOYERS. 


99 


place  without  difficulty,  under  pretence  of 
coming  from  a  rich  farmer  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood: some  fowls  served  him  as  a 
passport.    He  was  well  received,  but 
when  he  began  to  talk,  it  was  suspected 
that  he  was  something  more  than  he  pre- 
tended: he  was  then  watched  by  some  of 
the  prince's  people.    He  was  followed 
after  he  quitted  the  casde,  and  at  night 
was  detected  sounding  the  moat.  This 
discovery  induced  the  prince  to  inform 
Coligny  of  the  circumstance,  that  he  might 
be  on  his  guard;  they  then  wrote  to  their 
friends,  to  inform  them  that,  as  they 
might  soon  require  their  help,  they  should 
all  be  ready  for  the  first  call.*  Catherine 
was  more  than  ever  resolved  on  freeing 
herself  and  the  kingdom  from  the  ob- 
noxious Huguenot  faction;  and  it  became 
clear  that  she  could  never  succeed  in 
abolishing  the  different  edicts  in  their  fa- 
vour, unless  she  previously  removed  the 
Prince  of  Conde  and  the  admiral.  Such 
being  her  aim,  she  fortified  and  en- 
couraged the  fanaticism  of  the  different 
governors  of  provinces  by  bestowing  fresh 
favours  upon  them;  and  at  the  same  time 
she  removed  to  a  distance  from  her  coun- 
cils every  advocate  of  moderation.  The 
virtuous  Michael  de  L'Hopital  was  a 
great  barrier  to  the  queen's  wishes:  his 
advice  had  long  since  been  unheeded  and 
despised,  but  his  presence  troubled  the 
bigoted  party:  in  the  midst  of  perfidy  and 
corruption,  he  persisted  in  raising  his 
voice  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed;  senti- 
ments of  truth  and  justice,  accompanied 
with  unanswerable  arguments,  were  de- 
livered by  him  in  the  council,  with  such 
perseverance,  that  Catherine  found  it  im- 
possible to  bring  her  son  to  a  maturity  of 
guilt,  so  long  as  he  was  awed  by  the  pre 
sence  of  this  respected  chancellor. 

The  party  in  the  immediate  interests  of 
the  pope  had  long  endeavoured  to  decry 
his  character;  and  insinuations  of  his 
being  a  heretic  were  very  general.  Had 
such  a  charge  been  capable  of  verification, 
he  would  probably  have  been  arraigned 
upon  it;  for  the  Cardinal  d'Este  in  his 
correspondence  states,  "  There  is  no  way 
of  accusing  him  of  heresy,  because  he  is 
known  to  go  regularly  to  mass  and  con- 
fession, and  to  communicate."  A  proverb 
however  became  very  common,  "Deliver 
us  from  the  chancellor's  mass."t 


In  August,  1568,  a  bull  was  sent  from 
Rome,  permitting  the  king  to  alienate 
church  property,  to  the  value  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns,  on  condition  that 
he  should  make  war  against  the  heretics, 
and  utterly  destroy,  or  bring  them  back 
to  the  church.    The  chancellor  opposed 
the  reception  of  the  bull,  and,  addressing 
the  queen,  he  entreated  her  to  avoid  a 
measure  which  would  again  deluge  the 
kingdom  with  blood.    His  influence  de- 
layed the  reception  of  the  bull;  and  ap- 
plication was  made  for  another  in  lieu  of 
it,  which  should  authorize  the  use  of  the 
money  to  be  applied  to  the  public  service, 
but  without  making  war  upon  the  Pro- 
testants.*   This  opposition  excited  the 
Romish  agents  to   make  fresh  efforts. 
The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  used  all  his  in- 
fluence with  the  king  and  queen,  being 
urged  by  a  desire  to  avenge  his  brother's 
death  on  the  Huguenots  in  general:  back- 
ed by  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy,  he 
at  last  succeeded  in  effecting  the  chancel- 
lor's dismissal,  by  representing  him  to 
have  warned  the  Prince  of  Conde  to  es- 
cape from  Noyers;  a  circumstance  by  no 
means  improbable,  as  he  was  present 
when  the  queen  proposed  her  cruel  mea- 
sured 

Catherine's  plan  was  decided  upon: 
the  secret  attempt  to  seize  upon  the  castle 
of  Noyers  had  been  discovered,  and  she 
was  determined  to  compensate  by  force 
for  the  failure  of  her  stratagem.  The 
troops  which  had  been  destined  for  the 
siege  of  Rochelle  were  ordered  into  Bur- 
gundy; and  Tavannes,  who  commanded 
in  that  province,  had  instructions  to  arrest 
the  prince  and  his  friends.  On  this  oc- 
casion the  queen's  character  thwarted  her 
own  design:  Tavannes,  like  every  ex- 
perienced courtier  of  that  day,  was  well 
aware  that,  if  any  trouble  arose  in  the 
kingdom  on  this  account,  the  government 
would  readily  sacrifice  him,  as  a  means 
of  allaying  the  storm.  He  would  neither 
take  upon  himself  this  odious  commission, 
nor  suffer  another  to  do  it  in  his  govern- 
ment. He  therefore  sent  couriers  with 
letters  to  the  court,  containing  the  intelli- 
gence that  every  thing  was  ready:  these 
couriers  were  ordered  to  pass  in  the  di- 
rection of  Noyers,  and,  as  Tavannes  in- 
tended, were  taken  by  Conde's  people, 
as  well  as  some  others  who  were  sent  to 


*  Vie  de  Colisny,  p.  347.  La  Noue,  p.  638. 
t  Braatome,  vol.  vii.  p.  103. 


*  Villemain.  Vie  de  I'Hopital. 
t  Davila,  liv.  4. 


100  FLIGHT  OF  CONDE  AND  COLIGNY  FROM  NOYERS. 


sound  the  moat.*  The  answers  which 
they  gave,  on  being  questioned,  con- 
vinced the  prince  that  any  loss  of  time 
would  be  an  imprudence.  The  admiral 
had  feared  some  measure  of  the  kind, 
ever  since  he  heard  of  the  engineer  being 
discovered  in  disguise.  He  had  taken 
his  family  to  Noyers:  they  quitted  the 
castle  without  delay,  and  had  they  been 
three  days  later  their  escape  would  have 
been  impossible;  for  the  province  was 
filling  with  soldiers,  the  bridges  and  fords 
were  guarded,  and  a  number  of  troops 
were  concealed  in  the  environs. 

They  quitted  Noyers  on  the  25th  of 
August,  as  secretly  as  it  could  be  done 
with  the  embarrassing  tra-in  which  ac 
companied  them.  They  took,  partly  on 
horseback  and  partly  in  litters,  the  prin- 
cess and  her  children;  Andelot's  wife, 
and  a  child  at  the  breast;  Coligny's  young 
family  (his  wife  had  died  recently,)  with 
nurses  and  female  attendants:  their  escort 
was  about. one  hundred  and  fifty  men. 
It  was  a  painful  sight  to  see  so  many 
women  and  children  exposed  to  the  fa- 
tigues of  such  a  journey,  and  the  dangers 
of  being  assailed  on  the  road;  but  what 
man  could  leave  any  part  of  his  family  in 
the  power  of  a  king  who  had  sworn  his 
ruin  ? 

The  better  to  conceal  their  flight,  the 
prince  wrote  the  king  a  letter  of  complaint 
and  remonstrance,  and  gave  out  that  he 
should  wait  for  an  answer:  but  his  time 
was  too  precious  to  lose  a  moment:  a  gen- 
tleman of  that  country,  who  by  frequent 
hunting  was  perfectly  acquainted  with 
the  fords  and  by-paths,  conducted  him  to 
the  banks  of  the  Loire,  opposite  Sancerre. 
They  crossed  the  river  with  the  water 
scarcely  above  their  horse's  knees:  a 
heavy  storm  of  rain  fell  for  two  hours 
after  they  were  on  the  other  side,  which 
swelled  the  river  so  much  that  it  com- 
pletely screened  them  from  pursuit. 
AVhile  they  were  reposing  on  an  emi- 
nence, they  could  distinctly  see  a  body 
of  horsemen  waiting  on  the  opposite 
bank,  not  daring  to  venture  across  the 
river  to  follow  them.  Coligny  felt  very 
grateful  on  the  occasion,  and  impressed 
his  companions  with  corresponding  sen 
timents  for  so  great  a  deliverance.! 


The  remainder  of  their  journey  was 
full  of  dangers,  the  Catholic  forces  and 
themselves  being  directed  towards  the 
same  point ;  but  they  arrived  in  safety  on 
the  18th  of  September,  when  the  people 
of  Rochelle  received  them  with  acclama- 
tions.* 

Similar  measures  had  been  planned  for 
entrapping  the  other  leading  Protestants, 
but  they  all  failed  in  the  execution.  The 
Cardinal  of  Chatillon,  who  was  at  his  see 
(Beauvais,)  escaped  into  Normandy,  took 
the  disguise  of  a  sailor,  and  crossed  over 
to  England  in  a  small  vessel :  he  was  of 
great  service  to  the  cause  by  his  negotia- 
tions.! The  Queen  of  Navarre,  warned 
in  time  by  the  admiral's  letter,  hastened 
to  Rochelle  with  her  son  and  daughter, 
some  money,  and  four  thousand  soldiers. 
The  chiefs  in  general  assumed  the  defen- 
sive, and  immediately  raised  levies  in  their 
different  provinces.  The  guerillas,  main- 
tained by  these  persons,  kept  the  Catholic 
army  in  full  employment,  and  preserved 
Rochelle  from  an  attack,  till  proper  mea- 
sures had  been  taken  for  its  defence.  This 
general  movement  of  the  Huguenots  con- 
vinced the  queen-mother  that  her  project 
had  been  betrayed :  the  accusation  against 
the  chancellor  could  no  longer  be  doubted, 
and  his  dismissal  took  place  accordingly.! 

Coligny's  letters  to  his  friends,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  early  suspicions  of  treachery 
on  the  part  of  the  court,  had  given  the 
Protestants  such  an  advantage,  that  they 
were  in  a  few  days  assembled  in  great 
force  in  different  parts  of  France.  The 
queen,  on  the  other  hand,  was  astonished 
at  the  vigour  of  their  measures;  and, 
hoping  to  cajole  them,  published  an  edict, 
declaring  the  willingness  of  the  govern- 
ment to  protect  them  in  future,  as  well  as 
to  render  them  justice  for  the  past.  The 
edict  was  so  completely  at  variance  with 
her  conduct  for  some  time  previous,  that 
it  produced  no  effect  on  the  minds  of  the 
Protestants.  Catherine  then  gave  the 
command  of  the  army  to  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou,  and  published  several  other  edicts 
against  the  Protestants.  Her  behaviour 
on  this  occasion  shows  much  spite  and 
ittle  management.     She  revoked  every 


*  Mem.  cle  Tavannes,  p.  314.  But  Brantome,  vol.  jx 
p.  109,  st.ites  that  the  letters  were  intercepted  contrary 
to  the  wish  of  Tavannes. 

f  An  advocate,  in  an  inflated  speech,  compared  the 


event  to  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  Red 
Sea.    Arcere,  vol.  i.  p.  369. 

*  D'Auhigne,  vol.  i.  p.  262.  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  346. 
Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  127.    Davila,  liv.  4  p  443. 

f  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  447.   Castelnau,  liv.  7,  ch.  1. 

j  7th  Oct.  1568.  Journal  de  Brulart,  and  Davila,  liv.4. 


BATTLE  OF  JARNAC. 


10! 


edict  which  had  been  given  in  their  favour:  their  cause.    To  check  their  progress,  the 


she  forbade,  under  pain  of  death,  the  exer- 
cise of  any  religion  besides  the  Roman, 
and  she  ordered  all  who  professed  the  new 


Duke  of  Anjou  set  out  to  join  the  Catholic 
army,  of  which  he  had  already  been  nomi- 
nated generalissimo.    Conde,  who  was 


faith  to  quit  their  employs.*  Her  manner  aware  of  the  young  duke's  passion  for 
of  conducting  affairs  at  this  period  was ' glory,  fidt  assured  that  he  would  lose  no 


not  of  the  sort  usually  adopted  by  her, 
and  her  crafty  policy  seems  to  have  been 
dormant.  The  sudden  revocation  of  the 
edicts  was  a  public  declaration  that  it  was 
a  war  for  religion.    The  Queen  of  En£r- 


time  before  he  gave  battle;  he  therefore 
sent  orders  to  hasten  the  arrival  of  some 
troops  which  were  coming  from  Langue- 
doc  to  join  him:  he  even  set  out  to  meet 
them.    A  misunderstanding  unfortunately 


land  was  more  easily  persuaded  to  help, arose  between  Dacier  and  Mouvens,  who 
the  confederates,  and  the  numbers  of  men  i  commanded  them,  and  the  royal  forces, 


who  flocked  to  the  Protestant  standard  ex- 
cited general  surprise.  The  perfidious 
manner  in  which  the  Huguenots  had  been 
treated  drove  them  to  great  excesses  im- 
mediately they  had  the  power  of  avenging 
themselves.  Every  thing  therefore  which 
was  identified  with  the  Romish  worship 
experienced  their  fury:  churches  and  mo- 
nasteries were  pulled  down,  priests  and 
monks  were  murdered,  and  it  is  said  that 
many  nuns  suffered  excesses  of  the  most 
brutal  kind,  and  which  did  not  even  save 
them  from  the  sword.  Oppression  natu- 
rally creates  resistance,  and  long  irritation 
excites  a  thirst  for  revenge.  When  a 
people  once  gain  the  upper  hand  of  their 
oppressors,  they  can  set  no  bounds  to 
their  resentments,  for  their  passions  are 
uncurbed.  We  cannot  wonder,  therefore, 
that  the  popular  wrath  on  this  occasion 
fell  upon  the  ecclesiastics,  as  the  priests 
had  uniformly  been  the  approvers  and 
even  instigators  of  their  sufferings,  and  the 
authority  of  the  church  had  been  always 
invoked  to  sanction  the  burning  and  mur- 
dering of  their  relatives  and  friends:  no- 
thing done  in  retaliation,  therefore,  ap 
peared  excessive  in  the  eyes  of  the  enraged 
Huguenots,  who  sullied  their  cause  by 
such  deplorable  excesses. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Battle  of  Jarnac— Death  of  the  Prince  of  Conde. 

During  the  month  of  October,  15G8,  the 
Protestants  obtained  possession  of  a  con- 
siderable extent  of  territory  beyond  the 
Loire,  and  took  all  the  towns  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  Poic- 
tiers.    Every  thing  seemed  favourable  to 


7,  ch. 


Journal  tie  Brulart.  Castelnau,  liv. 


under  Brissac,  completely  routed  them 
without  difficulty.* 

The  misconduct  of  the  officers  having 
caused  this  reinforcement  to  be  greatly 
reduced  in  number,  the  Prince  of  Conde 
was  of  opinion  that  they  should  be  tried 
for  it  by  a  court-martial ;  but  Coligny  pru- 
dently remonstrated,  and  showed  him, 
that,  although  it  was  quite  reasonable  that 
discipline  should  be  strictly  enforced,  there 
were  occasions  when  it  became  necessary 
to  relax  its  rigour:  those  who  had  com- 
mitted this  fault  were  persons  of  credit 
and  authority,  and  therefore  it  would  be 
more  prudent  to  use  persuasion  than  me- 
naces: the  latter  would  do  very  well  in 
the  royal  armies,  where  the  king's  name 
had  a  prodigious  effect,  but  as  they  had 
taken  arms  against  him  on  account  of  their 
religion,  they  had  many  things  to  manage 
with  caution. f 

Conde  was  persuaded  to  adopt  the 
milder  course,  and  set  out  to  attack  the 
Duke  of  Montpensier,  who  commanded 
the  royal  army  during  the  absence  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou:  he  was  coming  on  by 
short  journeys  to  assume  his  post,  but, 
hearing  of  the  prince's  movements,  he 
hastened  forward,  and  summoned  a  coun- 
cil of  war  directly  he  arrived:  his  propo- 
sal was  to  attack  the  confederates  imme- 
diately, but  some  old  captains  persuaded 
him  to  defer  such  a  measure,  as  the  ene- 
my's force  would  certainly  be  diminished 
by  a  delay;  the  gentlemen,  they  said, 
would  be  tired  of  waiting,  in  a  state  of  in- 
action, at  their  own  expense,  and  would 
soon  insist  upon  returning  to  their  homes : 
the  army  weakened  in  that  manner  would 
be  an  easier  prey.J 

The  king's  army  at  this  time  consisted 
of  twenty-four  thousand  infantry  and  four 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  352. 
liv.  4. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  353. 


La  Noue,  p.  646. 
J  Ibid.  p.  354. 


Davil5 


102 


SANGUINARY  ZEAL  OF  ST.  PIUS. 


thousand  horsemen ;  that  of  the  confede- 
rates was  less  by  a  fourth,  but  was  com- 
posed of  very  determined  men,  who  had 
staked  their  all  upon  the  success  of  their 
arms.  Conde,  relying  upon  their  valour, 
sought  every  occasion  for  a  battle;  Anjou 
as  carefully  avoided  it,  but  could  not  ho- 
nourably retire  to  winter-quarters.  In  the 
meantime  it  was  disadvantageous  to  both 
parties  that  the  affair  should  be  thus  spun 


a  reinforcement  for  the  Protestants:  the 
Dukes  of  Aumale  and  Nemours,  with  six 
thousand  men,  were  posted  in  Lorrain,  to 
prevent  his  passing  to  the  interior. 

Had  the  introduction  of  foreign  armies 
into  France  been  the  only  result  of  these 
applications  for  assistance  from  abroad, 
the  page  of  history  would  have  been  spared 
the  details  of  the  most  dreadful  transac- 
tion ever  recorded.    The  German,  Spa- 


out,  and  a  battle  delayed:  the  Protestant '  nish,  and  Italian  troops  arrived;  fought  for 
chiefs  had  fears,  lest  the  gentlemen  in  their  their  respective  friends;  and  on  the  con- 
army  should  wish  to  go  home;  and  the,  elusion  of  a  peace  retired.  But  the  chances 
king  had  difficulty  in  finding  the  means  of  war  were  too  uncertain  for  the  calcu- 


for  keeping  his  army  on  foot,  notwith- 
standing the  exertions  made  in  his  behalf 
by  the  pope,  Pius  V.* 

The  severity  of  the  winter  inflicted 
great  hardships  on  both  armies:  the  con- 
federates, however,  suffered  less  than 
their  enemies,  as  they  were  chiefly  quar- 
tered in  villages,  and  in  the  suburbs  of 
towns.  At  length  they  were  compelled  to 
seek  for  refuge  from  the  inclemency  of  the 
season,  which  carried  off,  in  the  two  ar- 
mies, more  than  eight  thousand  men.t 

During  the  remainder  of  the  winter, 
both  parties  were  busy  in  strengthening 
themselves  by  every  kind  of  reinforcement. 
Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  at  the  soli- 
citation of  the  Cardinal  of  Chatillon,  sent 
the  Protestants  a  quantity  of  money,  pro- 
visions, and  ammunition.!;    But  the  most 


lations  of  the  Vatican ;  the  sacred  college 
was  too  anxious  for  victory  over  heresy 
to  wait  the  result  of  policy  and  craft:  a 
bold  measure  was  requisite  to  bring  about 
the  extinction  of  the  evil,  and  that  measure 
ended  in  the  massacre  of  the  St.  Bartho- 
lomew. 

Pius  V.  was  so  zealous  in  the  cause  of 
the  Roman  hierarchy,  that  he  has  been 
canonized  for  his  holy  intentions,  as  a 
compensation  for  his  not  having  lived  to 
see  the  fruit  of  his  exertions*  He  had 
written  pressing  letters  to  different  princes, 
in  order  to  obtain  help  for  the  most  Chris- 
tian king :  at  last  he  unbosomed  himself  to 
the  Cardinals  of  Bourbon  and  Lorrain ; 
both  letters  were  written  on  the  same 
day.t 

After  informing  the  Cardinal  of  Bour- 


fruitful  source  from  whence  they  drewibon,  that  he  was  ready  to  face  death  in 
their  supplies  arose  from  the  circumstance  [the  cause  of  religion,  his  holiness  added, 
of  Coligny  being  at  the  head  of  the  French  I "  that  gives  us  the  right  of  earnestly  ex- 
marine.  In  his  quality  of  admiral,  he  com- 1  horting  you  by  our  letters,  and  of  exciting 
missioned  a  fleet  of  nine  ships,  and  some  I  you  to  make  every  effort  to  employ  all 
frigates,  and  sent  them  to  cruise  off  the  your  influence  for  procuring  a  definitive 


coast,  from  Brittany  to  Flanders.  These 
enterprises  were  very  successful:  they 


and  serious  adoption  of  the  measure,  most 
proper  for  bringing  about  the  destruction 


were  sure  of  shelter  in  the  English  ports;:  of  the  implacable  enemies  of  God  and  the 
and  they  captured  a  great  number  of  Spa-! king;  a  measure,  without  which  it  will  be 


nish  and  Flemish  vessels;  and  a  tenth  of 
the  value  of  those  prizes  was  the  legal  pro- 
perty of  the  admiral. { 

Both  parties  had  sent  into  Germany  for 
levies :  the  Catholics  were  joined  by  a 
considerable  body,  under  the  Margrave 
of  Baden,  and  other  captains.  The  Duke 
of  Deux-Ponts  at  the  same  time  conducted 


*  The  pope  sent  Charles  IX.  10,000  pieces  of  gold 
towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  war.  See  the 
letters  uf  Pius  V.  to  different  personages  during  this 
year. 

•f  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  470.  La  Noue,  p.  659.  Castelnau, 
liv.  7  ch.  2. 

J  DAubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  2H3.   Castelnau,  liv.  7,  cb.  2. 
§  La  Noue,  p.  095.   Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  452. 


always  impossible  to  pursue  warmly  the 
operations  of  the  war,  and  to  conduct  it  to 
a  happy  issue."  The  letter  then  enlarges 
on  the  necessity  of  depriving  the  heretics 
of  the  time  for  collecting  their  scattered 
forces,  and  thus  secure  the  advantage  of 
a  victory.  "Expedition  and  ceaseless  ac- 
tivity are  moreover  necessary,  because  the 


*  Michael  Ghislieri  was  born  A  D  1504.  at  Roschi.  in 
Piedmont.  His  family  was  poor,  and  he  joined  the  Do. 
minicans.  By  his  severity  to  all  heretics,  he  obtained 
the  rank  of  cardinal,  and  the  office  of  grand  inquisitor. 
Elected  pope  in  156fi,  he  took  the  style  of  Pius  V.,  and, 
until  his  death,  in  May,  1572,  be  was  unceasingly  em- 
ployed in  fomenting  persecutions  for  religion. 

t  17th  January,  1569. 


BATTLE  OF  JARNAC — DEATH 

treasury  is  becoming  more  exhausted 
every  day.  The  importance  of  the  inte- 
rests which  we  discuss,  and  the  dangers 
of  the  kingdom,  reduced  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity, would  possibly  require  fuller  de- 
velopment ;  but  your  known  love  for  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  the  zeal  which  ani- 
mates you  for  the  divine  honour,  render 
it  unnecessary  to  dwell  further  upon  these 
things  with  you." 

To  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  St.  Pius 
writes :  "  we  not  only  demand  that  you 
display  the  greatest  zeal  in  doing  what  we 
desire,  but  we  beg  you  also  to  inflame  the 
spirits  of  the  king,  the  queen,  and  all  whom 
they  employ  in  this  war;  and  to  excite 
them  to  execute  with  activity  what  has 
been  neglected  till  now,  as  well  as  to  pre- 
pare diligently,  and  without  delay,  what- 
ever may  contribute  to  put  an  end  to  this 
disastrous  war,  by  conquering  and  sub- 
duing the  enemy."  This  letter  contains 
remarks  very  similar  to  the  other,  urging 
a  speedy  termination  of  the  war,  by  at- 
tacking the  heretics  at  once,  and  following 
up  the  blow  till  they  were  all  destroyed. 

These  letters  were  followed  soon  after 
by  another  to  Charles,*  informing  him 
that  he  had  sent  Sforza,  Count  of  Santa- 
fiore,  with  some  troops  to  help  him: 
"  We  pray  Almighty  God,  who  is  the 
Lord  of  Hosts,  the  King  of  Kings,  and 
who  directs  and  governs  every  thing  by 
his  wisdom,  mercifully  to  grant  your  ma- 
jesty the  victory  over  our  common  ene- 
mies. When  God,  as  we  trust,  shall 
have  given  us  the  victory,  it  will  be  for 
you  to  punish,  with  the  utmost  rigour, 
the  heretics  and  their  leaders,  because 
they  are  the  enemies  of  God;  and  you 
must  avenge  upon  them,  not  only  your 
own  injuries,  but  also  those  of  Almighty 
God." 

Directly  the  season  would  permit,  the 
contending  parties  renewed  their  opera- 
tions. Tavannes  was  nominally  under 
the  orders  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  but  in 
reality  possessed  the  chief  command  of 
the  royal  army.  He  was  anxious  to  con- 
fine the  confederates  within  their  present 
limits,  while  Conde  wished  to  gain  the 
centre  of  France,  that  he  might  be  more 
ready  to  join  the  Germans  who  were 
coming  to  his  aid.  Each  party  was  con- 
stantly on  the  watch  for  an  opportunity  of 
surprising  their  enemy.    At  length  a  bat- 

*  Dated  6th  Murch,  1569^ 


OF   THE  miNCE  OF  CONDE.  103 

tie  was  fought  at  Jarnac,  a  small  town  in 
the  Angoumois,  on  the  borders  of  the  ri- 
ver Charente.* 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  decided  on  at- 
tacking the  confederates,  but  it  was  neces- 
sary to  pass  the  river:  in  his  first  attempt 
he  was  repulsed  by  the  admiral,  with  the 
loss  of  three  hundred  men.  On  the  night 
preceding  the  battle,  Tavannes  effected 
the  passage  by  making  a  false  march,  and 
suddenly  returning  to  Chateauneuf,  one 
of  the  outposts  of  the  Protestants.  The 
officer  who  commanded  there  was  struck 
with  such  a  panic  fhat  he  made  no  de- 
fence :  had  he  merely  cut  some  ropes, 
which  held  together  a  bridge  of  boats  at 
that  part,  there  would  have  remained  no 
means  of  crossing  the  river.  Coligny 
flew  to  the  spot  the  moment  he  heard  of 
the  affair,  but  before  he  could  arrive,  the 
detachment  had  crossed. 

Conde,  thus  surprised,  was  in  a  dilem- 
ma: he  had  not  time  to  collect  all  his 
troops:  if  he  gave  battle,  it  would  be  to  a 
great  disadvantage;  if  he  retreated,  the 
consequences  might  be  still  worse.  The 
prince's  misfortune  was  increased  by  an 
inexcusable  delay  on  the  part  of  some 
gentlemen  in  his  army,  by  which  the  Ca- 
tholics were  enabled  to  strengthen  them- 
selves still  more  in  taking  the  post  of 
Bassac :  instead  of  taking  horse  at  dawn, 
they  laid  in  bed  till  half-past  eight  o'clock. 

The  courage  of  the  Prince  of  Conde 
during  this  battle  was  very  remarkable. 
He  had  been  wounded  in  the  arm  two 
days  previous,  and,  while  preparing  for 
action  on  this  occasion,  he  received  a 
kick  from  the  horse  of  his  friend  La 
Itochefoueault.  Without  complaining  of 
the  pain,  he  made  an  animated  appeal  to 
the  nobles  around  him,  and  desired  them 
to  bear  in  mind  the  condition  in  which 
Louis  of  Bourbon  went  into  action,  on 
behalf  of  his  religion  and  his  country. 
His  bravery,  however,  was  not  attended 
with  the  success  it  merited.  From  the 
first  onset,  fortune  declared  for  the  Duke 
of  Anjou:  he  charged  upon  La  Noue, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant 
rear-guard;  he  was  thrown  into  complete 
confusion,  and  would  have  been  over- 
whelmed, had  not  Anclelot  arrived  to  his 
assistance,  and  enabled  him  to  rally  his 
men.    A  second  charge  left  him  a  priso- 

*  13th  March,  1569.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  battle 
of  Bassac,  from  its  vicinity  to  that  town.  Jarnac  is  2 
leagues  from  Cognac. 


104 


DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  CONDE. 


ner  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholics,  who 
obtained  that  advantage  by  his  horse 
being  killed  under  him.  When  he  heard 
that  La  Noue  was  a  prisoner,  the  Admiral 
observed,  that  he  could  better  have  spared 
any  ten  others. 

The  strutrgrle  continued  for  some  time, 
and  the  Admiral  firmly  sustained  the  re- 
peated shocks  of  the  royal  army:  but  his 
force  was  unequal  to  the  task,  and  it  be- 
came evident  that,  unless  he  was  assist- 
ed, he  must  soon  yield.  The  Prince  of 
Conde  in  consequence  hastened  to  help 
him:  he  charged  upon  the  main  body  of 
the  enemy's  cavalry,  and,  crippled  as  he 
was,  he  fought  among  them  till  his  horse 
fell  under  him.  To  be  dismounted  on 
such  an  occasion  rendered  his  capture  in- 
evitable; and  he  surrendered  himself  to 
two  gentlemen,  named  Dargence  and  St. 
John,  who  conducted  him  out  of  the  fray, 
and  seated  him  under  a  hedge.  Montes- 
quieu, captain  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou's 
guards,  unfortunately  chanced  to  pass  at 
the  time:  he  inquired  who  the  prisoner 
was,  and,  on  being  informed,  drew  his 
pistol,  and  shot  the  prince  through  the 
head.  Satisfied  with  the  death  of  the 
Protestant  general,  the  Catholics  did  not 
take  the  full  advantage  of  their  victory: 
they  scarcely  pursued  the  Protestants, 
who  retired  in  good  order  under  the  com- 
mand of  Coligny.* 

It  was  generally  thought,  that  orders 
had  been  given  to  spare  no  Huguenot  of 
distinction  who  might  be  taken  in  this 
battle.  Brantome  states,t  "  that  it  had 
been  strongly  recommended  to  several  of 
the  Duke  of  Anjou's  favourites."  Robert 
Stuart,  among  others,  being  made  a  priso- 
ner, was  taken  before  the  duke,  by  the 
Marquis  of  Villars,  who  entreated  per- 
mission to  put  him  to  death,  for  having 
killed  the  Constable  Montmorency  at  the 
battle  of  St.  Denis.  Anjou  refused  his 
consent;  but,  being  strongly  pressed  by 
Villars,  he  turned  his  head  away,  and 
said,  "  Well,  be  it  so!"  Stuart  was  then 
led  to  a  short  distance,  and  killed.^  La 
Noue  was  brought  before  the  severe 
Duke  of  Montpensier,  who  thus  ad- 
dressed him:  "  My  friend,  your  process 
is  finished;  yours,  and  that  of  all  your 
companions:  look  to  your  conscience!"§ 

*  Davila,  d'Aubigne,  De  Tlinu,  and  Castelnau. 
t  Vol.  viii.  p.  244.   (Vie  at  Condi.) 
I  Brantome,  (Vie  de  Montmorency.) 
§  Ibid.  (Vie  de  Montpensier.) 


An  old  comrade  of  La  Noue's,  named 
Martigues,  saved  him  from  death,  and  af- 
terwards effected  his  exchange  for  Sessac, 
lieutenant  of  Guise's  men-at-arms.* 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  slept  at  Jarnac,  in 
the  same  house  where  the  Prince  of 
Conde  had  lodged  the  preceding  night. 
He  had  the  cruelty  to  behold  the  body  of 
the  unfortunate  prince  borne  by  an  ass 
through  the  Catholic  army.  Conde's 
body  became  an  object  of  derision  with 
many  who  before  had  trembled  at  his 
name  alone.  It  was  afterwards  sent  to 
the  Prince  of  Beam,  who  caused  it  to  be 
interred  at  Vendome  in  the  sepulchre  of 
his  ancestors.! 

Such  was  the  end  of  Louis  of  Bourbon, 
Prince  of  Conde;  a  man  distinguished 
for  his  bravery,  skill,  and  wit,  at  a  court 
where  such  qualities,  to  be  distinguished, 
must  have  been  possessed  in  a  very  great 
degree.  His  principal  failing,  an  extreme 
susceptibility  of  tenderness  for  the  fair 
sex,  exposed  him  to  many  snares,  by 
which  he  was  impeded  in  his  proper 
channel  of  advancement:  but  his  charac- 
ter as  a  good,  unflinching  friend,  a  sin- 
cere and  affable  man,  was  free  from  the 
least  imputation;  and  his  good  qualities 
made  him  regretted,  even  by  the  party 
opposed  to  him.  He  has  been  accused 
of  ambitiously  aspiring  to  the  throne; 
certainly  he  was  ambitious,  for,  in  his 
day,  that  passion  was  cherished  as  a  vir- 
tue by  every  person  of  distinction.  He 
bore  arms  against  his  sovereign,  but  was 
driven  to  do  so  by  the  first  instinct  of  na- 
ture— self-preservation. 

Those  who  accuse  the  Prince  of  Conde 
of  having  aimed  at  the  crown,  found 
their  accusation  principally  on  his  coining 
money  bearing  his  effigy,  and  the  inscrip- 
tion, Louis  XIII.,  King  of  France.  Some 
particulars  respecting  this  coinage  have 
been  preserved,  and  may  not  be  misplaced 
here.} 

Brantome,  after  minutely  describing 
the  coining  of  this  money,  as  the  effect  of 
the  prince's  vain-glory,  mentions,  "  that 
the  constable  presented  it  to  the  council 
at  the  Louvre,  in  the  year  1567,  the  se- 


»  Amiranlt.   (Vie  de  la  Jfoue,  p.  31.) 
■f  Davila.  liv.  4,  p.  4fi. 

j  Tlie  subject  was  discussed  in  1741  by  M.  Secousse 
in  an  essay,  entitled  "  Dissertation  <m  I  on  examine  s'tl 
eat  vrai  qu'il  ait  cti  J'rappc  pendant  la  vie  de  Louis  /., 
Prince  de  Condi,  une  monnaie  sur  laquclle  on  lui  ait 
donnt  le  litre  de  Roi  de  France."  Mem.  de  l'Acad.  des 
Inscriptions,  tome  xvii.  p.  607. 


PRINCE  OF  BEARN  PROCLAIMED  CHIEF  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS.  105 


venth  day  of  October,  in  the  afternoon."* 
It  must,  therefore,  have  been  prepared 
before  the  attempt  upon  Meaux  was  ar- 
ranged. But,  in  the  notes  to  the  Henri- 
ade,  it  is  described  as  an  artifice  of  the 
court  made  use  of  to  ruin  the  prince. 
Some  pieces  were  contrived  to  fall  into 
Montmorency's  hands:  he,  being  fully  sa- 
tisfied that  they  had  been  coined  by  the 
prince's  order,  went  in  a  rage  to  the  king, 
and  showed  them  to  him.t 

When  the  coin  first  appeared,  many  of 
the  prince's  sincere,  though  inexperienced 
friends,  were  highly  pleased  at  it;  but 
those  who,  from  their  condition,  were 
able  to  form  a  proper  estimate  of  the  bu- 
siness, saw  at  once  that  it  was  an  attempt 
to  make  his  party  odious.  The  admiral 
convinced  the  Prince  of  Conde  how  ne- 
cessary it  was  to  counteract  this  machina- 
tion, and  a  severe  punishment  was  threat- 
ened against  any  who  should  circulate  the 
coin:  the  proclamation  was  repeated,  that 
no  one  might  plead  ignorance.  An  un- 
lucky suttler,  however,  offered  some  of 
these  pieces  in  change  to  his  customers 
in  the  camp,  and  was  hanged  on  the  spot. 
This  severity  silenced  many  of  the  slan- 
ders in  which  the  Catholics  indulged 
against  the  prince ;  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  adopt  some  other  plan  for  per- 
suading the  world  that  ambition,  and  not 
liberty  of  conscience,  was  the  cause  of  the 
war.J 

Brantome  mentions  another  circum- 
stance, which  shows  that  all  who  were 
in  habits  of  intimacy  with  the  prince 
were  satisfied  it  was  a  manoeuvre,  for  his 
approval  of  the  coinage  could  not  have 
been  concealed  from  them.  Briquemaut, 
a  very  worthy  man,  who  fought  solely  on 
account  of  his  religion, §  was  wounded  in 
the  leg  a  few  days  before  the  battle  of 
Jarnac.  Conde  and  the  admiral  visited 
him  in  his  bed;  and  in  conversation  the 
word  reigning  escaped  the  prince.  "Sir," 
said  Briquemaut,  "  it  appears  from  your 
remarks  that  ambition  excites  you  more 
than  religion:  if  that  be  your  aim,  I  quit 
you.    Let  us  join  for  the  service  of  God, 

*  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  239.  tint  notwithstanding 
this  minuteness,  the  Abbe  Anquetil  insinuates  that 
Conde  coineil  the  money  at  Rochelle  in  15U8,  when  the 
Protestant  affairs  were  so  very  successful. 

f  It  was  at  the  same  time  reported  in  Paris  that 
Conde  hail  been  crowned  at  St.  Denis.  Secousse,  Dis- 
sertation. &c. 

I  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  349. 

§  II  estoit  un  fort  homme  de  bien,  et  qui  ne  combattoit 
que  pour  sa  religion.   Brantome,  Vie  de  Condi. 


otherwise  I  shall  retire."  If  so  slight  an 
allusion  to  power,  probably  misunder- 
stood, made  Briquemaut  threaten  to  quit 
the  prince,  would  he  have  stayed  in  his 
army  after  such  a  step  as  qualifying  him- 
self King  of  France  upon  the  coin  ? 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Prince  of  oVarn  proclaimed  chief  of  the  Protestant 
party — Arrival  of  reinforcements  from  Germany — 
Attack  on  Laroche- Abeil'e— Letters  of  Pius  V. 

Coligny,  being  informed  of  the  Prince's 
death,  directed  his  attention  to  preserving 
the  remains  of  the  army.  He  ordered  the 
infantry  to  retire  to  Cognac,  and  destroyed 
the  bridge  by  which  they  crossed  the  ri- 
ver: he  protected  their  retreat  at  the  head 
of  the  cavalry,  and  kept  up  a  running 
fight  till  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  when 
the  enemy  desisted.  St.  Jean  d'Angely 
being  more  exposed  to  an  attack  from  the 
Duke  of  Anjou  than  any  other  town  in 
his  power,  the  admiral  went  thither  to 
strengthen  and  encourage  the  garrison. 
He  visited  Xaintes,  and  then  went  to 
Cognac,  which  was  the  general  rendez- 
vous of  the  party.* 

When  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  cap- 
tured at  the  battle  of  Dreux,  the  com- 
mand was  immediately  and  unanimously 
conferred  upon  Coligny;  and  no  one  could 
doubt  that  he  was  entitled  to  succeed  him 
at  his  death.  But  there  was  a  strong 
party  again3t  him  among  the  Huguenot 
nobility,  who,  esteeming  themselves  equal 
to  him  in  every  respect,  were  unwilling 
to  be  under  his  orders.  Some  pretext 
was,  however,  necessary  to  cover  their 
refusal  to  serve  under  Coligny,  and  there- 
fore he  was  blamed  for  having  suffered 
the  army  to  be  surprised,  and  for  quitting 
the  field  too  soon,  instead  of  making  some 
effort  to  retrieve  the  misfortune  of  the  day. 
The  way  in  which  these  complaints  were 
urged,  and  their  general  sentiments,  which 
he  had  the  means  of  ascertaining,  con- 
vinced the  admiral  that,  unless  his  party 
had  the  name  and  authority  of  a  prince  of 
the  blood,  its  strength  and  credit  would 
soon  fail.  He  therefore  wrote  to  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  that  the  time  was 
come  when  she  ought  to  think  of  raising 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  358. 


106  ARRIVAL  OF  REINFORCEMENTS  FROM  GERMANY. 


her  son  to  the  dignity  which  was  his 
due.* 

The  Queen  of  Navarre  immediately 
set  out  from  Rochelle  for  Cognac.  On 
her  arrival  she  advanced  in  front  of  the 
army,  and  presented  her  son  Henry, 
Prince  of  Beam,  then  in  his  sixteenth 
year,  and  Henry,  son  of  the  deceased 
Conde,  who  was  rather  younger.  She 
addressed  the  soldiers,  recommended  to 
them  the  two  youths,  and  so  animated 
and  touching  was  her  speech,  that  it  pro- 
duced great  effect  upon  the  army.  "The 
good  cause,"  said  she,  "  has  not  perished 
with  Conde;  and  his  misfortune  ought 
not  to  cause  despair  among  men  attached 
to  their  religion.  God  watches  over  his 
own  people.  During  his  life  he  gave  the 
prince  companions  able  to  assist  him,  and 
he  has  left  us  brave  captains,  capable  of 
repairing  the  loss  caused  by  his  death.  I 
offer  you  my  son,  and  I  confide  to  you 
the  son  of  the  prince  who  excites  our  re- 
grets: Heaven  grant  that  they  may  both 
show  themselves  worthy  inheritors  of  the 
bravery  of  their  ancestors,  and  that  the 
sight  of  these  tender  pledges  may  excite 
you  constantly  to  remain  united  for  the 
support  of  the  cause  which  you  defend. "t 
The  Admiral  and  La  RochefoucauU  pub- 
licly swore  fidelity  to  the  Prince  of  Beam; 
the  other  nobles  did  the  same;  and  after- 
wards the  whole  army,  amidst  shouts  of 
joy  and  approbation,  which  continued  till 
the  Prince  of  Beam  advanced  with  a  firm 
step,  and  swore  to  defend  their  religion, 
and  constantly  to  persevere  in  the  com- 
mon cause,  until  death  or  victory  gave 
them  the  full  liberty  which  they  desired. J 
The  Prince  of  Conde  gave  his  assent 
more  by  gesture  than  by  words. 

As  the  two  princes  were  too  young 
to  take  the  direction  of  affairs,  the  ma- 
nagement was  left  to  the  admiral:  all  the 
objections  which  had  been  made  against 
his  having  the  command  now  vanished, 
as  the  point  of  honour  was  saved  by  their 
having  a  prince  for  their  commander  in 
chief,  and  Coligny's  orders  were  exe- 
cuted without  hesitation.  The  principal 
charge  being  disposed  of  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  arranging  some  other  ap- 
pointments which  had  become  vacant,  to 

*  D.ivila,  liv.  4,  p.  488. 

+  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  292.  D'Auhigne  alludes 
to  this  speech,  but  does  not  give  it  at  length,  in  his  Hist. 
Vniversclte. 
t  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  489. 


the  regret  of  the  Protestants;  the  trusty 
and  courageous  Andelot,  who  was  always 
on  the  alert  to  second  his  brother's  ope- 
rations, and  whom  Coligny  repeatedly 
called  his  right  hand,  fell  ill  of  a  fever 
and  died  in  a  few  days.*    Catholics  bear 
testimony  to  his  good  character:  "  He 
was  true  and  sincere,  and,  of  the  Calvinist 
chiefs,  one  of  the  most  persuaded  of  his 
religion;  naturally  frank,  candid,  and  ge- 
nerous, he  attracted  as  much  friendship 
as  his  brother,  more  severe  and  reserved, 
conciliated  esteem. "t    D'Acier  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  infantry, 
which  was  Andelot's  last  employ:  Jac- 
ques Bouchard,  a  warm  friend  of  Co- 
ligny's, died  about  the  same  time,  and 
left  vacant  the  command  of  the  artillery; 
Genlis  succeeded  him.t    A  council  was 
then  held  for  deciding  on  the  plan  of  their 
future  operations:  several  proposed  that 
the  Protestant  forces  should  be  concen- 
trated in  Rochelle  and  the  strong  posts  in 
that  neighbourhood;  they  argued  that 
there  the  Duke  of  Anjou  could  not  attack 
them  with  any  possibility  of  success,  on 
account  of  the  marshy  nature  of  the  coun- 
try.   But  this  plan  was  represented  by 
Coligny,  as  timid  and  unworthy  of  their 
cause.     The  most   esteemed  captains 
were  of  the  same  opinion,  and  it  was 
finally  resolved  that  the  army  should  be 
divided;  that  troops  should  be  placed  in 
the  principal  towns  situated  on  rivers  to 
protect  them  from  siege,  and  delay  the 
progress  of  the  royal  army,  until  they 
had  positive  intelligence  of  the  force 
which  the  Duke  of  Deux-Ponts  was 
bringing  from  Germany;  that  when  they 
heard  of  the  approach  of  those  troops, 
they  should  collect  their  forces  and  make 
an  effort  to  join  them,  wherever  they 
might  be:  if  the  junction  could  be  ef- 
fected, they  would  equal  the  Catholic 
army;  otherwise  they  must  separate,  and 
by  returning  into   different  provinces, 
they  would  oblige  the  king  to  divide  his 
army,  and  thus  be  in  a  condition  to  fight 
with  better  chances  of  success. §  These 
plans  being  agreed  to,  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre went  back  to  Rochelle;  the  princes 
and  the  admiral  retired  into  St.  Jean 
d'Angely;  the  other  captains  went  into 


*  27th  May,  1569.  He  was  buried  with  great  pomu 
at  Rochelle. 

t  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  2f8. 
J  D'Aubigne.vol.  i.  p. 283. 
§  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  491. 


ATTACK  ON  LAROCHE  ABEILLE. 


107 


different  towns,  which  were  well  forti- 
fied, by  the  country  around  them  being 
intersected  by  several  deep  rivers:  mili- 
tary science  had  likewise  contributed  to 
the  defence  of  those  places. 

While  the  Protestants  appeared  to  ac- 
quire additional  force  from  their  reverses, 
and  to  be  stimulated  by  their  defeat  to 
make  greater  exertions,  the  ardour  of  the 
Catholics  very  soon  subsided.  The 
Duke  of  Anjou,  in  his  eighteenth  year, 
had  displayed  great  bravery  in  the  re- 
cent battle:  he  charged  several  times  at 
the  head  of  his  cavalry,  fought  amidst 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and  had  a  horse 
killed  under  him;  but  after  the  victory 
his  fire  seemed  to  be  exhausted,  and 
those  alternations  of  activity  and  listless- 
ness  were  then  remarked,  which  after- 
wards rendered  his  reign  so  stormy.  Al- 
though the  duke  had  only  the  name  of 
chief  commander  of  the  Catholic  army, 
his  character  had  some  influence  on  its 
operations.  He  persuaded  himself  that ■ 
his  work  was  accomplished,  and  that  his 
enemies  were  crushed.  Flattery  on  the 
part  of  some  chiefs  and  interested  mo-| 
tives  on  the  part  of  others,  prevented  his 
being  exhorted  to  a  proper  line  of  con- 
duct. Repeated  delays  took  place,  and 
the  siege  of  Cognac  was  not  attempted 
till  after  the  Protestants  had  had  suffi- 1 
cient  time  to  strengthen  and  supply  the 
place.  The  Catholics  were  obliged  to 
relinquish  that  siege,  and  for  some  time  [ 
confined  their  operations  to  taking  a  few 
unimportant  towns;  among  others,  Mu- 
cidan,  in  Perigord,  in  attacking  which 
place  the  Count  de  Brissac  was  killed.* 

In  the  mean  time,  Wolfgang,  Duke  of 
Deux-Ponts,  was  advancing  to  join  the 
Protestants  with  a  strong  reinforcement. 
He  quitted  Saverne  at  the  end  of  Febru- 
ary, and  took  his  march  through  Alsace 
and  Lorrain;  he  had  seven  thousand  five 
hundred  Reitres,  and  six  thousand  Lans- 
quenets. William  of  Nassau,  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  Louis  his  brother,  who  were 
driven  out  of  Flanders  by  the  Duke  of 
Alva,  joined  him  with  some  companies 
of  cavalry;  and  about  twenty  French 
captains  from  Dauphiny,  who  had  as- 
sembled near  Strasburg  a  force  of  four- 
teen hundred  men.t 


The  court  sent  the  Dukes  of  Aumale 
and  Nemours  to  oppose  his  passage,  but, 
although  their  forces  were  superior,  the 
Duke  of  Deux-Ponts  effected  his  object. 
When  they  approached  too  near  he  at- 
tacked the  royal  army,  and  as  Aumale 
contented  himself  with  hovering  about 
the  Germans,  they  passed  the  Saone 
without  hindrance  at  Montier.  Aumale 
then  hastened  on  to  wait  for  them  at  the 
Loire,  where  he  hoped  to  be  joined  by 
some  detachments  from  the  Duke  of 
Anjou's  army.  As  a  means  of  stopping 
their  progress  the  Catholics  had  destroyed 
the  bridge  at  la  Charite.  This  would 
have  been  a  serious  impediment  had  not 
Wolfgang  been  informed  of  a  ford  at 
Pouilly,  where  his  army  crossed,  each 
horseman  taking  a  foot  soldier  behind 
him.*  He  continued  his  march  towards 
the  river  Vienne,  and,  at  the  moment 
when  his  task  was  on  the  eve  of  being 
completed  by  the  junction  of  the  two 
armies,  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  quartan  ague 
at  Nessax,  a  town  three  leagues  distant 
from  Limoges.t  Finding  himself  dying, 
he  summoned  his  principal  officers",  and 
in  their  presence  appointed  Count  Mans- 
field his  successor;  he  exhorted  them  to 
obey  him,  and  assured  them,  that,  if  any 
division  arose  among  them,  it  would  be 
the  means  of  preventing  their  ever  return- 
ing home.  They  continued  their  march; 
and  although  the  Duke  of  Anjou  guarded 
every  ford  of  the  Vienne,  they  succeeded 
in  joining  the  admiral  four  days  after  the 
death  of  Wolfgang.} 

Very  great  surprise  was  expressed  that 
the  Dukes  of  Nemours  and  Aumale,  with 
a  number  of  experienced  officers  in  their 
army,  should  suffer  an  enemy  of  inferior 
force  to  traverse  France  and  cross  the 
Loire  before  their  eyes,  without  offering 
any  obstacle.  It  was  attributed  to  a  dis- 
agreement which  arose  between  them, 
and  which,  to  use  the  words  of  a  con- 
temporary, "made  them  miss  some  fine 


*  Davila,  liv.  4.  D'Aubigne. 
t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  285. 


*  20th  May,  1569.  There  is  some  difference  in  the  ac 
counts  of  this  passage  of  the  Loire:  according  to  d'Au- 
bigne,  the  Germans  crossed  the  ford  at  Pouilly  brforc 
they  took  La  Charite;  Davila  states,  that  by  taking  the 
town  they  opened  a  convenient  passage;  while  in  the 
Life  of  (,'oligny,  it  is  said  that  the  bridge  was  destroyed 
before  the  town  surrendered,  and  that,  to  avoid  a  loss 
of  time  in  constructing  another  bridge,  the  Germans 
availed  themselves  of  the  ford  at  Pouilly. 

t  18th  June,  1569. 

J  Davila,  liv.  4.  Mem.  de  Tavannes.  Vie  de  Colig* 
ny- 


108 


ATTACK  ON  LAROCHE — ABEILLE. 


enterprises."*  In  fact,  there  was  at  the 
time  a  great  misunderstanding  at  court, 
and  the  intrigues  and  rivalries,  which 
were  there  agitated,  contributed  essen- 
tially to  strengthen  the  Protestant  party. 
The  kin<r  became  jealous  of  the  reputa- 
tion which  his  brother  had  obtained  at 
Jarnac:  in  this  feeling  he  was  stimulated 
by  the  crafty  cardinal  of  Lorrain,  who 
wished  to  have  the  command  intrusted  to 
one  of  his  family.  He  did  not  blame 
the  queen's  choice,  but  represented  how 
much  belter  it  would  be  to  owe  such 
successes  to  some  French  captain,  or 
even  a  foreigner  like  the  Duke  of  Alva, 
than  to  have  such  a  rival  as  the  Duke  of 
Anjou.  The  queen  perceived  the  cardi- 
nal's intention,  and  took  secret  mea- 
sures with  Tavannes  to  prevent  any  suc- 
cess on  the  part  of  the  Dukes  of  Aumale 
and  Nemours,  which  might  add  to  the 
influence  of  that  family.  At  the  same 
time,  to  remove  him  from  the  king's  per- 
son, she  made  a  journey  to  the  camp, 
and  took  the  cardinal  with  her.  His 
meddling  disposition  made  him  interfere 
in  every  profession,  and  he  gave  his  opi- 
nion freely  upon  the  movements  of  the 
army.  On  one  occasion  the  Huguenots 
had  feigned  a  retreat  in  order  to  draw 
their  opponents  into  an  ambuscade,  when 
the  cardinal  commanded  a  pursuit.  Ta- 
vannes prudently  opposed  his  orders; 
and  when  it  was  afterwards  known  that 
a  large  body  of  cavalry  were  behind  a 


the  Catholics 
position,  their 
The  Hugue- 


culties  he  should  experience  in  finding 
supplies  for  his  army  in  a  woody  and 
mountainous  district,  resolved  on  imme- 
diately attacking  the  right  flank,  where 
Strozzy*  was  posted  with  some  Italian 
troops:  if  the  attempt  proved  successful 
he  would  deprive  the  roval  army  of  the 
convenience  of  an  extensive  meadow,  in 
which  their  cavalry  found  some  pasture. 
The  attack  commenced  with  the  dawn,t 
by  a  body  of  arquebusiers  charging  upon 
the  Catholics:  they  were  supported  by  a 
division  of  four  thousand  men.  A  san- 
guinary conflict  ensued, 
having  the  advantage  of 
assailants  that  of  numbers, 
nots  aimed  at  driving  their  enemies  from 
their  post,  and  fresh  troops  continually 
advanced  to  their  assistance:  all  their  ef- 
forts, however,  would  have  been  in  vain, 
had  Strozzy  been  satisfied  with  defend- 
ing himself;  but  many  of  his  French 
officers  making  allusion  to  their  late  com- 
mander Brissac,  and  expressive  of  their 
disdain  of  serving  under  an  Italian,  he 
called  upon  them  to  follow  him,  and 
charged  furiously  upon  the  Huguenots. 
They  were  thrown  into  great  disorder, 
and  Strozzy  pursued  his  advantage  till 
he  had  proceeded  a  considerable  distance 
into  the  plain.  Coligny  then  advanced, 
and  completely  surrounded  him  and  his 
men.  Strozzy  and  his-  'followers  fought 
very  bravely,  and  after  many  had  fallen 
the  rest  were  made  prisoners.    The  ad- 


hill,  the  queen  could  not  resist  telling  thejmtral  pursued  his  advantage,  and  charged 
cardinal  that  his  plan,  if  followed,  would  the  other  divisions  of  the  Catholic  army; 
have  been  their  ruin:  Tavannes  alsoob-|hut  being  nearer  their  post  they  were 
served,  "That  each  should  keep  to  his  safe  from  the  charges  of  the  cavalry,  and 
trade,  for  it  was  impossible  to  be  both  a 
clever  priest  and  a  good  soldier."! 

The  two  armies  were  within  a  quarter 
of  a  league  of  each  other:  the  Protestant 
force  consisted  of  above  twenty-five 
thousand  men;  that  of  the  Catholics 
might  be  more  numerous,  for  the  Duke 
of  Alva,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
and  the  pope  had  sent  large  bodies  to 
reinforce  the  royal  army:  still  the  Pro- 
testants, every  thing  being  considered, 
were  the  stronger  party,  which  induced 
the  Duke  of  Anjou  to  take  a  secure  po- 
sition at  Laroche-Abeille.  The  admi- 
ral, having  well  observed  the  duke's 
position,  and  duly  considered  the  diffi- 


*  I, a  None,  p.  673. 

t  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p. 


the  Huguenot  infantry  were  loo  much 
exhausted  to  renew  the  assault  very  vigo- 
rously. This  circumstance,  added  to  the 
arrival  of  some  light  cavalry  who  came 
up  to  assist  them,  enabled  the  Catholics 
to  recover  their  position.  While  the  ad- 
miral attacked  Strozzy  on  the  right,  ano- 
ther division  was  similarly  employed  on 
the  left,  where  Count  Santa  Flore  com- 
manded: he  repelled  the  attack  without 
making  any  sortie;  and  though  the  con- 
flict lasted  nearly  an  hour  longer  than 
that  on  the  right,  the  number  of  slain  was 
only  twenty-six.  The  loss  of  the  Ca- 
tholics altogether  was  about  four  hundred 


338. 


*  Philip  Strozzy,  son  of  the  marshal :  he  was  named 
colonel-general  of  the  infantry  on  the  death  of  Ande- 
lot. 

f25th  June,  1569. 


LETTERS  OF  PIUS  V. 


109 


men;  Strozzy  was  a  prisoner,  and  St. 
Leu  and  Roquelanre,  his  lieutenants, 
were  left  upon  the  field  with  twenty-two 
captains.  The  Prince  of  Beam  was  in 
the  action,  and  made  his  first  essay  in 
arms.* 

A  council  was  held  immediately  after- 
wards in  the  royal  camp,  to  consider 
what  measures  ought  to  be  adopted,  as 
many  of  their  officers  wished  to  return 
home.t  The  queen  and  the  Cardinals 
of  Bourbon  and  Lorrain  were  present  at 
the  meeting.  Some  persons  were  strongly 
in  favour  of  a  general  engagement,  and 
argued  that  the  Huguenot  infantry,  being 
hastily  levied,  could  not  resist  the  vete- 
rans of  the  royal  army;  while  the  Catho- 
lic cavalry,  composed  of  the  principal 
nobility  of  France,  would  easily  overcome 
the  squadrons  of  Reitres,  from  whom,  if 
the  captains  and  a  few  gentlemen  were 
taken  away,  there  would  remain  nothing 
but  a  parcel  of  grooms  and  valets  unfit  for 
the  exercise  of  arms:  it  was  therefore  evi- 
dent that  France  might  in  that  way  be 
freed  from  a  number  of  ills  produced  by 
the  war,  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  Hugue- 
nots be  subdued  in  a  short  time:  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  long  consultations 
tended  only  to  consume  the  nation,  de- 
stroy the  nobility,  and  desolate  the  king- 
dom; their  enemies  would  take  advantage 
of  the  delay,  and  forward  their  enter- 
prises; and  it  was  very  much  to  be  feared 
that  more  troops  would  arrive  from  Ger- 
many, which  might  end  in  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  kingdom  by  foreigners.  Others 
contended  that  it  was  very  imprudent  to 
risk  the  state  on  the  uncertain  event  of  a 
battle,  and  against  an  enemy  who  had  no- 
thing to  lose;  that  a  more  safe  plan  was, 
by  prolonging  the  campaign,  to  give  the 
Germans  leisure  to  dwindle  away,  as  was 
their  custom;  for,  being  in  a  climate  so 
different  from  their  own,  the  heat  of  the 
summer,  and  the  abundance  of  fruit  in 
which  they  would  certainly  indulge, 
would  be  sure  to  produce  diseases  among 
them,  which  must  reduce  their  army  very 
materially.  The  queen  approved  of  the 
latter  counsel,  and  the  forces  were  distri- 
buted in  the  principal  towns  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  those  occupied  by  the  Hu- 
guenots. The  rest  of  the  army  was 
allowed  to  separate  with  an  understanding 


*  Davila,  liv.  4.  p.  505. 
t  Vie  de  Ooligny,  p.  364. 

10 


that  they  should  assemble  again  at  a  fixed 
period.* 

The  admiral,  instead  of  taking  full  ad- 
vantage of  the  dispersion  of  the  royal 
army  to  extend  his  operations,  and  carry 
the  war  into  other  provinces,  sent  to  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  entreating  him  to  allow  a 
free  passage  to  some  deputies,  whom  he 
proposed  sending  to  the  queen,  with  a 
view  of  obtaining  a  peace.  Anjou,  who 
felt  more  happy  in  the  eamp  than  when 
subjected  to  his  brother  at  court,  refused 
the  request.  Coligny,  however,  succeed- 
ed in  forwarding  a  letter  to  Catherine,  in 
which  he  informed  her  majesty,  "  That  it 
was  a  strange  thing  that,  to  please  some 
enemies  that  he  had  near  her,  she  should 
wish  to  complete  the  ruin  of  all  France; 
that  lie  had  fourteen  thousand  foreigners 
in  his  army,  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou  had 
no  less  in  his,  and  that  all  those  people 
must  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  this 
fine  country,  and  who  might  notwith- 
standing be  all  dismissed  in  a  quarter  of 
an  hour;  that  if  he  aimed  at  the  crown, 
or  wished  to  participate  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  state,  he  should  not  be  sur- 
prised that  she  risked  so  much,  but  that 
it  only  related  to  permitting  the  Protest- 
ants to  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience,  a  pri- 
vilege which  had  been  granted  them  by 
several  edicts,  and  which  was  conform- 
able to  the  divine  law;  besides,  if  the 
mere  stay  of  foreigners  produced  such 
mischief  to  the  state,  what  might  not  hap- 
pen if  they  should  wish  to  become  the 
masters  ? — for,  should  they  be  disposed  to 
unite,  the  country  would  be  embarrassed 
in  resisting  them:  he  concluded  by  earn- 
estly imploring  peace,  which  was  the 
only  means  of  preventing  such  disorders, 
and  protested  that  it  was  more  for  her  in- 
terests than  his  own."t 

The  queen  paid  no  attention  to  his  let- 
ter: her  obligations  to  the  papal  influence 
were  too  great  to  allow  her  to  slight  advice 
coming  from  that  quarter.  The  news  of 
the  battle  of  Jarnac  had  been  forwarded 
to  Rome,  and  some  standards  which  had 
been  taken  were  sent  to  Pius  V.,  who 
wrote  a  congratulatory  letter  to  the  King 
of  France,;]:  in  which,  after  expressing  the 
gratitude  he  had  felt  and  testified,  for  the 
success  over  the  enemies  of  God  and  the 
church,  the  Christian  pontiff  adds:  "But 

*  Davila,  liv.  4,  p.  510.       t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  365. 
I  Dated  28th  March,  1569. 


110 


LETTERS  OF  PIUS  V. 


the  more  the  Lord  has  treated  you  and 
me  with  kindness,  the  more  you  ought 
with  care  and  diligence  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  which  this  victory  of- 
fers you  for  pursuing  and  destroying  all 
the  enemies  which  still  remain;  for  tear- 
ing up  entirely  all  the  roots,  and  even  the 
smallest  fibres  of  roots,  of  so  terrible  and 
so  confirmed  an  evil.  For  unless  they 
are  radically  extirpated,  they  will  be  found 
to  shoot  out  again,  and  as  it  has  already 
happened  several  times,  the  mischief  will 
reappear  when  your  majesty  least  ex- 
pects it.  .  .  .  You  will  bring  this  about, 
if  no  consideration  for  persons  or  worldly 
things  induces  you  to  spare  the  enemies 
of  God,*  who  have  never  spared  God, 
who  have  never  spared  yourself.  For 
you  will  not  succeed  in  turning  away  the 
wrath  of  God,  except  by  -avenging  him 
rigorously  on  the  wretches  who  have  of- 
fended him:  by  inflicting  on  them  the 
punishment  they  deserve.  Let  your  ma- 
jesty take  for  example,  and  never  lose 
sight  of  what  happened  to  king  Saul:  he 
had  received  the  orders  of  God,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophet  Samuel,  to  fight  and 
exterminate  the  infidel  Amalekites,  in 
such  a  way  that  he  should  not  spare  one 
in  any  case  or  under  any  pretext.  But 
he  did  not  obey  the  will  and  the  voice  of 
God;  he  pardoned  the  king  of  the  Amale- 
kites himself,  and  reserved  his  most  va- 
luable effects;  therefore  a  short  time 
afterwards,  severely  reprimanded  by  the 
same  prophet  who  had  anointed  him  king, 
he  was  deprived  of  his  throne  and  his 
life.  By  this  example,  God  has  wished 
to  teach  all  kings,  that  to  neglect  the  ven- 
geance of  outrages  done  to  him,  is  to  pro- 
voke his  wrath  and  indignation  against 
themselves.  If  your  majesty  continues, 
as  yon  have  hitherto  done,  in  the  rectitude 


same  words  are  used:  his  holiness  assures 
her  majesty,  that  the  assistance  of  God 
will  not  be  wanting,  if  she  pursues  the 
enemies  of  the  Catholic  religion  "until 
they  are  all  massacred,  for  it  is  only  by 
the  entire  extermination  of  the  heretics, 
that  the  Catholic  worship  can  be  re- 
stored." 

Pius  V.  appears  to  have  duly  appre- 
ciated Catherine's  influence  in  the  go- 
vernment, for  his  letters  are  frequently 
addressed  to  her.  Very  soon  after  the 
last,  he  sent  her  another  exhortation,*  in 
which  he  informs  her  that  "divine  grace 
can  be  obtained  only  by  avenging  the  in- 
juries done  to  Almighty  God,  in  punish- 
ing the  rebels  with  severity."  "We 
are,"  he  adds,  "  so  much  the  more 
anxious  to  recommend  the  affair  seriously 
to  your  majesty,  as  we  have  heard  it 
stated,  that  some  persons  exert  them- 
selves to  save  a  small  number  of  the  pri- 
soners, and  to  obtain  their  liberation.  Be 
careful  that  such  a  thing  do  not  take 
place;  and  neglect  no  means,  no  efforts, 
that  these  abominable  men  may  suffer  the 
punishment  they  deserve. "t  The  ex- 
ample of  Saul  is  again  produced,  to  de- 
termine the  suppression' of  any  feelings 
of  humanity  which  might  arise  in  the 
breasts  of  the  King  or  the  Queen  of 
France. 

Charles  IX.,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  and 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  had  each  a  letter 
addressed  to  them  on  the  same  day.  The 
same  sanguinary  zeal  pervades  them  all: 
Pius  compliments  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
upon  his  victory,  and  enjoins  him  to  re- 
ject every  intercession  in  favour  of  the 
heretics:  "It  is  your  duty,"  says  he,  "to 
show  yourself  justly  inexorable  to  all." 
The  cardinal  was  exhorted  to  spare  no 
efforts  that  the  Catholic  religion  alone 


of  your  intentions  and  the  simplicity  of i should  be  observed  by  every  body,  as 
your  heart,  to  act  openly  3nd  frankly,  for 
the  honour  of  God,  and  the  interest  of  the 
Catholic  religion,  you  may  be  assured 
that  the  aid  of  God  will  never  fail  you 
until  all  his  enemies  are  scattered,  and 
the  ancient  worship  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion is  restored  in  this  kingdom,  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls." 

The  pope  at  the  same  time  addressed 
a  similar  letter  to  Catherine;  the  purport 
is  the  same,  and  in  a  great  measure  the 


*  Hocautem  facieo,  si>  nullarum  personaruin  rerun)- 
que  li  imanarum  respectus.  te  in  earn  mpnium  adducere 
iiotcrit,  ut  Dei  hosiibus  pareas. —Edit.  Oobau. 


well  publicly  as  in  the  interior  of  the 
conscience.  He  afterwards  desires  him 
to  convince  the  king  of  the  notorious 
truth,  that  he  could  never  satisfy  the  Re- 
deemer, nor  obey  his  laws,  but  in  show- 
ing himself  inexorable  to  all  who  should 
dare  to  intercede  for  those  abominable 
men.  To  the  king  himself  he  repeats  the 
argument  of  his  former  letters;  he  assures 
him  that  if  he  neglects  from  any  motive 


*  Dated  13ih  .April.  1509. 
t  Q,uod  ne  fiat,  atque  hnmines  sceleratiesjmi  jusiis 
suppliriis  afficiantur,  curare  te  Qrtini  studio  airjiie  iai- 
dustria  oportet.— Edit.  Ooubuu,  liv.  3,  p.  150. 


SIEGE  OF  POICTIERS. 


Ill 


to  pursue  and  punish  God's  enemies,  it 
will  end  in  wearying  his  patience  and  pro- 
voking his  wrath;  and  he  cautions  him 
against  listening  to  any  entreaties,  or 
yielding  to  friendship  or  blood. 

It  would  fatigue  the  reader  to  produce 
every  letter  which  proceeded  from  the 
pope  at  the  time  now  under  discussion. 
The  conferences  at  Bayonne  have  been 
very  generally  considered  the  origin  of 
the  plan  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Pro- 
testants. There  is,  however,  reason  to 
believe  that  at  that  time  (1565,)  the  pope, 
the  King  of  Spain,  and  Catherine  de 
Medicis,  considered  it  sufficient  to  destroy 
the  leaders;  the  multitude  might  then  be 
scattered  without  difficulty,  and  their 
congregations  and  public  existence  would 
no  longer  be  an  eye-sore  to  the  govern- 
ment; but  when  the  Prince  of  Conde's 
place  was  immediately  supplied  by  a 
chief  of  equal  rank,  and  the  vacancies  in 
the  Huguenot  army  were  filled  up  with- 
out any  delay,  Catherine  perceived  the 
fallacy  of  her  expectations.  To  assassi- 
nate the  admiral  would  serve  no  other 
purpose  than  to  irritate  his  party;  and  to 
seize  and  put  to  death  any  number  of 
Huguenot  captains  would  aggravate  their 
followers  without  materially  weakening 
their  cause.  The  pope's  advice  was  cal- 
culated to  effect  his  object  ultimately,  but 
a  civil  war  was  fraught  with  every  evil. 
She  resolved  on  making  another  effort  in 
the  field  before  she  concluded  a  peace; 
but  policy  and  her  own  experience  show- 
ed her  that  the  result  could  be  attained 
much  easier,  much  quicker,  and  far  more 
effectually  by  secret  operations,  which, 
striking  the  whole  body  at  once,  would 
prevent  any  organized  resistance,  and 
leave  the  entire  party  at  her  mercy.  An- 
other victory  she  hoped  might  enable 
her  to  dictate  her  own  terms  for  a  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities,  and  the  war  was  con- 
tinued with  vigour;  not  so  much  with  a 
view  of  subduing  the  Huguenots  by  force 
of  arms,  as  with  the  steady  purpose  of 
gaining  some  ascendency,  suited  for  the 
development  of  her  ulterior  policy. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Siege  of  Poietiers— Defeat  of  the  Protestants  at  Mont, 
contour. 

Coligny  waited  impatiently  for  an 
answer  to  the  letter  which  he  had  sent 


the  queen-mother:  he  perceived  at  last 
that  there  was  no  probability  of  his  re- 
ceiving any  reply,  and  resolved  to  employ 
his  troops  without  wasting  further  time. 
How  they  should  be  employed  was  dis- 
cussed in  a  council  of  war:  some  pro- 
posed to  seize  upon  Saumur,  obtain  a 
passage  across  the  Loire,  and  thence  pro- 
ceed direct  to  Paris.  Those  who  were 
in  favour  of  this  measure- contended  that 
there  was  no  other  method  of  compelling 
the  queen  to  consent  to  reasonable  terms; 
that  when  she  perceived  the  heart  of  the 
kingdom  ruined  and  Paris  in  danger,  she 
would  be  so  fearful  of  an  intelligence 
with  the  inhabitants,  that  she  would  grant 
all  their  demands,  rather  than  risk  a  bat- 
tle which  would  then  be  her  only  alter- 
native. In  opposing  the  proposition  it 
was  argued  that,  by  leaving  Poietiers  be- 
hind them  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholics, 
there  was  danger  for  all  the  towns  they 
held  beyond  the  Loire;  but  by  taking  that 
place  they  would  so  materially  strengthen 
their  position  in  those  provinces,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  drive  them  out; 
that,  though  it  was  not  desirable  to  carry- 
on  war  in  their  own  quarters,  it  was  ne- 
cessary for  them,  since  in  case  of  misfor- 
tune they  required  a  secure  retreat,  the 
benefits  of  which  they  had  experienced 
after  the  loss  of  the  last  battle,  by  reas- 
sembling and  refitting  so  soon,  that  thev 
scarcely  felt  the  loss  they  had  sustained; 
but  that  it  would  be  quite  different  if  they 
ventured  into  the  midst  of  an  enemy's 
country  without  money,  ammunition,  ar- 
tillery, or  provisions,  unable  to  take  any 
with  them;  and,  what  is  most  important 
of  all,  without  any  town  or  fortress  in 
which  to  take  refuge,  should  they  require 
a  place  of  retreat.  Their  prospect  of  suc- 
cess was  also  doubtful,  with  respect  to 
the  forces  opposed  to  them;  for  the  royal 
army,  although  separated,  was  not  dis- 
banded, and  could  jeasily  be  collected 
together.  They  vfould  therefore  be  ex- 
posed to  great  danger,  without  a  cor- 
responding chance  of  success.* 

The  latter  advice  prevailed,  and  the  ad- 
miral despatched  Teligny  to  master  some 
places  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Poietiers. 
Chatellerault  was  taken  without  difficulty: 
some  persons  in  the  town  were  in  league 
with  the  Confederates;  they  created  a  tu- 
mult, and,  in  the  confusion  which  fol- 

*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  365.   Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  515. 


112 


SIEGE  OF  POICTIERS. 


lowed,  obtained  possession  of  one  of  the 
gates,  by  which  the  Huguenot  soldiers 
entered.  The  governor  made  no  further 
attempt  to  defend  the  place,  but  escaped  to 
Poictiers.  Several  inconsiderable  towns, 
and  the  rich  monastery  of  Branthome, 
were  plundered  by  the  German  troops, 
who  required  such  incitements  to  keep 
them  in  obedience. 

Lusignan  was  the  next  object  of  at- 
tack: it  was  considered  one  of  the  strong- 
est towns  in  France,  and  had  formerly 
withstood  some  long  sieges,  and  violent 
assaults.  But  the  valour  of  the  garrison 
was  very  short  of  that  of  their  predeces- 
sors, and  they  made  scarcely  any  op- 
position. Some  heavy  pieces  of  ord- 
nance taken  in  this  town  contributed  to 
strengthen  the  confederates  for  the  siege 
of  Poictiers,  which  was  commenced  very 
soon  after,  the  admiral  stopping  only  to 
take  possession  of  Mirebeau  and  St. 
Maixant,  two  small  places  in  his  way.* 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  anticipated 
such  a  measure  from  the  regular  way  in 
which  the  surrounding  towns  had  been 
taken,  and  had  sent  strong  re-inforcements 
to  Poictiers.  That  town  was  at  this  pe- 
riod the  second  in  France  in  size  and  im- 
portance; and  if  the  Protestants  could 
have  taken  it,  the  influence  which  it  must 
have  given  them  would  have  been  very 
considerable.  The  Duke  of  Guise,  ac- 
companied by  his  brother  Mayenne  and 
a  numerous  body  of  noblesse,  retired  into 
the  town.  In  addition  to  the  usual  gar- 
rison, the  Count  de  Lude  had  entered 
with  six  thousand  soldiers,  and  a  number 
of  peasants  had  been  hired  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood to  work  at  the  fortifications,  and 
make  every  preparation  which  could  be 
devised  for  defending  the  place.  The 
young  Duke  of  Guise  was  already  in  great 
esteem  among  the  Catholics,  who  antici- 
pated the  benefits  which  he  would  one 
day  confer  on  their  cause:  he  was  anxious 
to  avenge  his  father's  'death,  and  no  less 
desirous  of  equalling  his  renown.  The 
defence  of  Metz  had  procured  unfading 
laurels  for  one,  and  that  of  Poictiers  of- 
fered the  other  a  fair  chance  of  obtaining 
a  brilliant  reputation.  The  Count  de 
Lude  was  governor  of  the  province,  and 
the  command  of  the  town  by  right  de- 
volved on  him;  but  he  waived  hispreten- 


*  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  5113.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  291. 


sions  to  that  honour  in  favour  of  the 
young  hero. 

The  siege  commenced  on  the  25th  of 
July,  when  the  admiral  attacked  the  fau- 
bourg St.  Lazare,  which  was  unprovided 
with  fortifications,  and  defended  by  only 
four  hundred  men.  After  three  hours' 
fighting,  the  admiral  obtained  possession 
of  the  place.  Guise  counteracted  this  by 
making  a  sortie,  and  destroying  every 
house,  to  deprive  the  assailants  of  shelter; 
he  also  made  many  other  sorties  and  was 
always  foremost  in  them,  heedless  of  the 
number  of  men  he  lost  provided  he  de- 
stroyed some  of  the  besiegers.  Coligny 
was  as  assiduous  in  repeating  his  assaults, 
and  the  siege  was  productive  of  excessive 
bloodshed. 

The  admiral  considered  at  length  that 
the  better  way  of  reducing  the  town 
would  be  to  turn  the  siege  into  a  blockade. 
The  number  of  the  troops  which  consti- 
tuted its  strength  would  also  hasten  a 
scarcity  of  provisions.  The  plan  was 
good,  but  the  acuteness  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise  suggested  to  him  the  same  idea, 
and  measures  were  immediately  taken  for 
husbanding  the  provisions  in  the  town: 
he  retrenched  the  supply  of  his  own  table, 
and  every  body  followed  his  example;  by 
this  measure  the  scarcity  was  not  so  soon 
felt  in  the  place. 

The  cannon  of  the  besiegers  had  effect- 
ed a  great  breach  in  the  walls  of  Poictiers, 
and  by  the  10th  of  August  it  was  con- 
sidered sufficient  to  warrant  an  assault. 
A  bridge  constructed  upon  casks  fastened 
together  with  ropes  was  thrown  across 
the  river:  the  admiral  had  reconnoitred 
the  breach,  and  would  have  ordered  the 
assault  at  once  although  he  was  aware  of 
the  besieged  having  thrown  up  some 
strong  redoubts  inside  the  wall  to  protect 
the  breach;  but  on  examining  the  bridge^ 
he  found  that  it  would  not  with  safety 
allow  the  troops  to  march  across  it  in  suf- 
ficient numbers:  he  ordered  another  to  be 
constructed  and  with  more  strength,  so 
that  even  the  cavalry  might  cross,  if  they 
once  gained  a  footing  in  the  town.  The 
plan  however  was  rendered  abortive  by 
a  bold  feat  of  one  Capijuchy,  a  Roman 
gentleman,  who  took  with  him  two 
good  swimmers,  and,  diving  under  the 
bridge  cut  the  cords  in  different  parts:  the 
current  of  the  river  soon  carried  the 
whole  away,  and,  while  the  Protestants 


SIEGE  OF  POICTIERS. 


113 


were  making  another  bridge,  the  besieged 
had  time  to  repair  the  breach.  Guise 
joined  in  the  work,  and  helped  to  carry 
the  baskets  full  of  earth,  which  kindled 
such  an  emulation,  that  there  was  no' want 
of  assistance.* 

In  a  short  time  the  besiegers  had  con- 
structed three  new  bridges,  much  strong- 
er than  the  former,  and  had  added  to  the 
strength  of  their  batteries.  The  besieged 
at  the  same  time  succeeded  in  restoring 
their  rampart.  A  fresh  assault  was  made 
upon  the  town,  and  after  some  hard  fight- 
ing the  Protestants  were  able  to  effect  a 
lodgement:  but  a  fire  was  opened  on  them, 
from  some  small  pieces  of  artillery  placed 
in  a  convent,  which  soon  compelled  them 
to  abandon  their  post.  Several  persons 
of  note  were  killed,  and  La  Noue  was 
wounded  on  this  occasion.  This  check 
did  not  destroy  the  ardour  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  they  made  such  progress  with 
their  batteries  in  destroying  the  wall,  that 
the  town  could  not  long  have  been  de- 
fended on  that  side.  As  a  last  resource, 
the  inhabitants  contrived  to  dam  up  the 
river,  which  caused  an  inundation,  and 
thus  prevented  the  assailants  from  ap- 
proaching the  breach.  Coligny  then  di- 
rected his  efforts  against  another  part  of 
the  town,  and  succeeded  in  destroying 
the  wall  to  the  extent  of  sixty  feet.  An 
assault  was  attempted  and  a  sanguinary 
conflict  ensued,  in  which  the  leaders  on 
both  sides  fought  like  private  soldiers. 
The  Protestants  persisted  in  their  attacks 
on  the  town,  and  the  loss  they  sustained 
had  no  effect  upon  them;  but  a  dysentery 
broke  out  among  the  troops,  and  the  two 
princes  and  the  leading  officers  retired 
from  the  army,  leaving  the  admiral  almost 
alone  to  conduct  the  siege.  Although  at- 
tacked with  the  disease  himself,  he  would 
not  slacken  his  efforts ;  and,  though  he 
regretted  that  the  siege  had  been  under- 
taken, he  could  not  think  of  abandoning 
the  attempt.  But  he  had'  soon  an  oppor- 
tunity of  retiring  without  disgrace;  for 
Tavannes  suggested  to-  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
that  he  might  well  fill  up  his  time  in  taking 
some  place,  while  the  Huguenots  were  so 
fully  employed.  The  royal  army  was  then 
ordered  to  Chatellerault,  and  Coligny  im- 
mediately quitted  Poictiers.f  to  prevent 
any  misfortune  occurring   to  the  two 


young  princes,  who  had  retired  to  that 
town.  Coligny  threw  some  reinforce- 
ments into  the  place,  and  was  in  hopes  of 
taking  the  royal  army  by  surprise;  but  a 
deserter  informed  the  Duke  of  Anjou  of 
his  intention,  and  the  attempt  on  Chatelle- 
rault was  immediately  abandoned* 

La  Charite  was  the  only  town  upon 
the  Loire  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Huguenots:  Sansac  was  sent  by  the  Duke 
of  Anjou  to  take  it,  that  the  confederates 
might  abandon  all  thoughts  of  being  able 
to  extend  their  operations  beyond  that 
river.  He  made  this  attempt  while  the 
admiral  was  besieging  Poictiers.  The 
garrison  made  a  desperate  resistance,  and 
Sansac  was  obliged  to  retire  after  losing 
several  gentlemen  and  a  considerable 
number  of  soldiers.t 

After  such  serious  losses  as  the  Protest- 
ant army  had  suffered  by  the  dysentery 
and  the  sword,  Coligny  was  desirous  of 
refreshing  his  troops  and  raising  new 
levies.  He  took  up  his  quarters  in  the 
faubourgs  of  Chatellerault.  The  Duke 
of  Anjou  was  advised  to  avoid  an  engage- 
ment;  to  retire  for  a  short  time;  and  in 
the  interval  to  send  for  all  those  of  his 
army  who  had  not  yet  returned  to  the 
camp.  The  king  and  queen  were  at 
Tours,  and  the  Dukes  of  Anjou  and 
Guise  went  there  to  meet  them.  A  coun- 
cil was  held,  and  the  result  of  their  delibera- 
tions produced  a  decVee  of  the  parliament 
of  Paris,};  which  condemned  Coligny  as  a 
rebel  and  a  felon  ;  and  promised  a  reward 
of  fifty  thousand  golden  crowns  to  any 
one  who  should  seize  him  dead  or  alive. 
The  Vidame  of  Chartres  and  Montgomery 
were  condemned  to  death  about  the  same 
time ;  and  all  three  were  executed  in 
effigy  at  the  Greve.§ 

An  attempt  was  made  to  poison  Coligny 
very  soon  after  this  proclamation  was" 
issued.  The  criminal  was  his  own  valet: 
he  was  condemned  to  be  broken  on  the 
wheel,  but  the  admiral  interceded,  and 
the  punishment  was  commuted  into  being 
hanged.  Before  he  died  he  confessed  his 
crime,  and  stated  that  he  had  been  insti- 
gated by  La  Riviere,  the  captain  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou's  guards;  a  circumstance 
which  made  manysuspect  the  duke  himself. H 


Davila,  li.v.  5.  Vie  de  Colignv.  liv.  G. 
Tlh  September,  1509. 


10* 


*  La  Noue,  p.  032.  Davila,  liv.  5.  Vie  de  Colony,  p  m~. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.512. 

t  Dated  13th  September,  1569. 

§  Journal  de  lirulart,  ami  ne  Thou,  liv  43, altaeerd. 
S  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  372.   De  Thou,  liv.  45. 


114 


BATTLE  OF  MONTCONTOUK. 


When  the  Protestants  were  refreshed, 
and  ready  fir  action,  the  admiral  regretted 
very  much  the  absence  of  the  Duke  of 
Anjou.  Many  things  made  him  wish  for 
a  battle ;  but  in  a  short  time  the  royal 
army  was  considerably  increased  by  the 
arrival  of  gentlemen  and  their  followers 
from  different  parts ;  and  he  was  then  as 
anxious  to  avoid  an  engagement,  as  be- 
fore he  had  been  to  seek  it :  he  wished 
above  all  things  to  wait  till  he  could  be 
joined  by  the  army  under  Montgomery, 
who  had  been  employed  for  several 
months  in  recovering  Guyenne  and  Beam, 
which  had  been  seized  by  the  Catholics, 
under  the  direction  of  Montluc  and  Ter- 
ride,  some  time  previous.* 

Directly  the  admiral  had  ascertained 
that  he  could  depend  upon  the  arrival  of 
the  Germans  in  June,  he  sent  Montgomery 
to  oppose  the  progress  of  the  Catholics  in 
those  provinces.  By  that  person's  exer- 
tions the  Queen  of  Navarre's  authority 
was  restored  ;  he  forced  Terride  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Navarrins  and  took  posses- 
sion of  Orthtz.f  At  the  latter  place  he  is 
accused  of  breaking  the  articles  of  capitu- 
lation, by  cruelly  murdering  four  barons 
who  were  in  the  town.  An  act  so  bar- 
barous cannot  be  defended;  but  the  histo- 
rian}: who  makes  the  charge  also  says, 
"  That  he  had  more  regard  for  the  orders 
of  the  Queen  Jane,  who  had  commanded 
him  to  treat  them  as  traitors,  than  to  his 
own  honour  and  faith."  The  success  of 
Montgomery's  expedition  may  be  attri- 
buted to  a  disagreement  between  Mont- 
luc and  Terride,  and  the  ill-will  borne  to 
them  both  by  Damville,  governor  of  Lan- 
guedoc. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  joined  the  royal 
army  at  the  close  of  September,  and,  by 
the  advice  of  Tavannes,  he  marched  upon 
the  quarters  of  the  Huguenots,  resolved 
to  force  them  to  an  engagement.  The 
admiral  on  his  side  was  quite  averse  to 
engaging  at  this  time,  although  he  was 
tormented  by  his  officers-,  and  the  Ger- 
man auxiliaries,  who  were  weary  of  such 
a  long  campaign :  he  purposed  to  quit 
Poitou,  and  gain  Guyenne,  by  crossing 
the  rivers  that  lay  in  that  direction ;  at 
the  same  time,  to  encourage  his  men,  he 
circulated  among  them  a   report  that 


*  Mirasson.  Hist,  des  Troubles  de  Beam,  p.  218. 
t  D'Aullignfe,  vol.  i.  p.295 
1  Meseray.— Jibregi  Chron. 


Montgomery  was  on  his  road  to  join  them. 
If  by  this  stratagem  he  could  keep  his 
forces  quiet  for  some  time,  he  knew  that 
the  royal  army  would  suffer  from  a  scar- 
city of  provisions,  should  the  Duke  of 
Anjou  make  any  attempt  to  follow  him. 
But  Anjou  perceived  his  intention,  and 
came  up  with  him  at  Montcontour,  on  the 
30th  of  September,  to  the  great  surprise 
of  the  admiral,  who  thought  him  at  a  con- 
siderable distance.  The  two  armies  were 
drawn  out  ready  for  action,  within  musket- 
shot  of  each  other;  a  small  river  separated 
them;  the  Catholics  would  not  venture  to 
pass  it  in  presence  of  their  enemies,  and, 
night  coming  on,  the  battle  was  avoided 
for  that  time.* 

Coligny  was  advised  by  several  officers 
to  give  battle  at  once,  as  it  could  not  be 
long  avoided ;  he  had  therefore  more 
choice  of  position  at  that  time,  than  if  the 
royal  army  were  to  overtake  him  in  his 
flight  to  Guyenne.  Besides,  by  availing 
himself  of  the  eagerness  to  fight  which  his 
men  exhibited,  he  would  have  more 
chance  of  success  than  when  they  had 
become  fatigued  and  dispirited :  these 
reasons  made  the  admiral  consent  to  wait 
for  the  enemy  in  the  plain  of  Montcon- 
tour. The  army  was  divided  into  three 
parts:  he  led  the  van;  the  princes,  with 
Count  Louis  of  Nassau,  the  main  body  ; 
Count  Wolrand  and  Muoy  the  rear.t 

We  are  informed  by  La  None  that  the 
same  discontent  pervaded  the  royal  army, 
and  that,  the  evening  before  this  battle, 
two  Catholic  gentlemen  meeting  some 
Protestants  conversed  with  them  :  "  We 
have,"  said  the  Catholics,  "  the  appear- 
ance of  enemies,  but  we  in  no  way  hate 
you  or  your  party.  Tell  the  admiral  to 
avoid  giving  battle,  for  our  army  is  won- 
derfully strong,  from  the  reinforcements 
which  have  arrived.  But  let  him  tempo- 
rize for  one  month  only ;  for  all  the  no- 
bility have  sworn  and  told  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  that  they  will  not  stay  longer;  yet, 
if  he  will  employ  them  within  that  time, 
they  will  do  their  duty.  And  if  they  do 
not  have  a  victory  very  soon,  several  rea- 
sons will  constrain  them  to  wish  for  peace, 
and  you  will  have  advantageous  terms." 
Although  this  information  came  from  an 
enemy,  and  was  liable  to  suspicion,  the 
admiral  wished  to  follow  the  advice.  It 


*  Davila,  liv.  5,  [>.  542.  t  H>'d.  p.  547. 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


115 


was  agreed  that  nothing  should  be  preci- 
pitated, and  at  any  rate  they  should  seek 
a  better  position  than  that  of  Montcontour. 
But  unfortunately  the  Germans  became 
mutinous  when  they  received  orders  to 
decamp;  a  considerable  time  was  lost  in 
appeasing  them,  and,  before  order  was  re- 
stored, the  royal  army  appeared,  and  it 
was  impossible  to  avoid  a  battle.* 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  made  a  circui- 
tous march  during  the  night  of  the  2d  of 
October,  and  crossed  the  river  at  a  spot, 
where  it  was  so  shallow,  that  the  passage 
was  effected  without  the  order  of  march 
being  broken.  The  armies  were  in  pre- 
sence in  the  morning,  and  the  eagerness 
of  the  Huguenots  to  engage  gave  reason 
to  expect  an  obstinate  fight.  The  action 
commenced,  on  both  sides,  by  a  violent 
cannonading  at  about  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  Huguenots  then  rushed  on  their 
enemies  with  a  blind  fury :  the  Catholic 
battalions  received  the  shock  with  great 
firmness,  and  charging  in  turn  threw  their 
opponents  into  great  confusion.  In  spite 
of  the  exertions  of  the  Protestant  captains, 
the  rout  was  complete.  The  Catholics 
gave  no  quarter  :  they  called  out  to  each 
other  to  spare  no  one,  in  revenge  for  their 
companions  who  were  killed  at  Laroche- 
Abeille.t  Most  of  the  Protestants  who 
fell  into  their  hands  were  put  to  the  sword, 
and  entire  regiments  were  coolly  murder- 
ed, after  they  had  thrown  away  their  arms 
and  surrendered.  Out  of  an  army  of 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  scarcely  six 
thousand  assembled  with  Coligny  and  the 
princes  at  Parthenay. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  exposed  him- 
self in  the  hottest  of  the  fight :  the  Mar- 
grave of  Baden  was  killed  at  his  side. 
The  admiral  had  received  two  wounds  in 
the  beginning  of  the  action,  but  so  long  as 
he  could  sit  on  horseback  nothing  was 
able  to  keep  him  from  his  post.  The 
Count  Rbinegrave,  at  the  head  of  some 
cavalry,  recognised  and  charged  upon 
him  :  the  count  discharged  a  pistol,  which 
struck  the  admiral  on  the  lower  jaw,  and 
broke  four  of  his  teeth;  he  at  the  same 
time  fired  on  the  count  and  killed  him.} 

Coligny  was  fearful  of  exposing  the  per- 
sons of  the  young  princes,  and  had  posted 
them  on  a  hill  in  the  rear,  with  four  thou- 

*  La  None,  p  ti8G. 

t  Krantoinr,  vol.  x  p.  '280. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5.  p  550. 


sand  men  under  Louis  of  Nassau.  The 
Prince  of  Beam  was  eager  to  join  the 
battle,  but  was  prevented.  At  one  time 
the  Protestants  had  broken  the  ranks  of 
their  enemies,  and  the  arrival  of  the  re- 
serve at  that  moment  must  have  secured 
the  victory,  but  Louis  of  Nassau  would 
not  swerve  from  the  admiral's  instruc- 
tions: the  Prince  of  Beam  then  exclaimed, 
"  We  lose  our  advantage,  and  the  battle 
in  consequence."* 

The  admiral,  covered  with  the  blood 
which  poured  from  his  wounds,  continued 
the  fight  till  he  saw  it  was  impossible  to 
prevent  entire  defeat.  He  then  tried  to 
make  the  best  possible  retreat,  which  was 
effected  in  better  order  than  could  have 
been  expected.  His  life  was  in  the  greatest 
danger  on  this  occasion,  and  the  devoted- 
ness  of  his  followers  alone  preserved  him. 
A  blow  he  received  in  the  fight  broke 
the  buckle  of  his  cuirass,  which  fell  down  : 
while  thus  exposed  his  enemies  pressed 
around  him,  and  some  of  his  men  encir- 
cled him  while  he  adjusted  it.  In  the  re- 
treat he  was  pursued  by  two  gentlemen 
who  were  close  upon  him;  and,  as  he 
was  so  exhausted,  he  could  not  have 
escaped  them,  had  not  some  one  opposed 
the  pursuers,  killed  one  and  fought  the 
other,  and  thus  allowed  the  admiral  time 
to  escape.  This  brave  follower  received 
a  severe  wound,  but  which  happily  did 
not  prove  mortal,  and,  while  Coligny  lived, 
he  gave  him  a  pension.! 

The  battle  lasted  a  very  short  time,  but 
the  overthrow  of  the  Protestants  was  com- 
plete. All  their  artillery,  baggage,  and 
stores,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholics. 
The  numerous  standards  taken  were  sent 
to  Rome,  and  solemnly  dedicated  as  tro- 
phies in  the  church  of  St.  John  de  Lateran. 
A  few  of  the  prisoners  escaped  slaughter; 
among  others,  Dacier,  Blangon,  and  La 
Noue,  whose  singular  fortune  it  was  to 
fall  into  the  enemies7  hands  in  almost 
every  engagement,  and  who  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  put  to  death,  if  Anjou 
had  not  protected  him.  He  was  after- 
wards exchanged  for  Strozzy,  who  was 
destined  by  the  Protestants  to  suffer  ex- 
actly the  same  treatment  as  was  shown 
to  La  Noue.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorrain 
opposed  the  exchange ;  observing  that 
there  were  many  like  Strozzy,  but  there 


*  Pertfixe.  t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  372. 


1 16  DEFEAT  OF  THE 

was  only  one  La  Noue.  Strozzy  however 
had  interest  with  the  queen,  and  his  safety 
purchased  that  of  La  Noue.* 

This  terrible  check  was  sufficient  to 
overwhelm  the  hopes  of  the  Protestant 
party,  which  might  have  been  completely 
destroyed,  had  the  Catholics  properly  ex- 
erted themselves  to  follow  up  their  victory. 
Those  who  escaped  from  the  field  of 
battle  had  time  allowed  them  to  consider 
what  they  should  do ;  and,  with  such  a 
leader  as  the  admiral,  they  required  no 
more  to  enable  them  once  more  to  make 
head  against  misfortune:  even  his  ene- 
mies allow  that  Coligny  was  never  so 
great  as  when  struggling  with  difficulties, 
and  that  dangers  only  served  to  confirm 
his  courage  and  create  fresh  energies. 
On  the  evening  after  the  battle  he  held  a 
council  of  officers,  and  restored  their 
drooping  spirits.  Many  of  them  were 
cast  down  when  they  considered  the  loss 
they  had  just  sustained,  and  reflected  that 
they  were  destitute  of  almost  every  thing, 
in  a  remote  quarter  of  the  kingdom,  and 
exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  an  irritated 
king.  Coligny,  although  from  his  wounded 
jaw  he  could  hardly  speak,  addressed 
them  in  an  animated  style.  He  reminded 
them,  that  after  other  defeats  they  had 
always  found  themselves  stronger  and 
more  formidable  to  their  enemies ;  that 
the  defeat  of  an  army  would  not  finish  the 
war,  provided  they  did  not  fail  in  courage 
and  constancy  ;  that  they  could  always 
calculate  upon  Germany  as  a  vast  and  in- 
exhaustible nursery  for  soldiers;  that  the  al- 
liance with  England  continued,  and  that  the 
news  of  their  defeat  would  cause  reinforce- 
ments to  be  sent  without  delay  ;  that  they 
had  friends  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
who  would  create  diversions  in  their  fa- 
vour; that  they  had  a  good  army  under 
Montgomery,  who  would  soon  join  them ; 
that  if  they  submitted  to  any  terms  at 
present,  they  must  yield  to  the  will  of  the 
conqueror,  whereas,  if  they  held  out  a 
short  time,  and  collected  their  forces  toge- 
ther, they  could  treat  for  peace  on  more 
equal  terms.  The  admiral's  sentiments 
were  approved  by  all  present ;  and  the 
same  night  couriers  were  sent  off  to  all 
the  Protestant  states,  informing  them  ofj 
their  defeat,  and  entreating  further  assist- 
ance, f    Letters  were  also  written  to  the 

*  Amiratilt,  p  40. 
I  Davila,  liv.  5,  p  554; 


PROTESTANTS. 

different  towns  of  France,  to  prevent  any 
ill  consequences  arising  from  a  report  that 
Coligny  was  dead  of  his  wounds.*  The 
following  day  the  confederates  retired  to 
Niort:  their  plan  was  to  abandon  the 
open  country ;  to  strengthen  the  garri- 
sons of  the  principal  towns,  such  as  Ro~ 
chelle,  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  and  Angou- 
leme;  to  retire  with  the  remainder  of  their 
forces  to  the  mountains  of  Auvergne  and 
Gascony,  and  effect  a  junction  withMont- ' 
gomery.  By  these  means  they  hoped  to 
prolong  the  war  till  assistance  could  come 
to  them  from  abroad.f 

When  Catherine  heard  of  the  defeat  of 
the  Huguenots  at  Montcontour,  she  consi- 
dered Coligny  as  lost  beyond  recovery, 
and  congratulated  herself  on  being  freed 
from  the  only  man  who  was  able  to- 
thwart  her  ambition.  Hitherto  the  queen 
had  endeavoured  to  persuade  Coligny 
that  her  conduct  towards  him  had  been  in- 
spite  of  herself ;  and  to  preserve  that  ap- 
pearance she  had  given  orders  that  his 
private  property  should  be  respected:  but 
now  that  she  deemed  his  credit  quite 
gone,  and  his  resources  entirely  destroyed, 
she  ceased  to  make  any  such  profession. 
The  reward  of  fifty  thousand  crowns  was 
again  offered  to  any  one  who  would  bring 
his  head,  in  hopes  that  some  mercenary 
would  be  tempted  to  murder  him.  His 
house  at  Chatillon  was  plundered,  and 
every  thing  belonging  to  himself,  his  bro- 
ther, and  his  nephews,  was  taken  away. 
Policy  had  joined  in  preventing  such  a 
measure  before,  for  fear  of  restitution 
being  required  at  the  peace.  His  property 
was  now  confiscated,  and  his  support  de- 
pended exclusively  on  the  contributions- 
of  the  different  Protestant  churches:  they 
sent  him  two  thousand  crowns  every 
month,  which  he  consented  to  accept 
during  the  remainder  of  the  war.J:  The 
Protestant  cause,  though  reduced,  was- 
far  from  being  cast  down  ;  and  the  exer- 
tions which  Catherine  de  Medicis  made 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Huguenots 
proved  the  means  of  enabling  them  to 
collect  new  forces,  and  to  appear  again  in 
a  condition  to  face  their  enemies.  In  exe- 
cuting her  plans  she  invariably  offended 
several  powerful  nobles,  and  thus  raised 
fresh  obstacles- to  be  overcome. 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  374.  t  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  55S: 
I  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  375.. 


SIEGES  OF  NIORT  AND  ST.  JEAN  d'aNGELY. 


117 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Sieges  of  Niort  and  St.  Jean  d'Angely— The  Princes 
and  Coligny  retire  into  Beam— Battle  of  Arnayle 
Due— Peace  of  St.  Germain  en-Laye. 

The  excessive  eclat  which  was  thrown 
over  the  victory  at  Montcontour,  and  the 
praises  which  were  lavished  on  the  Duke 
of  Anjou,  aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  vete- 
ran captains.  The  king  determined  to 
join  the  army  ;  and  by  that  measure  he 
rather  fomented  the  discord  which  was 
establishing  itself  among  the  leading  offi- 
cers: he  could  not  conceal  his  real  object, 
which  was  to  share  his  brother's  glory, 
instead  of  supporting  his  authority.  Most 
of  the  old  generals  had  for  some  time  been 
tormented  with  vexation  on  beholding  the 
command  in  the  hands  of  a  youth  :  they 
took  no  further  interest  in  finishing  the 
war,  as  the  honour  of  it  would  be  taken 
from  them.  The  Guises  had  grown  cool; 
for  the  fact  of  subduing  the  Huguenots 
was  of  no  moment,  in  their  estimation, 
unless  they  could  have  the  glory  of  the 
work :  they  were,  moreover,  mortified  at 
being  classed  among  the  secondary  com- 
manders— a  result  of  the  queen's  jealous 
interference — she  being  fearful  lest  any 
success  of  theirs  should  make  them  still 
greater  favourites  with  the  Catholics. 
The  Montmorencies  were  offended  at  the 
neglect  with  which  they  had  been  treated 
since  the  constable's  death,  and  besides 
were  favourably  inclined  towards  Coligny, 
their  kinsman. 

The  operation  of  these  feelings  dis- 
played itself  at  the  council  held  immedi- 
ately after  the  battle.  Tavannes  insisted 
upon  pursuing  the  fugitives  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  army,  leaving  just 
sufficient  to  mask  the  principal  towns, 
which  would  soon  fall  without  sieges. 
The  Huguenots,  he  contended,  should  be 
harassed  and  pursued  from  place  to  place, 
till  they  had  either  quitted  the  kingdom, 
or  threw  themselves  into  some  town, 
which  might  be  made  their  grave.  No 
solid  reason  was  opposed  to  this  proposal; 
but,  instead  of  its  being  adopted,  it  was 
resolved  that  their  operations  should  be 
directed  to  getting  possession  of  the  re- 
volted towns.  Tavannes  in  consequence 
gave  up  his  command,  and  the  Protestants 


were  thus  delivered  from  one  very  formi- 
dable enemy.* 

Several  towns  were  taken  without  re- 
sistance;! hut  Niort  prepared  for  defence, 
and  the  Duke  of  Anjou  commenced  a 
regular  siege.  Mouy  commanded  there: 
he  had  retired  to  that  town  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  admiral,  who  considered  such 
a  measure  necessary  to  cover  the  retreat 
of  the  young  princes,  and  give  him  an  op- 
portunity of  collecting  some  of  the  re- 
mains of  his  army :  for  had  the  conquerors 
been  unemployed,  it  was  to  be  feared  that 
they  would  have  overwhelmed  him.  On 
quitting  Parthenay,  the  admiral  and  his 
companions  silently  took  the  direction  of 
Niort,  where  Mouy  was  left  with  the  re- 
mains of  the  infantry;  Coligny  then  made 
the  best  of  his  way  towards  Rochelle,  with 
a  small  body  of  horsemen. t. 

Mouy's  force  was  inconsiderable,  and 
he  endeavoured  to  supply  the  deficiency 
of  his  numerical  strength  by  the  most 
courageous  exertions.  He  made  a  sortie, 
to  stop  the  progress  of  the  besiegers' 
works:  he  committed  great  havoc  among 
them,  and  continued  his  attacks  till  the 
evening,  when  he  purposed  retiring  into 
the  town.  Unfortunately,  however,  he 
was  shot  by  one  Maurevel,  who  had 
passed  into  the  Huguenot  camp  for  the 
purpose  of  killing  Coligny,  whose  sudden 
departure  for  Rochelle  preserved  his  life. 
The  assassin,  however,  was  determined 
to  show  himself  worthy  of  his  recom- 
pense, and  with  a  pistol  shot  Mouy  in  the 
back:  he  then  went  immediately  to  the 
Duke  of  Anjou ;  and  there  has  never  been 
any  doubt  expressed  as  to  that  prince 
having  hired  him  for  the  purpose.  Mouy 
quitted  the  town  and  retired  to  Rochelle, 
where  he  died  a  few  days  afterwards; 
which  event  so  dispirited  the  garrison, 
that  they  surrendered.^ 

The  king  arrived  at  the  camp  about 
the  time  that  Niort  was  occupied  by  his 
forces,  and  was  so  pleased  with  the  suc- 
cess which  had  attended  the  operations  of 
his  army,  that  he  expected  to  take  every 
town  with  the  same  facility,  and  that 
before  long  he  should  be  master  even  of 

*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  158. 

t  Parthenay,  Lusignan,  Uhatellerault,  St.  Maixent. 
and  Footenay. 

t  Uavila,  liv.  5,  p.  5G0. 

§  Davila,  liv.  5.  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  376.  Brantome, 
Viede  VAmiral.  De  Thou,  liv.  46.  Arcere,  vol.  i.  p. 
380. 


118  THE  PRINCE  AND  C0L1GNY  RETIRE  INTO  BEARN. 


Rochelle;  but  the  vigorous  defence  of  St. 
Jean  d'Angely  made  him  change  his 
opinion.  That  town  was  defended  by 
Piles,  a  brave  general,  and  it  was  not  till 
the  end  of  two  months,  and  when  he  was 
at  the  greatest  extremity,  that  he  would 
surrender. 

Biron  summoned  the  town,*  and  was 
answered,  that  the  surrender  must  be  pre- 
ceded by  a  peace,  which  should  be  bene- 
ficial to  all  France.  On  the  same  day,  to 
convince  the  besieging  army  that  they 
were  able  to  defend  the  place,  the  garri- 
son made  a  sortie,  and  killed  a  great 
number  of  their  enemies.  This  check  en- 
raged the  Catholics,  who  opened  such  a 
cannonade  upon  the  town,  that  a  breach 
was  soon  made.  The  garrison  repaired  it 
in  the  night,  and  a  second  breach  was  ne- 
cessary before  an  assault  could  be  at- 
tempted.! Repeated  assaults  were  given: 
the  Catholics  fought  under  the  king's  eye, 
and  emulated  each  other's  prowess ;  but 
the  firmness  of  the  Huguenots  was  un- 
shaken, and  their  exertions  unabated.  At 
length,  finding  there  was  no  prospect  of 
receiving  any  assistance  from  without, 
Piles  capitulated,  and  obtained  very  ho- 
nourable terms,  both  for  himself  and  his 
garrison.};  The  time  occupied  before  St. 
Jean  d'Angely  gave  the  princes  an  oppor- 
tunity to  re-establish  themselves.  The 
Huguenots  also  took  advantage  of  the  de- 
lay to  fortify  Rochelle,  whither  the  Queen 
of  Navarre  had  retired. § 

When  the  Catholics  commenced  the 
siege  of  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  Coligny  pre- 
pared to  set  out  for  Bearn.  His  friends 
had  been  summoned  to  join  him  at  Saintes ; 
and  they  set  out  from  that  place  on  the 
18th  of  October.  A  supply  of  one  hundred 
thousand  crowns  had  been  received  from 
England,  and  with  that  help  he  expected 
to  carry  the  war  into  Languedoc.  At  the 
same  time  he  received  promises  of  assist- 
ance from  man}'  princes,  who  had  hitherto 
declined  aiding  him.|| 

The  king  was  informed  of  Coligny's  de- 
sign, and  sent  orders  to  destroy  all  the 
bridges,  and  stave  the  boats  on  the  rivers, 
that  he  might  not  be  able  to  make  use  of 
them ;  guards  were  placed  at  all  the  fords, 
and  they  were  commanded  to  put  to  death 

*  2Gth  Oct.  1569 

+  De  Thou.  liv.  4C,  vol.  v.  p.  657. 
]  2d  Dec.  150!).    Arcere,  vol.  i.  p.  382 
§  La  Noue,  p.  693. 
I  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  377. 


all  stragglers.  But  these  precautions  were 
unable  to  prevent  his  safely  arriving  in 
Bearn,  where  deputies  from  all  the  churches 
came  to  meet  him.  He  crossed  the  Ga- 
ronne without  difficulty,  although  the  Ca- 
tholics were  on  its  banks.  The  respect 
which  was  shown  him  on  his  road  was  of 
the  most  touching  kind :  in  the  midst  of  the 
joy  which  was  expressed  at  his  arrival,  the 
greater  number  could  not  conceal  their 
emotions,  at  the  dangers  he  had  encoun- 
tered in  their  behalf.  As  he  approached 
Montauban,  the  number  of  the  company 
was  very  much  increased,  and  if  Coligny 
had  permitted  it,  his  entry  into  that  town 
would  have  been  a  triumphal  one;  but, 
while  at  a  few  leagues'  distance,  he  told 
some  who  had  come  to  inform  him  of 
the  honour  intended  him,  that  if  they  had 
money  to  spare,  they  had  better  apply  it 
to  some  useful  purpose,  and  that  he  found 
it  difficult  to  satisfy  the  German  troops, 
who  had  not  been  paid  for  some  time. 
When  this  was  known  in  the  town,  the 
inhabitants  soon  raised  enough  to  pay  their 
auxiliaries.* 

The  people  of  Bearn  testified  great  joy 
at  the  arrival  of  their  prince:  the  depend- 
ents of  the  house  of  Albret  immediately 
came  forward,  and  a  body  of  three  thou- 
sand men  was  raised  in  a  short  time. 
They  levied  heavy  contributions  on  the 
surrounding  country,  and  continually  add- 
ed to  their  numbers.! 

Monti uc  made  great  exertions  to  pre- 
vent Montgomery's  army  from  joining  the 
Admiral;];  but  a  movement  of  the  latter 
upon  the  small  town  of  Aiguillon  compelled 
the  Catholic  general  to  change  his  plan, 
and  the  two  Protestant  armies  were  able 
to  unite.  Coligny  was  thus  once  more  at 
the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  and  in  the 
beginning  of  January,  1570,  he  marched 
into  Languedoc,  where  he  took  possession 
of  most  of  the  towns  without  opposition ; 
for  so  numerous  were  his  partisans  in 
those  parts,  that  all  the  gates  were  opened 
to  him.  Toulouse  alone  refused  to  receive 
him :  the  Huguenots  had  vowed  ven- 
geance against  the  parliament  of  that  city, 
and  the  counsellors  promoted  the  defence 
of  the  place. § 

The  parliament  of  Toulouse  had  always 
been  active  in  persecuting  the  Protestants: 

*  Vie  de  Colony,  p.  378. 

t  Davila,  liv  5,  p.  567 

I  Comm.  de  Moialuc,  liv.  7. 

§  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  380.  La  Noue,  p.  699. 


THE   PRINCE  AND  COLIGNY  RETIRE  INTO  BEARN.  119 


tevery  reputed  Huguenot,  on  being  taken, 
was  immediately  condemned  and  hanged. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  in  March, 
1568,  they  refused  to  register  the  edict; 
nor  would  they  do  it  till  they  had  been 
four  times  commanded  by  the  king :  they 
even  murdered  a  Protestant  gentleman, 
named  Philibert  Rapin,  who  was  com- 
missioned to  deliver  the  edict;  they  re- 
newed some  old  charge  against  him,  on 
which  he  was  summarily  condemned.* 
Several  persons  besides  had  been  burned 
alive,  on  the  pretext  that  they  were  in  cor- 
respondence with  Coligny,  who  threat- 
ened to  retaliate  upon  the  first  persons 
that  fell  into  his  hands. f 

The  Protestant  army  laid  waste  the  en- 
virons of  Toulouse,  and  committed  terrible 
devastations  by  way  of  revenge.  The 
houses  of  the  president  and  counsellors  of 
the  parliament  were  burned,  and  with  the 
charcoal  of  the  ruins  the  soldiery  wrote 
upon  the  walls  Vengeance  de  Rupin.  The 
garrison  consisted  of  eight  thousand  men, 
under  the  command  of  Joyeuse;  but  the 
fury  of  the  Huguenots  had  caused  such  a 
terror,  that  none  of  them  dared  to  stir 
from  the  town.]:  The  Huguenots'  revenge 
was  thought  very  severe;  but  they  said 
that  it  would  serve  as  a  lesson  to  make 
the  parliament  more  moderate  for  the  fu- 
ture.§  Having  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  their  last  defeat,  and  being  again  in  a 
tolerable  condition  for  maintaining  them- 
selves, it  was  considered  by  the  Protest- 
ants a  good  opportunity  for  proposing  a 
pacification.  Beauvais  and  Teligny  were 
sent  with  proposals;  but  the  king  would 
not  listen  to  them,  pretending  that  they 
ought  to  submit  unconditionally.  Still 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  being  desirable, 
Biron  was  sent  back  with  them  to  ascer- 
tain if  the  princes  would  abate  their  de- 
mands,— a  measure  they  were  not  pre- 
pared to  adopt. 

Nismes  fell  into  the  power  of  the  Pro- 
testants in  November,  1560,  when  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  reformed  religion  was  res- 
tored ;  but  the  cause  was  tarnished  by  the 
commission  of  excesses,  unhappily  charac- 
teristic of  the  age.|| 

During  the  remainder  of  the  winter  the 
Protestants  were  employed  in  attacking 


*  Dranlnme,  vol.  viii.p.  211. 

i  Vie  <1«  Coligny,  p  3*). 

1  r>'Aubi°nu,  vol.  i,  p.  310. 

5  La  None,  p.  0UE>.    lirantomp.  vol.  viii.  p.  211. 

|  Menard,  Hist,  de  Aismu,  vol.  v.  p.  50. 


places  held  by  the  Catholics  in  the  adja- 
cent provinces.  In  the  spring,  Coligny 
traversed  Languedoc  and  Dauphiny,  and 
finding  his  army  was  very  much  increased, 
he  considered  the  best  thing  he  could  do 
was  to  march  direct  upon  Paris.*  Several 
reasons  induced  him  to  do  so :  he  knew 
that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  had  lost  a  great 
part  of  his  forces  before  St.  Jean  d'Angely, 
and  though  he  had  gone  into  good  quar- 
ters, he  had  not  yet  been  able  to  refit  his 
army :  he  also  considered,  that  even  if  his 
plan  upon  Paris  should  not  succeed,  he 
could  advantageously  retire  to  Saintes 
and  Poictou,  where  La  Noue  had  greatly 
improved  the  face  of  affairs  :  he  had  made 
some  excursions  from  Rochelle  in  which 
he  was  very  successful,  and  recovered  se- 
veral towns.j 

The  Protestant  army  advanced  towards 
the  Loire ;  Coligny  and  the  princes  being 
satisfied  that  they  would  never  obtain  an 
advantageous  peace  until  they  carried  the 
war  to  the  gates  of  the  capital.  Their 
progress,  however,  was  arrested  by  the 
admiral's  falling  seriously  ill.  He  was  re- 
duced to  the  last  extremity,  and  every 
hope  of  his  recovery  was  abandoned. 
The  greatest  consternation  pervaded  all 
ranks;  and,  from  the  anxious  concern 
which  was  manifested  on  his  account,  it 
would  appear  that  the  hopes  of  his  party 
centred  in  him. J  Indeed,  what  could  two 
youths  do  without  an  experienced  ad- 
viser? The  princes  were  brave  and  zea- 
lous, but  unable  to  manage  the  public  af- 
fairs of  the  Protestants.  Measures  were 
already  discussed  by  different  captains  for 
providing  for  their  personal  safety ;  and 
many  thought  the  army  had  better  sepa- 
rate, when  the  admiral's  disorder  took  a 
favourable  turn  and  restored  hope  to  his 
friends. 

Several  attacks  had  been  made  upon 
La  Charite,  which  the  Protestants  still 
held :  it  was  considered  a  post  of  great 
importance  for  passing  the  Loire.  The 
king  finding  the  Huguenots  again  in  the 
field,  and  perceiving  the  probability  of 
their  marching  on  Paris,  sent  Marshal 
Cosse  with  a  strong  force  to  get  posses- 
sion of  that  place.  Coligny  received  this 
news  at  a  time  when  his  physicians  had 
given  him  over;  but  the  importance  of  the 
movement  made  him  regardless  of  his  own 


*  La  None,  p.  700.  f  Davila,  liv.  5,  p  572. 
I  De  Tbou,  liv.  47,  vol.  vi.  p  3G. 


120 


BATTLE  OF  ARNA Y-LE-DUC. 


Jife,  and  he  gave  orders  to  march  imme- 
diately, he  being  borne  in  a  litter,  and  his 
followers  expecting  his  death  every  mo- 
ment. Being  desirous  of  crossing  the 
Loire,  without  descending  so  far  as  La 
Charite,  he  seized  St.  Reimbert,  where 
there  is  a  bridge;  couriers  were  de- 
spatched for  calling  in  parties  that  were  at 
any  distance,  and  the  Protestant  army 
marched  into  Burgundy.* 

The  princes  commanded  the  army  du- 
ring the  admiral's  illness,  but  his  advice 
regulated  all  their  movements.  They 
were  posted  before  Arnay-le-Duc,t  intend- 
ing to  take  possession  of  it,  when  Marshal 
Cosse  arrived  suddenly:  his  army  con- 
sisted of  fourteen  thousand  men  and  some 
artillery,  while  the  Protestants  had  not 
half  that  number.  The  Marshal,  on  being 
informed  that  the  main  body  of  the  Pro- 
testants had  passed  the  Loire,  changed 
his  plan,  and,  instead  of  attacking  La 
Charite,  he  decided  on  bringing  the 
princes  to  an  engagement — a  measure 
which  offered  every  chance  of  success,  on 
account  of  Coligny*s  illness.} 

Whether  the  marshal  had  any  feeling 
in  favour  of  the  reformed  religion,  or 
acted  only  in  compliance  with  the  sugges- 
tions of  Anjou,  who,  being  detained  at  St. 
Germains  by  illness,  did  not  wish  the  war 
to  be  concluded  at  that  time,  is  uncertain; 
but  it  is  clear  that  if  he  had  attacked  the 
Protestants  directly  he  came  up  with  them, 
they  must  have  been  hard  pushed.  He 
gave  them  time,  however,  to  take  so  fa- 
vourable a  position,  that  after  an  engage- 
ment, which  lasted  the  whole  day,  he 
abandoned  all  idea  of  forcing  the  Hugue- 
not camp,  and  withdrew  his  forces  to  La 
Charite.  § 

Henry  IV.,  subsequently  speaking  of 
this  battle  to  the  historian  Mathieu,  gave 
the  following  account  of  it :  "I  had  no 
place  of  retreat  but  what  was  more  than 
forty  leagues  off,  and  I  should  have  been 
at  the  discretion  of  the  peasantry.  In  this 
fighting  I  ran  the  risk  of  being  taken  or 
killed,  because  I  had  no  cannon  and  the 
king's  troops  had :  at  ten  Races  from  me 
a  gentleman  was  killed  by  a  cannon-ball ; 
but  recommending  the  event  to  God,  he 
rendered  it  happy  and  favourable."!! 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  331    U'Aubigne.  vol.  i.  p.  322. 
t  Or  ReneleDuc,  a  small  town  in  Burgundy,  situate 
on  the  river  Arroux. 
}  Vie  de  Coligny,  p  3H2. 

|  25ih  of  June,  1570.   Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  574.  La  Noue, 
p  701. 
K  Mathieu,  vol.  i  p.  327. 


Wherever  the  Protestant  army  had 
passed,  contributions  had  been  levied  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  war;  the  coun- 
try was  therefore  very  generally  ex- 
hausted. The  advantage  which  they  ob- 
tained at  Arnay-le-Duc  put  them  in  a 
condition  to  march  upon  Paris,  and  the  go- 
vernment was  thrown  into  great  alarm:* 
this  consternation  was  increased  on  hear- 
ing that  some  fresh  levies  had  come  from 
Germany  to  join  the  Huguenots :  the  con- 
duct of  Cosse  and  Damville  also  gave  the 
queen  great  uneasiness.  The  king,  the 
queen,  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  and  the  cardi- 
nal of  Lorrain,  held  a  consultation,  and 
were  unanimous  in  their  views :  they  re- 
solved to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  Hu- 
guenots, as  the  only  means  of  ridding  the 
kingdom  of  foreign  troops,  and  wait  for  a 
favourable  oppportunity  for  effecting  their 
great  object,  the  overthrow  of  the  Pro- 
testant religion.! 

The  Protestant  chiefs  were  equally  de- 
sirous of  a  peace :  the  princes  were  tired 
of  the  inconveniences  which  are  insepa- 
rable from  warfare ;  the  different  nobles 
were  weary  of  the  expense,  and  wished 
to  return  home  ;  and  the  admiral  was  anx- 
ious to  put  an  end  to  the  desolation  which 
afflicted  his  country;  but  he  would  con- 
sent to  nothing  short  of  a  firm  and  irre- 
vocable establishment  of  liberty  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  reformed  religion.  This  the 
queen  knew,  and  that  she  might  not  lose 
the  confidence  of  the  Catholics,  by  con- 
senting to  terms  which  would  compro- 
mise their  exclusive  ascendency,  she  made 
an  effort  to  win  Coligny  over  to  relax  in 
his  demands.  The  deputies,  who  went 
from  the  court  to  discuss  the  projected 
treaty,  made  the  admiral  an  offer  of  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns,  on  condition 
that  he  should  abate  some  of  the  demands, 
which  he  invariably  put  forward  as  es- 
sential articles  of  any  treaty  he  might 
make.  At  the  same  time,  to  remove  all 
appearance  of  a  bribe,  Coligny  was  in- 
formed that  it  was  to  remunerate  him  for 
the  spoliation  of  his  house  at  Chatillon. 
The  moment  Coligny  heard  of  the  pro- 
posal, he  sent  instructions  to  his  deputies 
to  reject  every  overture  for  the  restoration 
of  his  property,  and  to  declare  that,  pro- 
vided the  reformed  churches  could  be  sa- 
tisfied, he  wished  nothing  for  himself. 
This  step  on  Coligny's  part  frustrated  the 


*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  95. 
i  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  57G. 


PEACE  OF  ST.  GERMAIN-EN-LAYE. 


121 


queen's  plan,  and  the  negotiations  were 
broken  off.* 

Marshal  Cosse  in  the  mean  time  had 
placed  himself  between  the  Protestants 
and  Paris,  and  a  battle  was  almost  inevi- 
table.   Catherine  was  more  than  ever 
embarrassed  :  to  risk  a  battle  so  near  the 
capital  was  to  place  every  thing  at  stake, 
and  a  peace  was  the  only  alternative. 
She  sent  instructions  to  her  deputies  to 
come  to  a  conclusion  at  whatever  terms 
they  could.    In  vain  did  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador make  offers  of  assistance  from 
his  court,  provided  she  would  continue 
the  war:  Catherine  saw  through  the  dark 
policy  of  Philip;  and,  feeling  conscious  of 
the  false  pretexts  which  she  had  repeat- 
edly advanced  in  the  name  of  religion,  she 
paid  no  attention  to  his  entreaties  on  that 
ground.   The  pope  also  made  great  efforts 
to  prevent  any  accommodation :  the  cause 
of  God  was  his  argument,  but  a  zeal  for 
the  establishment  of  the  pontifical  power 
was  evidently  the  main-spring  of  his  con- 
duct.    Immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Montcontour,  in  the  letter  of  congratula- 
tion! which  he  wrote  to  the  King  of 
France,  Pius  had  urged  him  to  follow  up 
his  success,  and  stifle  every  sentiment  of 
clemency  as  sinful  and  rebellious  against 
the  Almighty.    After  holding  out  once 
more  the  fate  of  Saul  as  a  warning,  his 
holiness  adds,  "  what  else  would  it  be,  in 
short,  but  to  render  vain  the  kindness  of 
God  in  this  victory  over  the  heretics'!  The 
fruits  which  it  ought  to  produce  are,  the 
extermination  of  the  infamous  heretics, 
our  common  enemies,  on  account  of  the 
deserved  hatred  which  they  inspire,  and 
the  restoration  of  the  ancient  tranquillity 
and  peace  of  the  kingdom.    Do  not  suffer 
any  one  to  deceive  you  with  vain  senti- 
ments of  pity,  and  seek  not  the  false  glory 
of  a  prel  ended  clemency  in  pardoning  in- 
juries done  to  God  himself;  for  nothing  is 
more  cruel  than  mercy  towards  wretches 
who  have  merited  the  worst  punishments. 
If  your  majesty  wishes  to  restore  the  an- 
cient splendour,  power,  and  dignity  of 
France,  you  must  strive  above  all  things 
to  make  all  persons  who  are  subject  to 
your  dominions  profess  the  Catholic  faith 
alone  ;  that  which  from  the  first  origin  of 
Christianity  has  remained  uncontaminated 
till  this  day."    The  letter  concludes  with 

*  Vie  de  Coligny.  p  283. 
t  Datrtd  20th  Oct.,  10(ilJ. 
11 


recommending  the  execution  of  all  who 
have  borne  arms  against  the  government; 
and  that  inquisitors  should  be  established 
in  every  town  throughout  the  kingdom. 

Pius  was  unwearied  in  his  exhorta- 
tions, and  letters  arrived  from  him  with- 
out intermission.  The  same  strain  per- 
vades most  of  them;  but  as  the  probability 
of  a  peace  became  increased,  he  resorted 
to  more  powerful  arguments.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  part  of  one  of  these  letters:* 
"  We  assure  you  that  such  a  reconcilia- 
tion, far  from  enabling  you  to  enjoy  peace, 
would  become  on  the  contrary  the  source 
of  the  greatest  evils  for  France.  If  there 
are  men  who  think  otherwise,  and  who 
try  to  draw  your  majesty  awav  with  their 
sentiments,  believe  either  that  they  deceive 
themselves,  or,  corrupted  by  the  spirit  of 
flattery,  they  deceive  your  majesty.  Al- 
though they  put  forward  the  false  pretext 
of  general  utility,  they  forget  the  Catholic 
religion  and  the  glory  of  your  majesty: 
they  revere  neither  your  majesty  nor 
God.  They  ought  to  consider  that  in 
concluding  a  peace  your  majesty  permits 
your  most  incensed  enemies  to  pass  from 
their  haunts  of  robbery  into  your  own  pa- 
lace; that  there  must  of  necessity  arise  a 
thousand  dangers  and  snares  of  every 
kind;  and  that  if  the  heretics  should  want 
the  will  to  prepare  you  a  snare,  God  him- 
self, by  a  just  judgment  of  his  divine  pro- 
vidence, will  inspire  them  with  the  idea, 
in  order  that  by  this  means  he  may  punish 
you  for  having  neglected  religion  v/ith  an 
eye  to  your  private  interest.  And  al- 
though we  failed  of  every  other  proof  to 
establish  the  truth  of  what  we  have  ad- 
vanced, we  have  sufficient  in  the  example 
of  Greece  at  this  time;  because  she  de- 
spised the  Catholic  religion,  she  has  lost 
the  splendour  of  her  ancient  nobleness, 
and  is  now  reduced  to  the  most  cruel 
slavery  under  infidels." 

Oilier  letters  followed  this;  but  France 
was  weary  of  the  horrors  of  civil  war, 
which  had  produced  cruelties  and  re- 
prisals of  the  worst  character;  and  after 
numerous  interruptions  a  peace  was  con- 
cluded at  St.  Germains  on  the  fifteenth  of 
August,  1576.  The  bases  of  this  treaty 
were  a  general  amnesty;  the  free  exercise 
of  the  leformed  religion  in  the  suburbs  of 
two  towns  in  each  province;  the  restora- 
tion of  confiscated  property;  admissibility 

*  Dated  23d  April,  1570. 


122 


PEACE  OF  ST.  GERMAIN-EN-LAYE. 


to  most  offices  in  the  state;  and  the  right 
of  challenging  six  judges,  presidents  as 
well  as  counsellors,  in  the  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  In  addition  to  these  ad- 
vantageous terms,  the  Protestants  were 
allowed  to  hold  four  towns  as  security 
for  the  full  observance  of  the  treaty;  viz., 
Roehelle,  Montauban,  Cognac,  and  La 
Charile.  The  Protestants  on  their  side 
were  bound  by  oath  to  surrender  them  at 
the  end  of  two  years.* 

Such  favourable  terms  being  granted, 
created  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  many 
Protestants;  but  though  the  leaders  would 
not  immediately  go  to  court,  the  people 
at  large  had  full  confidence  in  the  treaty. 
Manv  different  reasons  were  assigned  by 
the  nation  for  the  sudden  decision-  to 
make  such  a  peace.  Some  considered 
that  the  emperor  had  influenced  the  king, 
for  Charles  was  soon  to  be  married  to  his 
daughter;  some  thought  that  the  Spanish 
interference  had  become  so  notorious, 
that  Catherine  was  jealous,  while  others 
attributed  it  to  her  love  of  pleasure. 
Those  who  had  penetration  suspected 
some  secret  design  against  the  Protest- 
ants, when  they  should  be  disarmed  and 
scattered;  and  it  was  the  knowledge  that 
such  suspicions  were  entertained,  which 
rendered  the  queen's  plan  so  difficult  in 
the  execution. 

La  Noue  has  preserved  some  argu- 
ments which  were  used  against  the  peace. 
The  Catholics  complained  that  it  was  un- 
just and  shameful  to  make  peace  with  re- 
bellious heretics,  who  deserved  capital 
punishment:  the  Protestants  complained 
that  the  treatv  was  a  mere  snare.  The 
former,  he  adds,  were  cured  of  their  op- 
position in  the  following  manner: — If 
they  were  swordsmen,  they  were  recom- 
mended to  lead  an  assault,  and  to  slay  the 
wicked  Huguenots;  and  in  two  essays 
they  were  sure  to  change  their  opinions: 
if  they  were  of  the  long  robe,  they  were 
invited  to  give  half  their  income  to  sup- 
port the  war,  and  they  soon  supported 
the  peace.  Similar  arguments  were  used 
on  the  other  side,  and  they  were  brought 
to  examine  the  matter  more  candidly. 
With  respect  to  the  admiral's  opinion  of 
the  treaty,  the  same  person  mentions  that 


*  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  577.   De  Thou,  liv.  47, 


Coligny  declared  more  than  once  that  he 
would  rather  die  than  fall  into  such  dis- 
orders, and  see  so  many  evils  committed 
again  before  his  eyes.* 

The  joy  with  which  the  peace  was  re- 
ceived in  France  forms  a  striking  con- 
trast with  the  effect  it  produced  on  the 
pope.  He  wrote  letterst  to  the  Cardinals 
of  Bourbon  and  Lorrain,  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed his  great  concern  at  the  misfor- 
lune  which  had  befallen  France.  "  It  is 
especially  to  be  feared,"  says  St.  Pius, 
"  that  God  may  inflict  a  judgment  on  the 
king  himself,  and  all  those  who  have  ad- 
hered to  this  negotiation."  He  called 
upon  them  to  do  their  duty,  and  defend 
the  church:  he  spared  no  kind  of  argu- 
ment, usinsj  threats,  promises,  and  ap- 
peals to  their  honour  and  pride.  As  the 
subsequent  letters  of  Pius  V.  were  of  a 
very  different  character,  we  may  fairly 
presume  that  he  was  privately  informed 
of  the  plot  already  in  preparation.  It  is 
impossible  otherwise  to  account  for  the 
great  change  which  is  obvious  in  the  dif- 
ferent letters  he  afterwards  wrote  to  the 
King  and  Queen  of  France.  After  having 
so  repeatedly  urged  the  extermination  of 
the  Protestants,  it  is  improbable  that  he 
should  suddenly  discontinue  his  zeal,  un- 
less he  had  received  some  intimation  of 
the  queen's  designs;  especially  as  his 
correspondence  evinces  the  same  anxiety 
for  supporting  the  Catholic  religion. 

Very  soon  after,  he  made  an  attempt 
to  obtain  troops  from  France  for  the  as- 
sistance of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the 
letter],  is  remarkable  for  the  absence  of 
all  exhortation  to  destroy  the  heretics;  al- 
though in  persuading  the  queen  to  the 
measure,  he  alludes  to  the  help  which  the 
Protestants  continued  to  receive  from  the 
Queen  of  England,  whom  they  informed 
of  every  thing  that  passed  in  France. 
Pius  complained  of  their  becoming  every 
day  more  capable  of  realizing  their 
wishes,  but  said  not  a  word  about  exter- 
minating them,  as  he  had  been  so  accus- 
tomed to  do.  The  Bishop  of  St.  Papoul, 
however,  was  intrusted  with  a  verbal 
message,  the  substance  of  which  is  buried 
in  oblivion. 

*  La  iN'oup,  pp.  704  and  70S.    Mem.  de  la  vie  de  J.  A. 
de  Thou,  p.  11. 
t  Dated  23d  September,  1570. 
I  Dated  18th  June,  1571. 


ARTIFICES  OF  THE  COURT,  &C. 


123 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Artifices  of  the  Court  to  draw  the  principal  Protestants 
to  Paris— Death  of  the  dueeii  of  Navarre. 

The  admiral  conducted  his  German 
auxiliaries  as  far  as  Langres,  and  there 
took,  leave  of  them.  His  circumstances 
prevented  him  from  fully  requiting  them, 
and  they  are  said  to  have  returned  home 
loaded  with  more  promises  than  money.* 
The  Queen  of  Navarre  fixed  her  residence 
at  Rochelle,  where  she  was  joined  by  the 
young  princes  and  the  admiral. 

This  step  on  their  part  indicated  the 
existence  of  suspicions  and  doubts  of  the 
queen-mother's  sincerity  in  making  the 
treaty;  and  we  have  the  evidence  of  a 
courtier  to  show  that  those  suspicions 
were  well-founded.  Davila  informs  us, 
"  That  as  soon  as  the  peace  was  con- 
cluded, every  secret  spring  which  the 
king  and  queen  held  ready  in  their 
thoughts  was  put  into  action,  to  draw  into 
their  nets  the  principal  Huguenots,  and 
do  by  artifice  what  they  had  so  many 
times  attempted  by  means  of  war."| 

Catherine  dissembled  the  vexation  she 
experienced,  on  finding  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  and  her  friends  retire  to  Ro- 
chelle. She  saw  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  effect  her  purpose  while  the  ad- 
miral remained  there,  and  enjoyed  so 
much  consideration;  for,  in  fact,  he  had 
more  authority  in  that  town  than  the  king 
had  in  Paris,  although,  for  the  sake  of  ap- 
pearance, the  two  princes  were  his  no- 
minal superiors:  whatever  was  to  be 
done,  he  was  applied  to  for  instructions. 
Still  he  conducted  himself  so  properly, 
that  he  prevented  any  jealousy  or  suspi- 
cion arising  in  the  minds  of  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  or  the  princes.^ 

The  queen,  however,  considered  that 
too  great  a  change  in  her  behaviour  to- 
wards the  Protestants  would  fail  in  win- 
ning their  good  opinion,  as  it  would  in- 
crease their  suspicions,  and  set  them  upon 
.observing  her  more  closely.  She  there- 
fore made  her  son  assume  the  public  di- 
rection of  affairs,  and  convinced  him  of 
the  necessity  of  completely  gaining  their 
confidence.  During  the  whole  of  the 
year  1571,  the  greatest  anxiety  was  dis- 


played that  the  last  treaty  should  be 
punctually  observed.  Every  thing  was 
done  that  could  appear  calculated  to 
strengthen  the  new  alliance,  and  care 
taken  to  avoid  every  measure  capable  of 
renewing  hostile  feelings. 

Upon  a  pretext  of  this  kind,  Marshal 
Cosse  was  sent  to  Rochelle,  accompanied 
by  Malassise  and  La  Routiere,  two  of  the 
queen's  confidential  creatures;  but  the 
real  object  of  the  mission  was  to  watch 
the  motions  of  the  Protestants,  to  sound 
their  minds,  and  lead  them  to  a  state  of 
complete  confidence,  which  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  Catherine's  designs.  She 
forgot  nothing  which  was  likely  to  inspire 
it;  and  Marshal  Montmorency  was  sent 
to  Rouen,  with  the  president  Morsan,  to 
punish  some  excesses  committed  against 
the  Huguenots.  Every  infraction  of  the 
treaty  was  severely  punished,  and  Charles 
usually  called  it  his  peace.  He  artfully 
declared  on  all  occasions,  that  he  had 
been  induced  to  make  this  treaty  that  he 
might  support  the  princes  of  the  blood 
against  the  overgrown  power  of  the 
Guises,  whom  he  accused  of  conspiring 
with  Spain  to  trouble  the  kingdom .* 

The  queen  of  Navarre  and  the  princes 
were  more  satisfied  with  the  treaty  than 
the  admiral,  who  remained  a  little  in  sus- 
pense before  he  would  trust  entirely  to 
the  king's  professions.  These  doubts  on 
the  part  of  Coligny,  instead  of  cooling  the 
king's  ardour,  only  excited  him  to  more 
powerful  means  for  drawing  the  Hugue- 
nots to  court.  "  The  king  and  the  queen," 
says  Davila,  "  were  spurred  on  by  an  ex- 
treme desire  to  see  their  designs  carried 
into  effect."f 

Some  deputies  had  been  sent  to  the  king 
from  the  Protestants.  Charles  gave  them 
the  kindest  reception  :  he  even  advanced 
to  Blois  to  meet  them ;  and,  when  they 
quitted  Paris,  he  caressed  them  very 
much,  and  loaded  them  with  presents. £ 
So  anxious  was  the  king  to  draw  the  ad- 
miral to  court,  that  he  hesitated  at  nothing 
which  tended  to  overcome  his  reluctance. 
Such  unnecessary  condescensions  on  the 
part  of  the  king  ought  to  have  confirmed 
Coligny's  suspicions;  for,  however  kindly 
disposed  a  sovereign  may  feel  towards  his 
subjects,  there  is  no  necessity  for  him  to 


*  Dr  Thou.  liv.  47. 

i  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  578.    J  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  387. 


*  Sully,  Ky.  1.  Davila,  liv.  5.  D' Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p. 3i 
t  Davila,  liv.  5.     J  Sully,  liv.  1. 


124 


ARTIFICES  OF  THE  COURT  TO 


throw  aside  his  dignity  in  expressing  his 
good  will.  A  kind  reception  in  his  palace 
would  have  contented  the  deputies,  with- 
out his  going  out  to  meet  them  on  the 
road.  Charles  satisfied  them  on  every 
point;  and,  to  display  a  personal  regard 
for  Coligny,  he  offered  to  write  to  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  in  behalf  of  his  wife,  whose 
lands  that  duke  had  confiscated,  on  the 
ground  of  her  having  married  without  his 
consent.* 

Marshal  Cosse  did  not  fail  to  enlarge 
upon  these  proofs  of  sincerity;  and  after 
he  had  made  some  advances  in  the  confi- 


favourably  inclined  to  the  Huguenots,  and 
was  expected,  in  consequence,  to  succeed 
better  in  gaining  Coligny's  confidence 
than  any  other  person.  He  told  the  ad- 
miral that  the  king  being  desirous  to  put 
an  end  to  the  civil  wars,  wished  to  em- 
ploy the  warlike  spirit  of  the  nation 
abroad ;  and  as  he  could  find  no  persons 
so  proper  for  the  projected  war  in  Flan- 
ders as  him  and  Nassau,  he  wished  very 
much  that  they  should  both  go  to  court  to 
confer  upon  it.  The  king  and  queen 
rightly  thought  that  the  hope  of  this  war 
would  have  an  irresistible  effect  on  the 


dence  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  he  began  admiral ;  they  therefore  dwelt  more  upon 
to  discuss  more  seriously  a  project  for  [it  than  on  any  other  topic.  But  the  mar- 
marrying  the  prince  her  son  with  the  i  riage  was  also  dwelt  upon  as  a  firm  pledge 
Princess  Margaret,  sister  of  Charles  IX.  of  peace.  "Who,"  said  Biron,  "  would  be 
He  was  authorized  to  promise,  on  the ,  so  rash  as  to  dare  to  excite  dissensions 
king's  part,  a  dowry  of  four  hundred  thou- 1  between  two  brothers-in-law?"* 
sand  crowns.  A  princess  of  Cleves  was  The  Queen  of  Navarre  felt  great  aver- 
proposed  for  Conde;  and  the  admiral  was  I  sion  to  the  proposed  marriage;  but  Co- 
to  be  put  in  possession  of  the  estates  of  ligny  was  so  pleased  with  the  prospect  of 


his  late  brother,  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon,t 
and  receive  a  present  of  one  hundred 
thousand  crowns.  Coligny  did  in  fact 
enjoy  the  property  for  one  year,  and 
Charles  gave  the  above  sum  to  refurnish 
his  house  at  C'hatillon.J 

To  strengthen  the  effect  of  Cosse's  pro- 
posal, Biron  was  sent  to  repeat  the  offers. 


a  war  with  Spain,  that  he  was  inclined  to 
go  to  court  almost  directly  it  was  pro- 
posed to  him.  Any  backwardness  which 
he  might  have  felt  disappeared  when  Te- 
ligny  arrived,  and  informed  him  that  no- 
thing could  be  farther  from  the  king's 
intentions  than  to  break  the  peace.  His 
wife,  however,  had  sufficient  influence  to 


He  described  the  feelings  of  the  court  j  prevent  his  going  at  that  time:  she  con- 
against  Philip  II.,  who  was  thought  to  vinced  him  that  he  would  commit  an  un- 
have  poisoned  his  wife,  the  king's  sister.^  j  paralleled  imprudence  in  confiding  in  a 
After  demanding  a  promise  of  secresy,  he ;  princess  who  had  so  often  forfeited  her 
stated  that  Charles  was  determined  to  i  word  to  him,  and  by  going  to  a  king  whose 
avenge  it,  by  carrying  the  war  into  Flan?  [  disposition  was  so  ferocious,  that  if  any 
ders  and  Artois;  the  restitution  of  which  I  violent  resolution  were  discussed  he  would 
should  be  demanded  of  the  King  of  Spain,  t  be  the  foremost  in  supporting  it.  Coligny 
as  ancient  fiefs  of  the  crown.  Navarre  1  yielded  more  out  of  affection  for  his  wife 
also  was  to  be  claimed,  and  the  Prince  of  than  for  any  weight  which  he  attached  to 
Orange  was  to  be  assisted  in  maintaining  her  reasons;  and  instead  of  going  to  court 
possession  of  Mons.  As  an  irresistible  i  he  sent  Teligny,  whom  the  king  received 
bait,  Biron  added,  that  the  king  had  his  with  marked  attentions.t 
eye  on  the  admiral  to  command  the  army]  So  many  favours  continued  to  delude 
in  the  Low  Countries,  with  the  title  of  i  the  admiral,  but  nothing  contributed  so 
viceroy,  and  that  he  would  have  the  nomi-  [  much  to  it  as  the  king's  informing  him,  by 
nation  of  the  general  officers  to  serve  j  Teligny,  that  he  began  to  discover  the 
under  him  ||    Biron  was  reputed  to  be  (slavery  in  which' his  mother  held  him; 

.  jthat  she  gave  the  preference  to  his  brother 

the  Duke  of  Anjou;  governed  the  king- 
dom so  badly  that  it  was  in  danger  of 
being  reduced  to  nothing;  and,  as  a 
remedy,  he  was  resolved  on  removing, 
them  both  to  a  distance;  but,  having  need 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  The  lady  w  as  Jacqueline  de 
Monbel,  daughter  of  Unimt  d'Autremont,  and  widow  of 
the  Baron  d'Antbon  :  the  marriage  took  place  soon  after 
the  peace. 

t  He  was  poisoned  at  Southampton  by  his  valet.  Vie 
de  Coligny.  I)e  Thou,  and  LapopeNMiere. 
j:  iJ'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  5. 

§  A  preacher  of  Madrid  having  ma  le  an  allusion  to 
the  death  of  this  princess,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  was 
banished  to  America,    Brantome,  Vie  d' Elizabeth  de  F. 

|l  Sully,  hv.  1. 


*  Davila,  liv.  5. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  389. 


DRAW  THE  PRINCIPAL  PROTESTANTS  TO  PARIS.  125 


of  his  servants,  he  should  be  pleased  to  asked  her,  if  for  some  frivolous  fears  he 
avail  himself  of  the  admiral's  counsels,  ought  to  renounce  the  benefits  which 
And  that  if  he  would  not  go  to  court,  for; might  accrue  to  the  Protestant  religion 
reasons  which  he  could  not  comprehend,  (from  the  marriage  of  the  prince  with  the 
at  least  he  should  send  some  person  with  king's  sister;  and  in  spite  of  her  tears  and 
whom  he  could  confer,  not  only  on  these  entreaties  he  set  out  from  Rochelle  for 
matters,  but  also  on  the  war  in  Flanders,  Blois,  where  the  court  then  was,  having 
which  he  should  afterwards  be  glad  to  J  previously  requested  the  king's  permission 
undertake.  This  proposal  was  Irresistible,  to  be  accompanied  by  fifty  gentlemen, 
and  Louis  of  Nassau  was  sent  to  discuss  not  that  he  distrusted  the  royal  word,  but 
the  affair  with  Charles  IX.*  .to  protect  himself  from  private  enemies* 

Whether  it  was  to  amuse  the  Protest- 1  Coligny  went  to  Blois  in  September, 
ants,  and  lull  them  into  supineness,  or  to  1 1 57 1 .  On  arriving  in  the  king's  presence, 
prevent  any  assistance  being  sent  from 'he  went  on  his  knee,  but  Charles  raised 
England,  which  would  have  created  ob-  and  embraced  him,  calling  him  his  father, 
stacles  to  the  execution  of  her  design,  or  j  The  expression  of  his  joy  was  of  the 
whether  in  reality  the  queen  mother  did: warmest  kind:  "I  hold  you  now,"  said 
desire  such  an  alliance,  is  uncertain,  but  the  king;  "yes,  I  hold  you,  and  you  shall 
it  is  known  that  Catherine  proposed  and  mot  leave  me  again:  this  is  the  happiest 
promoted  a  marriage  between  the  Queen 'day  of  my  life."    The  queen,  the  Dukes 


of  England  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  The 
negotiations  were  carried  to  a  great 
length;  even  to  discuss  the  extent  which 
was  to  be  allowed  the  duke,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  Catholic  religion.!  The  queen- 
mother  wished  to  appear  eager  that  the 
marriage  should  take  place,  although  she 
knew  that  Elizabeth  was  of  too  high  a 
spirit  to  submit  to  the  control  of  wedlock; 
but  the  chance  of  seeing  Anjou  removed 
to  a  distance  was  pleasing  to  the  Protest- 
ants, and  the  proposal  remaining  unde- 
cided was  likely  to  prevent  any  treaty  for 
a  marriage  between  her  and  the  Prince  of 
Beam  from  being  thought  of};  For  the  bare 
idea  of  such  a  support  would  have  rallied 
the  Protestant  party,  and  their  projected 
destruction  would  have  been  impracti- 
cable. 

The  king  testified  great  joy  when  he 
heard  that  Louis  of  Nassau  was  coming 
to  him:  he  sent  word  for  him  to  travel 
incognito  for  fear  of  exciting  the  jealousy 
of  the  Spaniards.  Louis  found  the  king 
at  Fontenay :  he  was  received  with  nu- 
merous caresses,  and  Charles  professed 
to  unbosom  himself:  he  restored  the 
castle  of  Orange,  which  had  hitherto  been 
held  by  the  French  troops.  The  report 
which  Louis  made,  added  to  the  message 
previously  sent  by  Teligny,  removed  all 
the  admiral's  scruples,  and  he  resolved  to 
go  to  the  king.  His  wife  tried  every 
means  to  dissuade  him,  but  in  vain :  he 


*  Vie  de  Coligny,  Mezeray,  and  L'Estoilc. 
j  Mezeray,  Mrcge  Chron. 
J  Davila,  I iv.  S. 


of  Anjou  and  Aleneon,  and  the  principal 
nobles,  all  testified  great  joy  at  the  return 
of  the  admiral  to  court.  The  Queen  of 
Navarre  accompanied  Coligny  to  Blois, 
but  soon  returned  to  Rochelle.t 

The  king's  kindness  excited  the  jealousy 
of  the  courtiers:  he  restored  to  Coligny 
all  his  former  pensions,  and  admitted  him 
to  his  councils,  preferring  his  advice  to 
that  of  all  others.  He  several  times  re- 
mained alone  with  him,  and  discoursed 
upon  the  marriage  of  his  sister,  and  the 
war  in  Flanders;  taking  care  to  confirm 
what  had  been  mentioned  to  him  by  Te- 
ligny, about  the  queen-mother  and  the 
Duke  of  Anjou.  When  he  had  remained 
some  days  at  the  court,  the  admiral 
thought  he  could  safely  take  a  journey  to 
Chatillon;  and  when  he  asked  the  king's 
permission,  that  monarch  pretended  to  take 
an  interest  in  his  safety,  told  him  not  to 
go  alone,  and  allowed  him  to  keep  an 
armed  force  in  his  chateau.! 

He  remained  at  Chatillon  five  weeks, 
during  which  time  he  continually  received 
letters  from  Rochelle,  urging  him  to  take 
care  of  himself,  and  go  back  to  his  friends. 
But  he  attributed  all  these  letters  to  a  dis- 
trustful spirit  which  'wanted  healing.^ 
Anil  when  some  persons  remonstrated 
with  him  on  the  fault  he  committed  in 
going  to  court,  he  said,  "1  trust  in  my 
king,  and  in  his  word,  otherwise  to  live 
in  such  alarms  would  not  be  living;  and 


*  Vie  de  Coligny  and  Mezeray 

t  Lapopejiniere,  liv.  25.   De  Thou.  liv.  50. 

t  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  302. 

§  De  Thou,  |iv.  51,  vol  vi. 


126 


CHARLES  QUARRELS  WITH  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


it  is  much  better  to  die  at  once,  than  to ;  pressed  the  great  uneasiness  that  he  felt 


live  a  hundred  years  in  fear."* 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  the  king 
wrote  him  a  letter  requiring  his  presence 
for  the  negotiation  of  a  treaty  with  the 
Queen  of  England  and  the  princes  of 
Germany,  in  order  that,  when  his  forces 
were  occupied  in  Flanders,  he  might  be 
free  from  any  interruption  on  their  part.t 
On  this  occasion  the  admiral  was  more 
caressed  than  before:  the  courtiers  mur 
mured,  the  clergy  were  indignant,  and  the 
people  expected  the  king  would  soon  em- 
brace the  Protestant  religion ;  even  the 
Guises,  who  knew  of  his  design,  had  ap 
prehensions  lest,  in  the  excellence  of  his 
dissimulation,  he  should  turn  these  feints 
against  them.]; 

Such  professions  of  friendship,  while  a 
most  dreadful  crime  was  in  contemplation, 
appear  incredible ;  but  there  is  too  much 
evidence  to  admit  any  doubt  of  the  fact 
that  Charles  IX.  and  his  mother  wished 
to  assemble  all  the  leading  Huguenots  at 
Paris,  and  have  them  at  their  disposal, 
either  to  imprison  or  kill  them,  as  a  mea- 
sure necessary  to  ensure  the  complete 


on  account  of  the  marriage  being  hurried 
to  a  conclusion,  in  the  vain  hope  that  the 
princess  might  bring  back  the  prince  to  the 
Catholic  religion ;  but  that  it  was  rather  to 
be  feared  that  she  would  be  perverted  by 
him.  Pius  embraced  several  subjects  in 
his  letter,  but  there  is  great  reason  to  sus- 
pect that  his  written  communications  were 
only  a  blind  for  the  verbal  messages 
which  he  sent  by  the  trusty  Bishop  of  St. 
Papoul.  "Our  venerable  brother,"  says 
the  pontiff,  "  will  treat  with  you  upon  this 
affair,  and  upon  the  reconciliation  so  fatal 
to  the  Catholics." 

The  Duke  of  Guise  had  cherished  the 
hope  of  marrying  the  king's  sister :  he 
had  long  entertained  a  violent  passion  for 
the  princess,  and  her  affection  for  him  was 
undisguised.  The  house  of  Lorrain  was 
desirous  that  this  union  should  take  place; 
and  when  an  ambassador  from  Portugal 
demanded  Margaret's  hand,  in  the  name 
of  his  sovereign,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain 
said  to  him  very  haughtily,  "  The  head  of 
my  house  has  married  the  eldest  daughter, 
and  a  younger  branch  shall  have  the 


abolition  of  every  privilege  enjoyed  by  I  younger  princess."*  This  arrogant  predic- 
the  Protestants.  On  a  former  occasion,  |tion,  however,  was  not  verified,  although 
the  king  had  converted  the  sacrament  of,  the  princess  openly  declared  she  would 
baptism  into  a  snare  for  the  admiral ;  now  J  have  no  other  husband  than  the  Duke  of 
his  sister's  marriage  was  employed  for:Guise.t 


effecting  his  purpose. 


Whether  the  ardour  of  Guise's  passion 


The  king  and  queen  communicated  abated,  or,  being  influenced  by  the  Cardi- 
Iheir  plans  to  none,  besides  the  Duke  ofnal  of  Lorrain,  he  esteemed  the  destruc- 
Anjou,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  the  Duke  tion  of  Coligny  and  his  friends  a  more 
of  Guise,  and  Albert  Gondy,  Count  'de  important  thing,  or  was  alarmed  at  the 
Retz,  a  detestable  character,  and  who  is  displeasure  of  his  sovereign,  is  unknown, 
said  to  have  given  the  finish  to  the  cor- [but  he  withdrew  his  pretensions,  and  re- 
rupt  habits  of  the  king:$  some  add  to  this  tired  from  court,  to  the  great  satisfaction 
number,  Birague  and  Tavannes,  which  is  of  the  Huguenots.  The  king,  being  fearful 
probable.  The  secresy  observed  was  so  that  Guise's  passion  for  his  sister  might 
profound,  that,  in  addition  to  the  intended :  mar  his  plans,  had  taken  measures  for  re- 
effect  of  their  measures  on  the  minds  of  moving  such  an  obstruction.  The  prin- 
the  Huguenots,  the  pope  became  uneasy  cess  was  at  a  ball,  when  Guise  presented 


at  the  favour  which  was  shown  them. 
He  was  alarmed  at  the  projected  mar- 
riage, and  refused  his  dispensation  for  it. 
He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  king,  to  dis- 
suade him  from  the  measure. II    He  ex- 


*  Brantome,  vol.  viii  p  205. 
t  Vii!  de  Coligny ,  p  3!):!. 
|  Mezeray,  Jibrtgi  Citron. 

§,  Brantome.  in  his  life  of  Charles,  gives  some  ac- 
count of  Gondy.  whom  he  describes  as  possessing  every 
had  quality;  and,  in  speaking  of  Ins  family,  he  adds, 
that  his  father  traded  at  Lyons,  where  he  became  a 
bankrupt,  and  his  mother  kept  a  house  of  ill  fame. 

|j  The  letter  is  dated  25th  Jan.  1572. 


himself  elegantly  attired  ;  the  king  stopped 
him  at  the  door,  and  without  offering  his 
caresses  and  embraces  as  usual,  he  asked 
where  he  was  going?  Guise  replied, 
"That  he  came  there  to  serve  his  ma- 
jesty;" to  which  Charles  answered,  "That 
he  had  no  need  of  his  services."}:  But  it 
was  not  sufficient  to  have  shown  Guise 
that  he  disapproved  of  his  proceeding,  for 
the  princess  might  persist  in  giving  him 

*  Esprit  de  la  Ligne,  vol.  ii. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5,  t  Ibid. 


CHARLES  QUARRELS  WITH  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


127 


encouragement;  and,  although  one  of 
his  confidential  friends,  Charles  resolved 
on  putting  him  to  death.  He  thus  ad- 
dressed the  grand  prior,*  a  natural  son  of 
Henry  II. :  "  Of  these  two  swords  which 
thou  seest,  one  is  to  kill  thee,  if  to-morrow, 
when  I  am  hunting,  thou  dost  not  kill  the 
Duke  of  Guise  with  the  other. "t  To  pre- 
vent any  effects  of  the  king's  irritation, 
Guise  decided  the  next  day  on  marrying 
Catherine  of  Cleves.  Although  a  princess 
of  great  beauty,  fortune,  and  accomplish- 
ments, she  was  not  to  be  compared  with 
Margaret ;  but  a  thirst  of  power,  a  wish 
to  avenge  his  father's  death,  the  persua- 
sions of  his  uncle,  and  a  dread  of  the 
king's  violent  temper,  overwhelmed  every 
other  consideration  in  his  marriage.f 

Coligny  again  retired  to  his  chateau, 
but  the  king  kept  up  a  constant  corre- 
spondence with  him ;  and  in  his  letters 
asked  his  advice  respecting  some  very 
secret  affairs. §  The  admiral,  being  now 
completely  deceived,  contributed  all  his 
efforts  to  persuade  the  Queen  of  Navarre : 
he  conjured  her  not  to  oppose  what 
would  be  so  beneficial  to  the  reformed 
religion ;  repeated  that  the  marriage  was 
to  seal  peace,  and  that  testifying  the  sus- 
picions which  she  harboured  was  there- 
fore the  worst  thing  she  could  do.  He 
admitted  that  two  points  gave  him  con- 
cern :  the  credit  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
and  the  friendship  between  the  king  and 
the  Spanish  government :  but  the  duke 
was  ready  to  set  out  for  Poland,  where 
Catherine  was  taking  measures  for  his 
election  to  the  throne,  on  the  vacancy, 
which,  from  the  illness  of  Sigismond, 
could  not  be  very  distant;  and  concern- 
ing Spain,  he  knew  better  than  any  one 
about  that  subject,  and  it  only  required 
the  king  to  see  his  real  interests,  for  him 
to  decide  on  a  war.  The  Queen  of  Na- 
varre beina  thus  entreated  by  one  in  whom 
she  placed  confidence,  and  public  report 
corroborating  the  admiral's  assertions, 
she  consented  to  her  son's  marriage,  and 
prepared  to  go  to  court J| 

Pius  V.  made  another  effort  to  prevent 
the  marriage,  by  sending  his  nephew, 
Cardinal  Alexandrin,   to   dissuade  the 


*  Sometime:)  styled  Chevalier,  sometimes  Duke  d'An 
Kouleme:  he  was  killed  at  Aix,  in  I58G. 

t  Kathieu,  liv.  G,  p.  333.  De  Thou,  hv.  47,  vol.  vi.  p. 
62. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5,  p  583.         §  L'Estoile,  in  loc. 
li  Vie  de  Uoliguy,  p.  30  J. 


king.*  Charles  excused  himself  from 
granting  the  pope's  request,  which  was 
to  give  Margaret  in  marriage  to  the  King 
of  Portugal :  but  being  pressed  with 
questions,  and  fearing  lest  his  silence 
should  expose  him  to  animadversion  at 
Rome  for  his  condescension  to  the  Pro- 
testants, he  requested  the  legate  to  assure 
the  holy  father  of  his  filial  obedience ; 
and,  pressing  his  hand,  said,  "  Oh  !  that 
I  were  at  liberty  to  explain  myself  far- 
ther." This  conversation  has  been  dis- 
puted, because  it  clearly  proves  the  trea- 
chery of  the  king  and  queen.  But  it  is  be- 
yond doubt  that  the  king  excused  him- 
self to  the  legate.!  "  He  could  not,"  says 
a  contemporary,  "  with  honour  revoke 
the  promise  given  to  the  Prince  of  Bearn, 
but  he  wished  the  pope  to  be  satisfied 
that  it  was  arranged  for  a  good  ob- 
ject, even  the  honour  and  advancement 
of  the  Catholic  faith :  the  extraordinary 
favour  likewise  which  he  bestowed  on 
the  Huguenots  tended  to  no  other  end."J 
Every  thing  was  arranged  for  the  mar- 
riage by  the  middle  of  April :  the  pope's 
dispensation,  on  account  of  their  consan- 
guinity, was  alone  wanting,  and  Pius  re- 
fused to  give  it.  Charles  was  very  in- 
dignant at  this  obstinacy,  and  declared, 
with  his  usual  oaths,  that,  if  the  pope 
would  be  so  stupid,  he  would  take  his 
sister  by  the  hand,  and  conduct  her  to  a 
Huguenot  church  to  be  married. §  We 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining  whether 
this  difficulty  with  the  dispensation  was 
studied,  and  the  king's  anger  entire  pre- 
tence; or  whether  Pius  V.  was  really 
averse  to  the  prostitution  of  one  of  the 
sacraments  of  his  church,  even  for  effect- 
ing the  suppression  of  heresy.  His  death, 
however,  removed  all  difficulty:  he  ex- 
pired on  the  first  of  May,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Hugh  Buon  Compagnon,  a 
Bolognese,  who  assumed  the  title  of  Gre- 
gory XIII.  The  new  Pontiff  readily 
"ranted  the  dispensation,  and  the  first  of 
June  was  fixed  for  the  nuptials;  some 
difficulties,  however,  being  urged  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  caused  a  farther 
postponement.il 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  51. 

+  Alexamlrinus  honorifiee  in  aula  except"?,  re  tamen 
infeclfi  dimissmest:  ita  enim  vulgo  ferebatur,  ac  pas- 
sim tola  Oallia  creclitiun  est."  Eremundus,  Dc  furori- 
bus  Oallicis,  p.  371.  This  work  lias  been  attributed  to 
F.  Holman. 

t  Lapopeliniere,  liv.  25.    Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  378. 
§  L'Estoile,  in  loc.       ||  Mezeray,  Abrege  Chron. 


12S 


DEATH  OF  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE. 


The  Queen  of  Navarre  arrived  in  Paris 
towards  the  end  of  May ;  on  the  ninth  of 
June  she  died.  An  opinion  prevailed 
throughout  France  that  she  had  been 
poisoned,  and  great  pains  were  taken  to 
efface  such  a  notion.  Indeed,  at  this 
time  there  had  been  such  a  series  of 
crimes,  that  the  suspicion  is  not  at  all 
surprising;  neither  can  we  be  astonished 
at  the  extreme  ferocity  of  the  populace  in 
general,  which  soon  after  displayed  itself, 
for  the  court  was  an  assemblage  of  all 
that  was  vicious  and  depraved.  Perefixe, 
Archbishop  of  Paris,  declares  that  there  ne- 
ver was  a  more  corrupt  court :  "  impiety, 
atheism,  necromancy,  most  horrible  pol- 
lutions, black  cowardice,  perfidy,  poison- 
ings and  assassinations,  reigned  there  in 
a  supreme  degree."*  The  historian  Da- 
vila  informs  us,  that  not  only  did  every 
thing  proceed  to  the  wish  of  their  majes- 
ties, but  had  arrived  to  such  a  point,  that 
the  execution  could  no  longer  be  delayed, 
in  consequence  of  the  feeling  excited  by 
the  taking  of  Mons.  He  adds,  "  The  first 
.stroke  of  this  execution  was  lanced 
against  the  person  of  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, who,  on  account  of  her  sex  and 
royal  condition,  was  poisoned,  as  it  is 
thought,  by  means  of  certain  gloves 
which  were  presented  to  her,  the  poison 
of  which  was  so  subtile,  that  very  soon 
after  she  had  handled  them,  she  was 
seized  with  a  violent  fever,  of  which  she 
died  four  days  afterwards.  Her  death, 
so  sudden  and  unexpected,  caused  sus- 
picions among  the  Huguenots;  and  the 
king,  who  knew  that  the  force  of  the 
poison  had  affected  the  brain  alone,  or- 
dered the  body  to  be  opened,  which  was 
found  perfect :  but  they  did  not  touch  the 
head,  under  pretence  of  humanity;  and, 
on  the  testimony  of  those  of  the  profes- 
sion, the  report  circulated  that  she  died  a 
natural  death  through  the  malignity  of 
the  fever."t  Such  suspicions  attaching 
to  the  death  of  this  princess  ought  to  have 
stimulated  the  court  to  make  every  thing 
as  clear  as  possible,  supposing  them  to  be 
unfounded ;  but  we  find  the  greatest  con- 
tradictions in  the  different  accounts  given 
by  those  who  attempt  to  defend  the  court. 
Le  Grain  contends  that  it  was  pleurisy, 
others  consumption ;  some  say  the  head 
was  opened,  others  not.    De  Thou  relates 


*  Hist,  de  Henri  [V.        t  Uavila,  liv.  5. 


that  the  surgeons  attributed  her  death  to 
an  abscess  in  the  chest;*  while  some 
venture  to  assert  that  she  died  of  vexa- 
tion and  spite  for  having  been  compelled 
to  place  hangings  before  her  house  on 
account  of  the  procession  of  the  Fete- 
Dieu.  Voltaire,t  with  his  usual  con- 
tempt for  every  generally- received  opi- 
nion, rejects  the  charge  as  vulgar,  al- 
though in  another  work  he  makes  use  of 
the  following  expression  :  "  She  (Cathe- 
rine) feared  no  other  enemies  than  Jane 
d'Albret,  Coligny,  and  the  Protestants ; 
and  she  thought  that  with  one  blow  she 
could  destroy  them  all  and  firmly  esta- 
blish her  power."! 

Many  who  consider  as  preposterous 
the  premeditation  of  a  general  massacre, 
are  willing  to  admit  that  the  leading  Pro- 
testants were  doomed  to  destruction,  as 
the  only  method  of  subduing  the  rebel- 
lious heretics.  But  to  murder,  or  even 
imprison  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  would 
have  made  the  court  odious  to  the  whole 
world :  some  other  method  of  removing 
her  was  therefore  necessary;  and  not- 
withstanding the  declaration  of  the  sur- 
geons, that  her  death  was  not  caused  by 
poison,  the  suspicion  must  continue  to 
exist,  so  long  as  all  parties  agree  in  two 
material  points — the  shortness  of  her  ill- 
ness, it  being  only  four  days;  and  the 
surprise  which  it  caused,  a  circumstance 
from  which  her  previous  health  may  be 
inferred,  in  spite  of  the  consumption  un- 
der which  she  is  said  to  have  laboured,  or 
the  supposed  abscess  in  her  chest.  At 
the  time  of  her  decease  this  queen  was  in 
her  forty-second  year. 

"  She  was  a  woman,"  says  Davila,  of 
invincible  courage,  very  great  under- 
standing, and  bravery,  fir  beyond  her 
sex.  These  eminent  qualities,  accom- 
panied with  a  remarkable  modesty,  and 
unexampled  generosity,  would  have  pro- 
cured for  her  an  eternal  commendation, 
if  she  had  not  been  imbued  with  the  opi- 
nions of  Calvin,  and  obstinately  adhered 
to  them,  through  her  desire  to  penetrate 
the  profound  mysteries  of  theology,  un- 
aided by  the  sciences.''^ 

This  melancholy  event  caused  a  far- 
ther delay  in  celebrating  the  marriage 


*  Cayet  says  the  same,  liv  I,  p.  129. 
t  In  ilis  notes  on  t lie  Ifenriaile, 
!  Kssai  sur  les  Guerres  Civile*  de  France, 
(j  Oavila,  liv.  5.  p.  005. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  PROOFS,  &C. 


129 


of  the  Prince  of  Beam,  who  now  assumed 
the  title  of  King  of  Navarre.  The  king 
and  his  detestable  mother  were  obliged 
also  to  defer  the  execution  of  their  con- 
templated coup  d'etat :  time  was  thus 
given  for  several  Protestants  of  rank  to 
retire  from  Paris,  for  many  felt  alarmed 
in  consequence  of  the  sudden  death  of 
Jane  d'Albret.  The  Baron  de  Rosny, 
father  of  the  celebrated  Sully,  had  from 
the  first  entertained  so  unfavourable  a 
presentiment  of  the  marriage,  that  he  de- 
clared several  times,  "  If  it  takes  place  in 
Paris,  the  wedding  favours  will  be  crim- 
son."* 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Review  of  the  proofs  of  a  premeditated  attack  upon  the 
Protestants— Attempted  assassination  of  Coligny. 

It  was  Coligny's  destiny  to  be  blinded 
as  he  approached  the  close  of  his  career, 
or  he  must  have  been  astonished  at  the 
excessive  kindness  and  attention  which 
he  received  at  court.  His  wariness  had 
always  rendered  him  remarkable,  and 
formed  a  striking  contrast  with  his  pre- 
sent infatuation.!  Several  of  his  friends 
took  alarm,  and  many  who  could  not 
conveniently  quit  Paris  retired  from  the 
city  to  the  suburbs.  Marshal  Montmo- 
rency, although  a  Catholic,  was  not  free 
from  suspicion;  and,  pretending  illness, 
he  retired  to  his  seat  at  Chantilly;  nor 
could  he  be  persuaded  to  return,  although 
repeatedly  pressed  by  the  king  and 
queen.  Two  reasons  are  assigned  for 
this  step  on  his  part :  one,  that  when 
Montluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  quitted 
Paris  for  Poland,  to  negotiate  for  the 
Duke  of  Anjou's  election  to  the  throne  of 
that  country,f  'ie  having  in  some  measure 
penetrated  the  secret,  recommended  seve- 
ral of  his  friends  to  remove. §  The  other 
cause  was  the  interception  of  a  letter 
from  Cardinal  Pelleve  at  Rome  to  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  which  indicated  the 
contemplation  of  some  treachery.  This 
letter  may  have  been  a  fabrication,  but  a 

*  Sully,  liv.  1. 

t  Before  the  peace.  M-  de  Thore  had  invited  him  to 
meet  the  king,  when  he  replied,  "There  is  no  Count 
d'Egmont  in  France."  Amelot  de  la  Houssaye,  Mem. 
Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  108. 

1  Sigismond,  the  last  of  the  Jagellons,  died  7th  July, 
1572. 

§  Sully,  liv.  1. 


copy  of  it  was  certainly  shown  to  Co- 
ligny; and  whether  it  were  genuine  or 
not,  there  must  have  existed  suspicions,  to 
have  caused  it  to  be  written.* 

A  gentlemen,  named  Langoiran,  who 
was  very  much  attached  to  the  admiral, 
was  among  the  number  of  those  who 
prudently  withdrew  from  Paris.  When 
he  called  to  take  leave  of  Coligny,  the 
latter  expressed  surprise,  and  inquired 
why  he  wished  to  quit  him.  "  Because," 
said  Langoiran,  "  we  are  too  much  ca- 
ressed here ;  and  I  would  rather  save  my 
life  with  fools  than  lose  it  with  those  who 
are  too  wise."f  But  all  these  circum- 
stances produced  no  effect  upon  Co- 
ligny, who,  believing  that  some  benefi- 
cial results  would  accrue  to  the  reformed 
religion  from  the  marriage  of  the  King  of 
Navarre,  attributed  these  reports  and 
suspicions  to  the  machinations  of  those 
who  wished  to  prevent  it.  To  convince 
the  king  that  he  placed  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  him,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
obtain  more  attention  to  his  advice  re- 
specting the  war  in  Flanders,  he  offered 
to  give  up  the  cautionary  towns  before 
the  time  fixed  for  their  surrender.];  The 
Huguenots  murmured  greatly  at  this 
step  on  his  part,  and  the  people  of  Ro- 
chelle  would  not  consent  to  surrender 
their  town.  Brantome  informs  us  "That 
when  Coligny  was  opposed  in  this,  he 
always  founded  his  reasons  upon  the 
great  question  of  religion,  saying,  '  Since 
we  have  our  religion,  what  more  do  we 
require?'  From  which  we  may  learn  that 
he  was  a  better  man  and  more  religious 
than  was  thought ;  and  it  was  this  good- 
ness which  caused  his  ruin."§ 

After  a  short  absence,  Coligny  again 
returned  to  Paris  to  be  present  at  the 
marriage,  free  from  all  suspicion,  and  in- 
dulging in  the  anticipations  which  the 
projected  war  afforded  him.||  On  one 
occasion  he  was  at  St.  Cloud  in  company 
with  Strozzy  and  Brantome,  and  dis- 
coursed with  great  cheerfulness  upon  the 
affairs  of  Flanders.  "God  be  praised!" 
said  the  admiral,  "every  thing  is  going 


*  Dr.  Lingard,  in  replying  to  the  Edinburgh  Review, 
(p.  07,  Paris  edit.)  alludes  to  this  letter :  "  The  copy  and 
not  the  original  was  sent  to  the  admiral:?'  an  original 
threfore  must  have  existed. 

f  Davila,  d'Aubigne,  and  P.  Daniel. 

\  According  to  Lapopeliniere,  liv.  28,  it  was  demand- 
ed by  the  king. 

§  Brantome,  vol  viii.  p.  177. 

||  De  Thou,  liv.  52. 


130 


REVIEW  OF  THE   PROOFS  OF  A 


on  well;  before  long  we  shall  have  driven 
the  Spaniard  from  the  Low  Countries, 
and  have  made  our  king  master  of  them, 
or  we  will  all  die  there,  myself  among  the 
first,  and  I  shall  not  care  for  my  life  if  I 
lose  it  in  so  good  a  cause."* 

On  the  eighteenth'  of  August  the  mar- 
riage took  place :  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed by  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  on  a 
platform  erected  before  the  door  of  the 
church  of  Notre-Dame,  and  according  to 
a  certain  form  agreed  upon  by  both  par- 
ties. It  was  remarked  by  many  persons, 
that  when  the  princess  was  asked  if  she 
were  willing  to  take  the  King  of  Navarre 
for  her  husband,  she  made  no  reply  what- 
ever; and  the  king,  her  brother,  with  his 
hand  made  her  incline  her  head,  which 
was  taken  for  her  assent,  although  it  was 
known  that  she  had  repeatedly  declared 
that  Guise  alone  should  be  her  husband, 
and  that  she  could  not  reconcile  herself  to 
taking  one  of  his  greatest  enemies. f 
When  the  ceremony  was  concluded,  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  his  Protestant 
friends  retired,  while  his  bride  went  into 
the  church  to  hear  mass.  A  grand  din- 
ner was  afterwards  given  at  the  episco- 
pal palace  adjoining,  and  for  the  four  fol- 
lowing days  all  Paris  was  occupied  with 
fetes,  ballets,  and  other  amusements.J 

It  was  during  these  festivities  that  the 
final  arrangements  were  made  for  execu- 
ting the  designs  of  the  court  upon  the  Pro- 
testants. A  resolution  to  massacre  so 
many  persons,  because  they  refused  to 
adopt  the  ceremonials  of  the  Roman 
Church,  is  so  diabolical,  that  it  is  no  won- 
der its  premeditation  should  be  doubted, 
and  the  affair  attributed  principally  to  the 
irritation  of  the  moment.  It  was  to  avert 
such  an  imputation  that  all  the  parties  be- 
came in  a  measure  their  own  accusers,  in 
order  to  establish  the  proofs  of  the  minor 
offence,  and  thus  escape  a  portion  of  the 
ignominy  which  became  their  due.  The 
Abbe  Anquetil  lays  the  blame  entirely  on 
Catherine,  who  was  alarmed  at  the  confi- 
dence which  Charles  IX.  placed  in  the  ad- 
miral. "  The  Queen,"  he  observes,  "  was 
cautioned  by  Villequier,  De  Sauve,  and 
Retz,  assiduous  and  penetrating  courtiers, 
in  whom  also  the  king  placed  great  confi- 
dence, that  her  son  was  about  to  escape 


*  Biantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  179. 

+  Davila,  liv.  5.  p.  609. 

I  Le  Grain,  Mezeray,  and  others. 


from  her;  that  he  was  completely  gained 
over  by  the  Protestants ;  and  that  without 
some  violent  remedy  they  could  not  hope 
to  bring  him  back."*  She  availed  herself 
of  an  early  opportunity  to  take  the  king 
apart,  and  when  she  had  shut  herself 
alone  with  him  in  a  retired  apartment,  she 
burst  upon  him  with  bitter  reproaches. 
Then  making  a  display  of  maternal  fond- 
ness, she  said,  with  tears,  "  if  they  (the 
Huguenots)  have  the  management  of  af- 
fairs, what  will  become  of  me?  What  will 
become  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou  ?  How 
shall  we  escape  from  their  fury  >  Give  me 
permission  to  return  to  Florence;  give 
your  brother  time  to  make  his  escape." 
Having  excited  great  emotions  in  Charles's 
mind,  she  withdrew;  he  followed  her  to 
another  apartment,  where  Anjou,  Retz, 
Tavannes,  and  De  Sauve  were  assem- 
bled.! The  king  desired  to  know  what 
were  the  crimes  of  which  they  had  to  ac- 
cuse the  Protestants,  and  received  from 
each  a  long  account  of  alarming  expres- 
sions and  threats  which  had  come  to  their 
knowledge;  some  of  them  were  pure  in- 
ventions, many  were  distorted,  but  a  few 
were  the  thoughtless  words  of  some  young 
nobles,  who  were  enraptured  at  the  favour 
which  Coligny  enjoyed.  Charles  promised 
to  be  on  his  guard  with  the  admiral ;  but 
as  he  did  not  show  a  resolution  to  do  any 
thing  decisive,  they  resolved  on  commit- 
ting him  with  the  Calvinists  beyond  the 
possibility  of  reconciliation :  a  courier  was 
immediately  sent  to  summoij  the  Guises, 
and  many  other  nobles  and  gentlemen. 
"  All  this,"  says  the  Abbe,  "  took  place  be- 
fore, the  marriage  of  the  King  of  Navarre."}; 

The  statement  which  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou made  to  Miron,  his  surgeon,  during 
his  journey  to  Poland,  does  not  differ  ma- 
terially from  the  preceding  hypothesis: 
only  he  declares  himself  the  originator  of 
the  plot,  on  account  of  some  angry  looks 
which  the  king  was  accustomed  to  give 
him,  from  the  time  that  Coligny  had  been 
so  much  in  favour;  that,  in  consequence, 
his  mother  and  he  resolved  to  despatch 
the  admiral,  and  the  general  massacre  af- 
terwards became  necessary  to  protect 
them  from  the  vengeance  of  the  Hugue- 
nots on  one  hand ;  on  the  other  from  the 


*  Esprit  de  la  J.iffue,  vol.  ii.  p.  2J.    Tim  Ahbe's  ac- 
count is  taken  chiefly  from  the  statement  of  Tuvaustej, 
f  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  416. 
j  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  27. 


PREMEDITATED  ATTACK    ON  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


131 


king's  anger,  in  case  he  discovered  that 
they  had  employed  the  assassin* 

Some  French  writers,  feeling  great  sen- 
sibility for  their  national  character,  dwell 
upon  the  crime  being  altogether  Italian  in 
its  origin,  contrivance,  and  execution; 
while  others,  in  their  zeal  for  the  church 
of  Rome,  represent  it  as  an  entirely  politi- 
cal atfair.  But  there  is  too  much  evidence 
to  allow  any  impartial  person  to  suppose 
that  the  king's  friendship  for  Coligny  was 
sincere,  or  that  his  eagerness  to  collect  all 
the  leading  Protestants  at  Paris  was  un- 
connected with  the  plot.  The  general 
massacre  may  have  been  concerted  but  a 
short  time  previous  to  the  fatal  day  ;  but 
there  are  so  many  authorities  to  show  the 
perfidious  intentions  of  the  court  at  the 
peace  of  1570,  that  if  the  guilt  of  Charles 
IX.  and  Catherine  de  Medicis  be  consi- 
dered problematical,  there  is  scarcely  any 
fact  in  history  which  is  worthy  of  credit. 
It  appears,  after  full  investigation,  that  the 
plan  was  to  assemble  the  leading  Hugue- 
nots; to  put  to  death  the  most  obnoxious, 
and  imprison  the  rest;  and  then  adopt 
strong  measures  for  entirely  suppressing; 
the  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion. 

The  following  extract  is  from  Maim* 
bourg,  who,  although  considered  an  indif-j 
ferent  authority  as  an  historian,  may  be  i 
trusted  on  this  subject,  on  account  of  his  J 
violence  against  the  Protestant  religion : — i 
"But  not  to  dissemble,  as  the  queen  did; 
in  this  treaty,  there  is  every  appearance  J 
that  a  peace  of  this  kind  was  not  made  in 
good  faith  on  the  part  of  this  princess,  who 
had  her  concealed  designs,  and  who 
granted  such  things  to  the  Huguenots  only 
to  disarm  them,  and  afterwards  to  surprise 
those  upon  whom  she  wished  to  be  re- 
venged, and  especially  the  admiral,  at  the 
first'  favourable  opportunity  which  she 
should  have  for  it."t  He  adds,  that  the 
king  and  queen  very  frequently  held  a 
council  upon  this  business;  that  the  king, 
having  sworn  he  would  never  forget  or 
pardon  the  attempt  on  Meaux,  was  easily 
persuaded  that  he  need  not  keep  a  pro- 

•  The  statement  entitled.  Discours  du  Hoi  Ilcnri  III. 
d  un  personage  d  honncur,  SfC  is  printed  in  a  great  many 
works,  but  first  appeared  in  the  M<  moires  dElat  de  V\l- 
lerotj.  There  is,  however,  no  proof  that  it  was  made 
by  the  Duke  of  An  on;  and  the  introductory  remarks 
show  how  necessary  it  was  for  him  to  place  his  charac- 
ter in  a  more  favourable  light  respecting  the  massacre. 
It  is  therefore  extremely  probable  that  the  a  count  of 
Miron  being  called  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  &x.,  is 
inserted  meiely  to  give  it  greater  plausibility. 

f  Hist,  du  Calvinisme,  vol  ii.  p-  453. 


mise  made  by  ever  so  solemn  a  treaty, 
with  him  who  had  first  violated  his  faith 
by  so  horrible  an  attempt  upon  the  sacred 
person  of  his  king;  and  that  the  only  way 
to  prevent  a  fourth  civil  war  was  to  be  be- 
forehand with  so  bad  a  man,  and  assure 
the  peace  of  the  kingdom  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  this  declared  enemy  of  God  and  the 
king. 

The  confidential  report  which  Tavannes 
addressed  to  the  king,  in  1571,  is  corro- 
borative.* He  represents,  that  although 
both  parties  required  peace  from  the  ex- 
hausted state  of  their  affairs,  a  surprise 
was  still  possible,  and  the  king  ought  to 
guard  against  it ;  that  in  fact  the  dispute 
could  never  be  definitively  settled,  until 
one  party  had  seized  upon  the  leaders  of 
the  other ;  the  Huguenot  chiefs  could  not 
be  taken  while  in  their  strongholds,  but 
for  them  to  surprise  the  royal  family  was 
not  so  difficult :  force  could  neither  obtain 
possession  of  their  fortresses,  ncr  destroy 
their  religion,  nor  dissolve  their  foreign 
connections.  He  recommended  several 
precautionary  measures,  and  concluded 
by»observing : — "the  king  must  keep  his 
word,  that  the  Huguenots  should  have  no 
pretext  for  resuming  their  arms,  before  his 
majesty  could  take  the  necessary  mea- 
sures; for  if  he  had  time  to  anticipate  this 
movement  on  their  part,  assuredly  they 
would  always  be  defeated."  Now,  the 
bare  fact  of  a  general  representing  to  his 
sovereign  the  necessity  of  keeping  his 
word  until  he  had  taken  measures  for  pre- 
venting any  surprise,  gives  fair  room  for 
inferring  that  he  was  privy  to  some  in- 
tended violation  of  the  treaty,  on  account 
of  which  the  Huguenots  had  laid  aside 
their  arms.  Brantome  alludes  to  this  ad- 
vice of  Tavannes,  in  his  life  of  that  cap- 
tain :  "  as  it  was  difficult  to  subdue  them 
by  force,  he  recommended  the  king  and 
queen  to  effect  their  purpose  by  art."t 

The  testimony  of  Perefixe,  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  also  displays  the  existence  of 
treachery  on  the  part  of  the  king.  "  In 
the  mean  time,  the  king  being  satisfied 
that  he  could  never  subdue  the  Hugue- 

*  This  report  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Memoirs  of 
Marshal  Tavannes;  but  in  I  hose  of  William  de  Saulx, 
Seigneur  de  Tavannes,  p  411,  in  vol  xxxv.  of  Petitol's 
Collection.  The  War>hal  (Gaspard  de  Saulx  de  Tavan- 
nes) had  two  sons,  viz  :  William,  above  mentioned,  and 
John,  commonly  called  the  Viscount  Tavannes:  the  lat- 
ter published  his  father's  memoirs,  to  which  I  have  uni- 
formly referred  to  J\Icm.  de  Tavannes.  I  have  made  use 
of  the  folio  edition  printed  at  Lyons. 

t  His  words  are  par  la  voye  de  renard,  vol.  iz.  p.  112. 


132 


ASSASSINATION  OF  LIGNEROLLES. 


nots  by  force,  resolved  to  employ  other 
methods,  more  easy,  but  much  more 
wicked.    He  took  to  caressing  them ;  he 
pretended  that  he  wished  to  treat  them 
favourably ;  he  granted  them  the  greater 
part  of  their  demands,  and  lulled  them 
with  the  hope  of  making  war  in  the  Ne- 
therlands against  Spain,  which  they  pas- 1 
sionately  desired.    And  the  better  to  de-j 
coy  them,  he  promised,  as  a  pledge  of  his 
faith,  his  sister  Margaret  to  be  married  to  J 
our  Henry ;  so  that  by  these  means  he 
drew  the  principal  chiefs  of  that  party  to: 
Paris."* 

Davila's  assertion  is  unequivocal  :f  "But 
as  the  stratagems  formerly  practised  had 
always  produced  but  little  benefit,  either  j 
because  ministers   had   perfidiously  di- 
vulged them,  or  the  queen  had  conducted 
herself  with  some  hesitation  and  too  much 
respect;  or  the  Huguenot  princes  had  dis-l 
trusted  her  inclination  and  wishes;  so  at; 
this  time_a  most  complete  and  favourable 
issue  was  expected.    For  the  most  secret; 
designs  were  no  longer  confided  to  any' 
but  ministers  deeply  interested,  in  addition 
to  the  attention  which  the  king  hirrfcelf 
gave.    The  principal  difficulty  consisted 
in  rallying  the  minds  of  the  Huguenot  no-' 
bility,  and  from  the  suspicions  in  which  | 
they  indulged  to  lead  them  to  such  a  pitch 
of  confidence  that  they  should  feel  no  ap- 
prehension in  coming  to  court  unarmed."! 

Unless  the  affair  of  Lignerolles  can  be 
effaced  from  the  page  of  history,  we  have 
another  clear  proof  that  a  plot  was  in  con- 
templation previous  to  Coligny's  quitting 
Rochelle  to  go  to  court.  That  young 
man  was  a  favourite  of  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou,  who  bestowed  on  him  so  much  confi- 
dence that  he  imparted  the  king's  design, 
and  explained  the  reasons  of  such  kind- 
ness being  shown  to  the  Protestants.  It 
happened  one  day  that  the  king  having 
given  an  audience  to  the  Huguenot  depu- 
ties dismissed  them  affably,  and  immedi. 

*  Hist,  rip  Henri  le  Grand,  p  13     Amsterdam.  1682. 

f  Dr.  Lingarri  (in  his  FiniJication)  represents  Da  Vila 
J|9  unworthy  of  credit;  but  I  persist  in  thinking  him 
gond  authority  (or  several  reasons.  Mis  family  were  in 
the  household  of  Catherine  :  and  himself,  his  brother, 
and  John  Henry  de  Villers.  his  sister's  husband,  were 
all  in  the  royal  armies;  he  was  therefore  constantly  in 
the  company  of  those  w  ho  could  rightly  appreciate  the 
transactions  of  this  period.  His  bias,  moreover,  is  so 
decidedly  favourable  to  Calheiine,  that  the  Abbe  An- 
quetil  observes  of  his  history."  We  should  distrust  Da- 
Vila  when  he  writes  in  favour  of  the  court."  Surely 
such  a  person  would  have  avoided  exaggeration  in  de- 
scribing a  case  which,  at  the  time  tie  wrote,  required  all 
possible  palliation  on  behalf  of  his  friend  and  patron. 

I  Davila,  liv.  5.  p.  578. 


ately  after  they  had  withdrawn,  he  threw 
off  his  restraint,  and  showed  very  great 
displeasure  at  the  insolence  of  their  de- 
mands. Lignerolles,  proud  of  possessing 
a  secret  of  such  importance,  and  with  a 
thoughtlessness  common  to  his  age,  ap- 
proached the  king,  and  observed,  that  his 
majesty  had  only  to  be  patient  for  a  short 
time ;  that  he  should  laugh  at  the  impu- 
dence and  temerity  of  those  people,  since, 
by  an  interview  already  contrived,  he 
would  have  them  in  his  nets  in  a  few  days, 
and  could  punish  them  as  he  thought  pro- 
per. Charles  was  astonished  at  such  a 
remark,  and  did  not  know  how  to  reply ; 
he  pretended  not  to  hear  him,  and  retired 
in  a  rage  to  a  private  apartment,  where 
he  sent  for  De  Retz,  thinking  it  was  he 
who  had  imparted  the  secret  to  Ligne- 
rolles. Charles  upbraided  him  with  the 
kindnesses  he  had  conferred  upon  him, 
and  then  declared  that  he  would  punish 
his  perfidy  and  ingratitude.  De  Retz  per- 
sisted in  a  denial,  and  offered  to  remain 
in  prison  until  the  affair  was  cleared  up: 
this  removed  the  charge  from  him,  and 
the  queen-mother  was  sent  for.  She 
heard  her  son's  complaint ;  told  him,  with 
'a  smile,  that  she  did  not  need  his  instruc- 
tions how  to  keep  a  secret;  and  cautioned 
him  against  making  known,  by  his  impa- 
tience, what  he  thought  had  been  put  in 
evidence  by  others.  Charles  then  began 
to  display  his  rage :  he  sent  for  the  Duke 
of  Anjou,  who  freely  confessed  what  he 
had  told  Lignerolles,  but  assured  his  bro- 
ther that  the  secret  was  safe  with  him. 
."I  will  make  sure  of  that,"  replied  the 
king,  "for,  before  he  has  time  to  speak  of 
it,  it  shall  cost  him  his  life."  Anjou  took 
no  pains  to  dissuade  his  brother  from  the 
murder,  either  not  daring  to  oppose  the 
violence  of  the  king,  or  being  vexed  at  the 
imprudence  of  his  favourite.  George  Vil- 
lequier,  Viscount  de  La  Guerche,  was 
then  summoned  to  the  royal  presence,  and 
received  a  command  to  get  rid  of  Ligne- 
rolles that  very  day,  in  any  way  what- 
ever. He,  being  a  secret  enemy  of  his 
victim,  readily  undertook  the  commission, 
and,  being  joined  by  Count  Charles  de 
Mansfeld,  they  assassinated  Lignerolles 
while  hunting,  the  king  and  his  brother 
J  purposely  galloping  to  a  distance  from 
them.  Charles,  with  his  usual  dissimula- 
tion, pretended  anger,  and  sent  the  two 
'  assassins  to  prison ;  whence  after  a  short 


DUPLICITY  OF  THE  FRENCH  KING. 


133 


time  they  were  released  upon  the  pressing  of  the  king's  deception,  is  at  least  an  evi 


application  of  the  Duke  of  Angouleme.* 

The  Duke  of  Nevers  has  also  added  his 
testimony,  which  is  the  more  valuable  as 
he  was  known  to  detest  the  reformed  re- 


dence  of  the  duplicity  attributed  to  him  by 
his  contemporaries.  On  the  Wednesday 
before  the  admiral  was  wounded,  as  the 
said  nobleman  conversed  with  his  majesty 


ligion.  "The  admiral,"  says  he,  "  pro-:  concerning  the  religion,  he  said,  "My 
posed  the  war  in  Flanders,  with  the  most  father,  I  beg  you  will  give  me  only  four 


flattering  representations;  but  the  king 
would  hear  nothing  of  it,  for  fear  of  of- 
fending his  brother-in-law,  the  most  Ca- 
tholic King.  His  Majesty  wishing  to 
avoid  such  a  misfortune,  and  thinking  to 


or  five  days  to  make  merry;  after  that,  I 
promise  you,  on  the  faith  of  a  king,  that  I 
will  satisfy  you,  and  all  those  of  your  re- 
ligion."* 

Coligny  perceived  that  his  words  had 


destroy  the  Huguenots,  rather  than  their  great  effect  upon  the  king;  it  was  that 
heresy,  ordered  the  St.  Bartholomew  in\  which  made  him  so  heedless  of  all  the 
August,  1572."f  warnings  he  received,  and  it  is  very  pos- 

The  king  and  queen  had  spared  no  ex-  sible  that,  but  for  the  execrable  queen- 
ertions  in  drawing  Coligny  to  court,  but, ,  mother,  who  would  not  relinquish  her 
when  they  had  effected  that  object,  they  I  project,  the  reproaches  of  conscience, 
were  undecided  how  they  should  carry  added  to  the  prospect  of  territorial  acqui- 
their  plan  into  execution:  that  was  ren-jsition  displayed  by  Coligny,  would  have 
dered  still  more  difficult,  on  account  of  overcome  resolutions  formed  in  a  troubled 
the  admiral's  arriving  about  eight  months | day,  and  made  Charles  inattentive  to  the 
before  the  Queen  of  Navarre.  For,  how- :  calls  of  bigotry  and  rage.  If  these  cir- 
ever  unfounded  the  idea  of  a  war  in  Flan-  cumstances  are  taken  into  consideration, 
ders  may  have  been  originally,  the  king,  many  contradictory  accounts  may  be  re- 
was  obliged  to  converse  frequently  with  conciled;  and  although,  at  the  conclusion 
Coligny  upon  that  subject;  and  the  ad-! of  the  peace  in  1570,  the  king  was  most 
miral,  with  his  sanguine  calculations,  had  forward  in  the  plot,  it  afterwards  required 
created  in  Charles's  mind  a  desire  to  an-  all  the  influence  and  exertions  of  Cathe- 
nex  those  provinces  to  his  dominions,  rine  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou  to  keep  him 
So  that,  rebel  as  he  had  been,  he  appeared  to  his  first  resolution.  Charles  fluctuated 
on  this  occasion  a  zealous  promoter  of,  between  the  martial  feeling  which  the  ad- 
the  dignity  of  France  ;  and  the  personal  |  miral  had  kindled,  and  the  rancour  which 
hatred  which  had  existed  against  him  his  fiend-like  mother  fanned  incessantly: 
began  to  abate  in  the  monarch's  mind,  at  last  she  excited  his  fears,  by  a  persua- 
Duplessis  Mornay  drew  up  a  memoir,  sion  that  great  danger  awaited  him:  he 
which  the  admiral  presented  to  Charles 'joined  in  her  purposes,  and  must  share 
IX.;  it  strongly  urged  the  prosecution  of  a!  her  infamy. 

war  in  Flanders,  and  concluded  thus:!  It  is  impossible  to  fix  on  any  period  as 
"  To  sum  up,  you  will  acquire  a  territory  J  the  precise  time  when  the  murderous  re- 
to  which  none  of  your  provinces  can  be  solution  was  adopted,  for  secrecy  is  es- 
compared  in  extent,  beauty,  riches,  popu-  sential  to  a  plot.  No  one  denies  the 
lation,  towns,  and  conveniences,  both  by  memorable  expression  of  Charles  IX.: 
sea  and  by  land,  from  which  you  may!" I  consent  to  the  admiral's  death;  but  let 
easily  draw  an  annual  contribution  of  a  there  not  remain  one  Huguenot  to  reproach 
million  (livres,)  &c.  And  you,  sire,  who  me  with  it  afterwards:"  the  contested 
will  have  received  with  immortal  honour;  point  is,  whether  it  was  uttered  before  or 


the  incredible  advantage  of  such  a  con- 
quest, shall  be  so  feared  by  your  enemies, 
so  cherished  by  your  friends  and  allies, 
that  your  fortune  will  speedily  open  the 
way  for  your  becoming  the  greatest  mo- 
narch of  Christendom."! 

The  following,  if  not  a  complete  proof 


*  Davils,  liv  5.   De  Thou,  liv.  50.    Branioine,  Dis- 
course sur  Irs  duels.    Bassoinpierre,  JVouv.  Mem.  p.  100. 
t  Mem.  tie  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  16. 
J  Mem.  ile  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  1. 

12 


after  the  attempt  to  kill  Coligny.  Ca- 
veyrac  acknowledges  that  the  death  of 
the  leaders  and  factions  was  decided  on.t 
Anquetil  states  that  before  the  marriage 
took  place  a  resolution  was  formed  to 
commit  the  king  with  the  Protestants, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  reconciliation.^: 
The  younger  Tavannes,  in  vindicating 

~*  Mem.  de  l'Estoile,  vol.  i.  p.  22. 
t  dissertation  sur  le  St.  Barthglemi,  p.  25. 
X  E9prit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  26. 


134 


ATTEMPTED  MURDER  OF  COLIGNY. 


his  father's  memory,  makes  use  of  the 
following  words:    "It  is  a  fact  that  the 
Huguenots  were  alone  the  cause  of  their 
massacres,  by  placing  the  king  in  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  war  with  Spain  or  with 
them.    His  majesty,  by  the  advice  of 
Tavannes,  chose  that  which  was  least  pre- 
judicial, being  as  salutary  for  the  Catho- 
lic  religion  as  for  the  state.    And  as  Ta- 
vannes is  accused  of  giving  this  counsel, 
all  those  of  the  Catholic  religion  must 
esteem  and  praise  him,  considering  that 
if  he  had  not,  by  his  good  advice,  pre- 
vented the  marriage  of  England  with  M. 
d'Anjou  (that  of  the  King  of  Navarre  being 
already  concluded,  and  the  King  Charles 
being  bent  upon  the  war  with  Spain,)  in- 
evitably the  kingdom  of  France,  and  ul- 
timately all  Christendom,  except  Italy 
and  Spain,  would  be  of  the  heretical 
party.    And  since  this  stroke  of  the  St. 
Bartholomew,  they  have  constantly  di- 
minished and  become  weaker.  Let  honour 
then  be  given  to  those  to  whom  it  be- 
longs: not  that  these  great  murders  are 
praiseworthy,  but  for  having  avoided  and 
prevented  three  quarters  of  Europe  from 
being  connected  with  the  heretical  party 
by  marriages  and  alliances,  and  for  having 
diverted  from  France  a  most  dangerous 
war  with  Spain,  at  a  time  when  the  king- 
dom was  enfeebled."*    This  passage  in- 
dicates the  king's  participation  in  the  plot 
before  the  attempt  on  Coligny's  life,  for 
an  alternative  afterwards  was  impossible. 
Brantome  gives  similar  testimony:  "The 
king,  therefore,  not  desiring  to  make  use 
of  him  (the  admiral)  in  such  good  affairs, 
was  either  of  himself,  or  by  some  of  his 
council,  persuaded  to  have  him  killed. "t 
It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  death  of 
Coligny  alone  would  have  answered  the 
purpose  of  the  king  or  his  mother:  an- 
other captain  would  have  taken  his  place; 
and  the  King  of  Navarre's  increasing  ex- 
perience made  him  nearly  equal  to  take 
the  command  without  assistance:  any  at- 
tempt upon  his  life  was  necessarily  ac- 
companied with  some  measure  for  pre- 
venting his  death  from  being  avenged; 
and  on  that  account,  in  addition  to  the  dif- 
ferent authorities  which  have  been  pro- 
duced, there  is  sufficient  reason  for  con- 
cluding that  Charles  was  a  party  to  the 
premeditation  of  the  massacre. 


Catherine's  tortuous  policy  exhibits  a 
line  of  conduct  unparalleled  in  history: 
nothing  appeared  criminal  in  furtherance 
of  her  views;  but  no  sooner  was  her  ob- 
ject attained,  than  her  own  work  was 
condemned  to  destruction,  from  some  idea 
which  she  had  subsequently  conceived. 
During  the  wars  she  lamented  the  defeats 
of  the  Huguenots,  because  they  increased 
the  importance  of  the  Guises;  and  it  was 
frequently  her  policy  to  attack  that  family 
in  turn.  If  the  Huguenot  leaders  were 
doomed  to  destruction,  common  prudence 
made  her  inquire  what  barriers  she  could 
in  future  oppose  to  the  house  of  Lorrain, 
the  head  of  which  considered  himself 
equal  to  the  princes  of  the  blood;  and 
who,  if  he  made  an  attempt  to  possess 
the  throne,  would  be  certain  of  the  Romish 
and  Spanish  influence  in  his  behalf.  De 
Retz  proposed  a  measure  which  promised 
the  destruction  of  the  Protestants,  and 
rendered  very  probable  the  removal  of 
some  of  the  Guises:  the  plan  suited  her 
views,  and  policy  justified  it  to  her  con- 
science. 

That  proposal  was  to  this  effect:  that, 
although  it  was  easy  of  execution,  and 
quite  just,  to  kill  all  the  Huguenots,  still 
it  was  desirable  to  have  a  pretext  for  it: 
if  the  life  of  the  admiral  alone  were  taken, 
every  one  would  think  the  -Guises  had 
done  it,  and  the  Huguenots  in  their  rage 
would  fall  upon  that  family;  the  Parisians 
would  support  their  favourites,  and  the 
Huguenots  would  certainly  be  over- 
whelmed; the  object  would  thus  be  ac- 
complished, and  the  fault  imputed  to  the 
private  resentment  of  the  house  of  Lor- 
rain, and  not  to  the  deliberations  of  the 
court.*  Some  accounts  give  this  further 
development:  when  botli  parties  were  ex- 
hausted and  reduced,  the  king  was  to 
march  from  the  Louvre,  at  the  head  of 
his  guards,  and  punish  the  rebellious  on 
both  sides;  no  impediment  would  then 
exist,  to  prevent  the  re-establishment  of 
the  king's  authority.! 

An  assassin  was  soon  found  to  despatch 
the  admiral:  it  was  Mau revel,  the  same 
who  killed  Mouy  at  Niort,  and  who  was 
known  as  the  King's  fisaasisin.\  By 


*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  419. 
t  Braiilome,  vol.  viii.  p.  182. 


*  Davila,  liv.  5  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p  13  Maim- 
bona'.  Hist  du  Cnlvinisme,  liv.  8     De  Thou,  liv.  52. 

t  Mnzeray,  Mbregc  Chron.  Voltaire,  Note  to  the 
Henriade. 

I  He  wag  called  Lt  tueur  du  Roy,  ou  It  tveur  auz 
gages  du  Roy.   ISrantome,  vol.  viii.  p,  182. 


ATTEMPTED  MURDER  OF  COL1GNV. 


135 


whom  he  was  employed  on  this  occasion 
is  immaterial,  for  Guise  was  so  desirous 
of  avenging  his  father's  death,  that  the 
king's  permission  to  satisfy  his  resent- 
ment was  all  he  required;  he  would  there- 
fore become  a  willing  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  the  court*  Still  it  is  probable 
that  revenge  executed  by  a  hireling  would 
not  have  suited  his  courageous  character; 
and  the  fact  of  Maurevel  being  employed 
affords  a  presumptive  proof  that  the  pro- 
posal of  De  Retz  was  in  reality  that 
which  was  decided  upon. 

Maurevel  took  his  post  in  the  house 
of  Villemur,  a  canon  of  St.  Germain 
L'Auxerrois,  and  who  had  been  tutor  to 
the  Duke  of  Guise.  He  waited  some 
days  before  he  had  an  opportunity,  but 
on  Friday  the  22d  of  August,  Coligny 
was  returning  from  the  Louvre,  and 
walked  very  slowly,  as  he  was  reading 
some  papers. t  Maurevel  fired  on  him 
from  behind  a  curtain;  his  piece  was 
loaded  with  two  balls,  which  struck  the 
admiral,  one  in  each  arm.  He  pointed  to 
the  spot  whence  the  blow  came,  but  be- 
fore his  attendants  could  force  their  way 
in,  the  assassin  had  made  his  escape  upon 
a  horse  belonging  to  the  king's  stables, 
which  was  waiting  for  him  by  the  cloisters 
of  the  church.}; 

This  event  caused  great  confusion 
among  all  parties.  The  Protestant 
leaders  hastened  to  Coligny's  house  to 
discuss  the  affair,  but  amidst  the  nume- 
rous opinions  given,  no  conclusion  was 
adopted.  When  the  admiral's  wounds 
had  been  dressed,  and  the  first  dismay 
had  subsided,  it  was  resolved  that  they 
should  complain  to  the  king,  and  demand 
justice,  the  general  impression  being  that 
it  was  the  work  of  the  Guises.  The  cal- 
culations of  De  Retz  were  thus  proved  to 
be  correct,  and  the  suspicion  fell  where  it 
was  intended.  But  Maurevel's  aim  was 
not  sufficiently  true;  and  Coligny  being 
still  alive,  his  friends  were  advised  by 
him,  instead  of  taking  justice  into  their 
own  hands.  Had  he  been  killed  on  the 
spot,  there  is  every  probability  that  the 
Huguenots  would  have  taken  arms  im- 
mediately; but,  whatever  resentment  was 

*  Caveyrac  stales  Hint  he  was  not  present  at  the 
counrit. — Dissertation  sur  le  St'Barthi/emi,  p.  3. 

t  The  admiral  lived  in  the  Rue  lielhizy;  Villemur  in 
(he  Rue  des  fosses  St  Germain  :  in  his  way  home  from 
the  Louvre,  Coligny  had  therefore  to  go  along  the  latter 
etreet 

J  SuJIy,  liv.  1.   De  Thou,  liv.  52. 


expressed  by  any  of  them,  their  defence- 
less state,  when  they  were  attacked  soon 
after,  shows  that  no  violence  was  medi- 
tated among  them.  Their  coolness  ren- 
dered a  change  necessary  in  the  plans  of 
the  court. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Massacre  of  the  Saint  Bartholomew. 

The  king  was  playing  at  tennis  when 
he  was  told  that  Coligny  was  wounded, 
and  that  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  were  coming  to  him,  to 
demand  justice  against  the  Guises.  The 
circumstance  both  surprised  and  alarmed 
him:  Maurevel  had  so  seldom  failed  in  de- 
spatching his  victim,  that  his  blow  had 
been  looked  upon  as  sure;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  could  not  have  been  ex- 
pected that  the  Huguenots  would  think 
of  seeking  redress  from  him.  Their 
prompt  application,  by  bringing  him  so 
directly  in  contact  with  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  placed  him  in  a  dilemma.  He 
threw  away  his  racket  in  a  passion;  and, 
after  giving  vent  to  a  number  of  oaths, 
declared  lie  would  have  the  assassin 
sought  for,  even  in  the  recesses  of 
Guise's  hotel.*  Charles  succeeded  in 
satisfying  the  young  princes  that  the  as- 
sassin should  meet  with  exemplary  pun- 
ishment, and  immediately  ordered  the 
President  De  Thou,  the  Provost  Morsan, 
and  Veale,  a  counsellor,  to  commence  an 
investigation:!  this  calmed  them  in  some 
measure,  and  made  them  give  up  the  plan 
which  they  had  agreed  on  of  leaving 
Paris  immediately.!: 

But  the  king  felt  convinced  that  some- 
thing more  must  be  done,  to  prevent  the 
intended  mischief  from  recoiling  on  him- 
self: that  measure  required  deliberation; 
but,  in  order  to  amuse  the  Huguenots, 
and  convince  them  of  his  good  will,  he 
announced  his  intention  of  visiting  the 
admiral  in  the  afternoon.  He  coidd  not 
with  prudence  go  among  the  Huguenots 
unprotected,  nor  could  he  consistently  be 
attended  by  his  guards;  he  therefore  de- 
sired that  all  the  court  should  visit  Co 
ligny  also. 

*  Sully,  liv.  t.  t  Felibien,  vol.  ii  p.  111". 

J  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  14.    Mezeray,  Jlbregi  Chron. 


136 


COLIGNY  REFUSES  TO  LEAVE  PARIS. 


Charles  entered  the  admiral's  dwelling, 
accompanied  by  his  mother,  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  De  Retz  and  his  other  coun- 
sellors, the  marshals  of  France,  and  a 
numerous  suite*  He  began  by  consoling 
the  admiral,  and  then  swore  that  the 
crime  should  be  punished  so  severely, 
that  his  vengeance  should  never  be  effaced 
from  the  memory  of  man.  Coligny 
thanked  his  sovereign  for  such  testimo- 
nials of  his  kindness,  and  conjured  him 
to  support  with  his  authority  the  execu- 
tion of  the  different  edicts  in  favour  of  the 
Protestants,  many  points  of  which  were 
violated  or  misunderstood.  "  My  father," 
answered  the  king,  "depend  upon  it,  I 
shall  always  consider  you  a  faithful  sub- 
ject, and  one  of  the  bravest  generals  in 
my  kingdom  ;  confide  in  me  for  the  exe- 
cution of  my  edicts,  and  for  avenging  you 
when  the  criminals  are  discovered." 
"  They  are  not  difficult  to  find  out,"  said 
Coligny  ;  "  the  traces  are  very  plain." 
"Tranquillize  yourself,"  replied  the  king; 
"  a  longer  emotion  may  hurt  you,  and  re- 
tard your  cure."t  The  conversation  then 
turned  upon  the  war  with  Spain,  and  lasted 
near  an  hour.  Coligny  complained  of  the 
Spanish  government  being  informed  of 
whatever  was  decided  on  j  tind  s  s  the  inti- 
macy'between  the  queen-mother  and  the 
Spanish  ambassador  was  very  great,  and 
caused  suspicion,  he  spoke  to  the  king  in 
a  low  voice. |  The  war  in  Flanders  was 
a  subject  of  great  alarm  for  Catherine; 
she  knew  her  son's  secret  wishes,  and  she 
dreaded  the  effect  which  Coligny's  re- 
marks might  have  upon  him  :  she  inter- 
rupted the  conversation,  and  prevailed 
upon  the  king  to  leave  the  place.  Charles, 
who  was  exerting  himself  to  efface  any 
suspicion  which  might  have  arisen  in  Co- 
ligny's mind,  became  vexed  at  the  anx- 
iety displayed  by  his  mother ;  and,  as  they 
were  returning  to  the  Louvre,  being 
pressed  to  tell  what  Coligny  had  said,  he 
declared  with  an  oath,  "  That  the  admiral 

*  All  accounts  Mate  that  the  king  was  well  attended 
on  (his  occasion.;  n  is  therefore  absurd  to  argue  Ins  ig- 
norance of  the  plot,  because  lie  trusted  himself  unarm  d 
anions  the  Huguenots. 

t  D'Aubigno,  vol  n  p.  15.    Pe  Thou,  liv.  52. 

|  The  confederates  seeing  that  this  ambassador  WIS 
usually  present  at  the  council  where  everything  was 
discussed  ;  remarking,  besides,  the  friendly  discourse 
which  ihe  Spaniard  held  frequently  w  ith  the  queen  and 
his  excellency,  and  the  secret  conversation  which  they 
had  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  made  some  think  that 
all  did  not  pull  together ;  so  thai  looking  at  that  and 
such  other  things,  the  more  they  were  informed  of  e.ich 
particular,  the  more  suspicions  they  entertained.— La- 
yvpehniere,  liv.  25,  vol.  ii.  p.  21, 


had  said  what  was  true,  that  he  had  suf- 
fered the  authority  to  fall  from  his  hands, 
and  that  he  ought  to  become  master  of 
his  own  affairs."*  When  the  king  and 
his  suite  retired,  the  admiral's  friends  ex- 
pressed great  astonishment  at  his  affability, 
and  the  desire  he  showed  to  bring  the 
crime  to  justice.  "  But,"  says  Brantome, 
"all  these  fine  appearances  afterwards 
turned  to  ill,  which  amazed  every  one 
very  much  how  their  majesties  could  per- 
form so  counterfeit  a  part  unless  they  had 
previously  resolved  on  this  massacre."t 

Under  pretence  of  protecting  Coligny 
and  his  friends  from  any  tumult  which  the 
populace  might  stir  up  in  favour  of  the 
Guises,  the  king  recommended  the  leading 
Huguenots  to  lodge  near  the  admiral, 
and  placed  a  guard  in  the  neighbourhood 
to  defend  them  ;  all  the  gates  of  the  town 
(except  two)  were  closed,  and  the  admiral 
himself  was  invited  to  remove  into  the 
Louvre  for  security.^  The  real  object, 
however,  was  to  prevent  any  Huguenots 
of  rar>k  from  escaping :  when  collected 
they  were  more  easily  watched  ;  and,  in 
the  execution  of  the  murderous  plan, 
Charles  could  call  to  mind  the  pithy  ob- 
servation of  Alaric,  "Thick  grass  is  easier 
mown  than  thin."  Those  soldiers  who 
were  said  to  be  for  the  defence  of  the 
Protestants  were  the  Duke  of  Anjou's 
guards,  and  became  the  most  zealous  of 
their  murderers ;  arms  were  delivered  out 
at  the  same  time  to  the  populace,  who 
concealed  them  in  their  houses  till  the 
proper  time. 

Charles  was  so  thorough  a  dissembler, 
that  he  practised  his  deception  even  in  the 
Louvre.  His  sister  Margaret  (either 
anxious  to  palliate  his  conduct,  or  willing 
to  believe  his  declarations)  represents  him 
as  completely  persuaded  that  Guise  had 
caused  the  attack  on  the  admiral.  "No- 
thing," says  she,  "  could  appease  the  king,- 
he  could  neither  moderate  nor  change  his 
passionate  desire  to  have  justice  done, 
constantly  ordering  that  Guise  should  be 
sought  after  and  arrested ;  for  he  would 
not  suffer  such  an  act  to  remain  unpun- 
ished. "§  But,  independent  of  the  caution 
with  which  the  sister's  narrative  should 
be  received,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this 


*  Discourse  du  Roi  Henri  HI.,  &c. 
t  lirantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  184. 
1  Mezeray. 

§  Mem.  de  la  Reine  Marguerite,  p.  JT4,  vol  lii.  of  the 
Collection  of  Memoirs,  printed  178".. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  MASSACRE. 


137 


was  a  part  of  the  king's  original  plan,  and 
every  thing  which  he  did  or  said  was 
meant  to  throw  the  odium  of  the  affair 
upon  the  Guises. 

Soon  after  the  king  had  quitted  Co- 
Iigny's  chamber,  the  leading  Protestants 
assembled  to  deliberate  on  their  position. 
The  Vidame  of  Chartres  was  for  imme- 
diately transporting  the  admiral  to  Cha- 
tillon,  and  vehemently  declared  against 
placing  any  further  confidence  in  the 


tion  which  they  procured  caused  in  turn 
still  greater  uneasiness.  It  was  impossible 
to  prevent  Maurevel's  employers  from 
being  made  known,  and  a  council  was 
summoned  at  the  Louvre;  the  behaviour 
of  Charles  IX.  at  this  council  was  con- 
sistent with  the  rest  of  his  actions.  As  he 
approached  the  fatal  moment,  his  con- 
science appears  to  have  assailed  him.  and 
he  hesitated  to  carry  the  plan  into  effect. 
The  queen  entreated  him  to  take  firm 


king;*  he  recommended  also,  that  they  measures  to  preserve  her  and  the  Duke 
should  do  so  before  the  people  had  shown  of  Anjou  from  the  vengeance  of  the  Hu- 
themselves  openly  adverse  to  them.  Te-  guenots.  who  already  accused  them  of  the 
ligny  was  so  infatuated,  that  he  stood  for- j  assassination  of  Coligny.  De  Retz  told 
ward  to  defend  the  king's  honour  and  |  the  king  that  such  was  the  irritated  state 
word;  and  Coligny  himself  was  averse  to  I  of  the  Protestants,  that  he,  as  well  as 
showing  any  suspicions.  "If  I  do  so,", Guise,  would  be  sacrificed  to  their  ven- 
said  he,  "I  must  display  either  fear  or  dis- 1  geance.  Soon  after  •intelligence  was 
trust;  my  honour  will  be  hurt  by  one,  brought  that  the  Huguenots  were  pre- 
and  the  king  will  be  injured  by  the  other;  paring  to  carry  Coligny  out  of  Paris :  if  he 
I  should  then  be  compelled  to  renew  the  should  escape,  their  whole  design  would 
civil  war,  and  I  would  rather  die  than  be  frustrated,  and  a  civil  war  become  un- 
again  see  such  ills."t  The  Vidame,  how- 'avoidable ;  especially  as  the  Huguenots 
ever,  made  another  effort  on  the  following  had  threatened  to  rise  en  maa.se  to  obtain 
day,  and  was  for  carrying  off  the  admiral  justice.*  Catherine  perceived  the  waver- 
in  a  litter;  this  attempt  being  equally  un-'ing  state  of  her  son's  mind:  she  informed 
successful,  he  left  the  city  accompanied  him  that  couriers  had  been  already  sent 
by  several  of  his  friends.  Many  violent  >  off  to  Germany  and  Switzerland  for 
threats  are  said  to  have  been  uttered  by  troops,  and  that,  in  the  unprovided  state 
these  gentlemen:  they  declared  they ,  of  the  government,  his  ruin  was  certain  if 
would  take  arms,  and  never  lay  them 'another  war  broke  out.  The  wretched 
down  till  they  had  put  it  out  of  the  power  king,  whose  mind  was  so  framed  that  he 
of  the  Catholics  to  injure  them.  Their;  blindly  followed  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 
suspicions  were  fully  excited,  and,  upon  a  ment,  and  who  the  minute  before  had  felt 
review  of  every  circumstance  which  then  a  repugnance  to  consent  to  the  death  of 
became  the  subject  of  conversation  they; so  many  subjects,  was  then  so  much  in- 
saw  how  shamefully  they  had  been  flamed  by  the  solicitations  and  assertions 
insnared.  The  Guises,  notwithsland-  of  his  counsellors,  that  he  experienced  all 
ing  their  disgrace  at  court,  had  been  the  anger  which  could  be  called  into  ac- 
twice  seen  in  masks  conversing  with  the! tion  by  a  recollection  of  the  past,  a  dread 
queen,  De  Retz,  and  Birague;  and  this  of  the  future,  and  the  vexation  of  failing 
circumstance,  coupled  with  the  king's  pre-!  in  an  attempt  to  punish  the  leaders  of  the 
tended  anger  against  them,  made  them  sect  so  hateful  to  him.  He  became  more 
decide  on  quitting  the  dangerous  ground  eager  than  any  to  execute  the  resolution, 
upon  which  they  stood. |  \ttlready  taken  in  the  secret  council,  to 

The  day  after  the  attempt  to  kill  Co-  make  a  general  massacre  of  the  Hugue- 
ligny  was  a  dreadful  interval  for  the  king  nots.j  This  could  not  safely  be  deferred 
and  his  mother.  His  conduct  from  the ;  any  longer,  as  some-of  them  were  quitting 
first  displayed  all  the  irresolution  and  Paris  every  hour,,  and  the  dawn  of  the 
want  of  thought  which  accompanies  crime.  !next  morning  was  to  behold  the  consum- 
In  his  eagerness  to  deceive  the  King  of  niation  of  this- inhuman  scheme.. 


Navarre,  he  had  appointed  persons  to  in- 
vestigate the  assassination;  the  informa- 


*  D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ii.  p.  15.   Ds  Thou,  liv 


|  Mathieu,  vol. 
;  Sully,  liv.  i. 


i.  liu.  Q,  p  MX 
De  Thou,  liv.  52. 


12* 


At  first  there  was  no  exception  what- 


*  Maimbourg,  Hist,  du  Calvinisme.  liv.  fi. 

t  "  Ccte  effiroyable  resolution,  qu'il  av  .it  deja  prise 
dans  le  conseil  secret,  et  qu'on  lui  avail  tint  quitter,  de 
faire  un  massacre  general  da  tons  tea  Huguenots." — 
Maimbourg,  ui  antea. 


138 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  MASSACRE. 


ever  from  the  massacre,  and  Charles  con- 1  scruples  of  conscience,  for  which  Tavannes 
sented  to  destroy  one  branch  of  his  own  abused  them  in  the  king's  presence.  He 
family:  "It  was  deliberated,"  says  the 'told  them  that  if  they  refused  they  should 
archbishop  of  Paris,  "if  they  should  not! all  be  hanged,  and  advised  the  king  to 
Navarre  and  the  threaten  them  too.    The  poor  frightened 


the  others,  and  all 
for  their  death 


murder  the  King  of 
Prince  of  Conde  with 
the  murderers  were 
nevertheless,  by  a  miracle,  they  resolved 
on  sparing  them."*  "  The  Duke  of 
Guise,"  says  Davila,  "  wished  that  in  kill- 
ing the  Huguenots  they  should  do  the 
same  with  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde ;  but  the  queen-mother 
and  the  others  had  a  horror  of  dipping 
their  hands  in  royal  blood. "f  "Indubi- 
tably," says  Brantome,  "  he  was  pro- 
scribed, and  down  on  the  red  list,  as  they 
called  it;  because,  said  they,  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  dig  up  the  roots,  such  as  the 
King  of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
the  admiral,  and  other  great  persons;  but 


men  then  yielded,  and  promised  to  do  such 
execution  that  it  should  never  be  for- 
gotten,* The  instructions  they  received 
were,  that  directly  they  heard  the  bell, 
torches  were  to  be  put  in  the  windows, 
and  chains  placed  across  the  streets; 
piquets  were  to  be  posted  in  the  open 
places  ;  and,  for  distinction,  they  were  to 
wear  a  piece  of  white  linen  on  their  left 
arms,  and  put  a  white  cross  on  their  hats.t 
Notwithstanding  the  awful  crime  in 
contemplation,  the  king  rode  out  on  horse- 
back in  the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  the 
Chevalier  d'AngouIeme,  his  natural  bro- 
ther; but  the  sight  of  his  unsuspecting 
people  had  no  effect  upon  him.  The 


the  said  Queen  (Margaret)  threw  herself |  queen  also  showed  herself  at  court  as 

usual  in  order  to  avoid  suspicion.! 

Secrecy  was  desirable  till  the  last  mo- 
ment, and  no  one  was  informed  of  the 
plan  who  was  not  necessary  to  its  execu- 
tion. But  there  were  several  persons 
who  caused  great  concern  and  anxiety  to 
both  the  king  and  queen.  The  Queen  of 
Navarre  describes  herself  as  altogether 
ignorant  of  the  affair  previous  to  the  exe- 
cution ;  and,  when  she  retired  after  supper 
to  go  to  bed,  her  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Lor- 
rain,  entreated  her  not  to  go.  The  queen- 
mother  was  angry  at  that,  and  forbid  her 
telling  any  thing  further.  The  Duchess  of 
Lorrain  thought  that  it  would  be  sacri- 
ficing her  to  let  her  go  to  bed ;  and  the 
queen-mother  said,  that  if  she  did  not  go  it 
might  cause  suspicion,  and  observed,  that  if 
it  pleased  God  no  harm  would  befall  her.§ 
The  Count  de  la  Rochefoucalt  was  a 
great  favourite  with  Charles,  who  took 
such  delight  in  his  company,  that  he 
wished  to  save  his  life.  He  had  passed 
the  evening  with  the  king,  and  when  he 
prepared  to  go  home,  Charles  advised 
him  to  sleep  in  the  Louvre.  In  vain  did 
he  press  him :  the  count  resolved  to  go : 
the  king  was  grieved  that  he  could  not 
preserve  him  without  violating  his  secret, 
and  observed,  as  his  guest  retired,  "I  see 
clearly  that  God  wishes  him  to  perish."|| 


on  her  knees  before  King  Charles  her 
brother,  to  beg  the  life  of  her  husband 
and  lord.  The  King  Charles  granted  it 
to  her  with  great  difficulty,  although  she 
was  his  good  sister."];  It  was  also  pro- 
posed to  kill  the  Montmorencies,  who, 
although  Catholics,  were  very  much  con- 
nected with  the  Huguenots;  but  the  mar- 
shal could  not  be  drawn  from  Chantilly, 
and  was  beyond  their  reach :  so  the 
council  concluded  that  to  destroy  the 
younger  branches,  and  leave  the  elder  to 
revenge  their  death,  would  only  increase 
the  chances  of  a  civil  war.§  De  Retz, 
however,  maintained  that  they  should  all 
be  killed. || 

Every  thing  was  soon  decided  on  :  the 
Duke  of  Guise  was  to  begin  the  massacre 
by  despatching  the  admiral  directly  he 
heard  the  signal  given,  by  ringing  the 
great  bell  of  the  palace,  which  was  used 
only  on  public  rejoicings. IT  Tavannes  in 
the  mean  time  sent  for  the  provost  of  the 
trades,  and  some  other  persons  of  influ- 
ence among  the  inhabitants:  he  ordered 
them  to  arm  the  companies  and  to  be 
ready  by  midnight  at  the  Hotel-de-Ville. 
Those  persons  made  some  excuses  and 

*  Peretixe,  Hist,  de  Henri  le  Grand. 
+  Davila,  liv.  5.  p.  616. 

+  Braruome,  vol.  i.  p.  861.  This  statement,  however, 
is  at  variance  with  the  Memoirs  of  Queen  Margaret, 
who  declares  she  knew  nothing  of  the  massacre  till  it 
occurred  ;  but  it  is  possible  that  she  begged  for  her  hus- 
band's life  on  the  Sunday,  when  everything  was  to  be 
feared  on  his  account. 

§  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  C17. 

J  Mem.  de  Tavannes.  p  421. 

IT  Mezitay, Mregi  Chron. 


*  Urantome,  Vic  de  Tavannes. 
t  Meimbourg  and  Mezeray 

|  Dr.  Lingard.  Vindication,  &c.  p.  30,  Paris  edition. 
§  Mem.  de  la  Reine  Marguerite,  p.  179. 
||  Brantome,  Vie  de  Charles  IX.    Voltaire, Essai  stir 
lcs  Guerres  Civiles. 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


139 


Ambrose  Pare,  his  surgeon,  was  a  per- 
son indispensable  for  the  king's  health  and 
comfort,  and  he  used  less  ceremony  with 
him.  He  sent  for  him  in  the  evening  into 
his  chamber,  and  ordered  him  not  to  stir 
from  thence:  he  said,  according  to  Bran- 
tome,  "  That  it  was  not  reasonable  that 
one  who  was  so  useful  should  be  massa- 
cred, and  therefore  he  did"  not  press  him 
to  change  his  religion."* 

As  midnight  approached,  the  armed 
companies  were  collecting  before  the  Hotel- 
de-Ville.  They  required  some  strong  ex- 
citement to  bring  them  to  a  proper  mind, 
and  in  order  to  animate  and  exasperate 
them,  they  were  told  that  a  horrible  con- 
spiracy was  discovered,  which  the  Hugue- 
nots had  made  against  the  king,  the  queen- 
mother,  and  the  princes,  without  excepting 
the  King  of  Navarre,  for  the  destruction 
of  the  monarchy  and  religion :  that  the 
king  wishing  to  anticipate  so  execrable  an 
attempt,  commanded  them  to  fall  at  once 
upon  all  those  cursed  heretics  (rebels 
against  God  and  the  king)  without  sparing 
one;  and  that  afterwards  their  property 
should  be  given  up  to  plunder.!  This 
was  sufficient  inducement  for  a  populace 
who  naturally  detested  the  Huguenots ; 
every  thing  being  thus  arranged,  they 
impatiently  waited  the  dawn,  and  the  sig- 
nal which  it  was  to  bring  with  it. 

The  wretched  King  of  France  had  gone 
so  far  that  a  retreat  was  impossible ;  but 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  that  even 
at  the  last  moment  he  would  gladly  have 
obeyed  the  dictates  of  nature,  and  have 
desisted  from  the  cruel  purpose.  Among 
the  inferior  classes  of  murderers,  whose 
condition  is  unable  to  protect  them  from 
the  laws,  we  frequently  find  that,  unless 
their  lives  have  been  of  an  abandoned 
description,  they  have  generally  hesitated 
at  the  moment  of  committing  the  crime, 
and  have  required  some  excitement  to 
urge  them  to  the  work.  The  hesitation, 
therefore,  which  Charles  displayed  was 
natural;  although  depraved  in  his  mind, 
and  vindictive  in  his  disposition,  his  rank 
had  preserved  him  from  conduct  which 
would  sear  his  feelings  ;  and  we  find  that 
too  late  he  sent  orders  to  prevent  the  mas- 
sacre from,  taking  place.  But  the  queen 
had  perceived  the  inquietude  which  tor- 
mented him:  she  saw  that  if  the  signal  de- 
pended upon  him,  he  would  not  have  re- 


solution enough  to  give  it:  she  considered 
that  the  hour  should  be  hastened,  to  pre- 
vent any  rising  remorse  from  destroying 
her  work:  she  therefore  made  another 
effort  to  inflame  her  son,  by  telling  him 
that  the  Protestants  had  discovered  the 
plot ;  and  then  sent  some  one  to  ring  the 
bell  of  St.  Germain  l'Auxerrois,  an  hour 
earlier  than  had  been  agreed  upon*  A 
few  moments  after  was  heard  the  report 
of  a  pistol,  which  had  such  an  effect  on 
the  king,  that  he  sent  orders  to  prevent 
the  massacre,  but  it  was  then  too  late.f 

Guise,  who  had  waited  with  impatience 
for. the  signal,  went  at  once  to  Coligny's 
house,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Au- 
male,  Angouleme,  and  a  number  of  gentle- 
men. Cosseins,  who  commanded  the 
guards  posted  there,  broke  open  the  doors 
in  the  king's  name,  and  murdered  some 
Swiss  who  were  placed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  stairs.  Besme,{  a  Lorrain,  and  Pes- 
trucci,  an  Italian,  both  in  Guise's  pay,  then 
went  up  stairs  to  the  admiral,  followed  by 
some  soldiers.  Coligny,  awakened  by 
the  noise,  asked  one  of  his  attendants  what 
it  was:  he  replied,  "my  lord,  God  calls  us 
to  himself."  Coligny  then  said  to  his  at- 
tendants, "save  yourselves,  my  friends; 
all  is  over  with  me.  I  have  been  long 
prepared  for  death."  They  all- quitted 
him  but  one;  and  he  betook  himself  to 
prayer,  awaiting  his  murderers.  Every 
door  was  soon  broke  open,  and  Besme 
presented  himself.  "Art  thou  Coligny !" 
said  he;  "I  am  he  indeed,"  said  the  admi- 
ral; "young  man,  you  ought  to  respect 
my  gray  hairs;  but,  do  what  you  will, 
you  can  shorten  my  life  only  by  a  few 
days."  Besme  replied  by  plunging  his 
sword  into  Coligny's  body;  his  compa- 
nions then  gave  him  numerous  atabs  with 
their  daggers.  Besme  then  called  out  of 
the  window  to  Guise,  that  it  was  done: 
"  very  well,"  replied  he,  "  but  M.  d" Angou- 
leme will  not  believe  it,  unless  he  sees  him 
at  his  feet."  The  corpse  was  thrown  out 
into  the  court  from  the  window;  and  the 
blood  spurted  out  on  the  faces  and  clothes 
of  the  princes.  Guise  wiped  the  murdered 
man's  face  in  order  to  recognise  him,  and 
then  gave  orders  to  cut  off  his  head.§ 


*  Bran  tome,  vol  i 
t  Maimbourg,  BU 


.  p.  42ri.    Sully,  liv.  1. 
Uu  Cvlcinisme,  liv. 0,  p.  473. 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  52.  The  church  hell  was  rung  al  two 
o'clock  in  (be  morning  of  Sunday,  the  24th  August. 

t  Discern  rs  du  Koi  Henri  III  .  &c,  at  the  end: 

[  Besme  married  a  natural  daughter  of  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorrain  ;  and.  as  a  further  recompense  for  murdering- 
Coligny,  the  King  of  Spain  made  bim  a  handsome 
present.  Brantonie,  vol.  viii.  p.  1U5.  liayle,  art.  Besme, 

§  De  Thou,  liv.  52.  Branluiue,  vol.  viii.  p.  185, 


140 


MASSACRE  OF  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


The  ringing  of  the  bell  of  St.  Germain 
1'Auxerrois  was  answered  by  the  bells  of 
all  the  churches,  and  by  a  discharge  of 
fire-arms  in  different  parts.  Paris  re- 
sounded with  cries  and  howlings,  which 
brought  the  defenceless  people  out  of  their 
dwellings,  not  only  unarmed,  but  half 
naked.  Some  tried  to  gain  Coligny's 
house,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  protection, 
but  the  companies  of  guards  quickly  de- 
spatched ihem  :  the  Louvre  seemed  to  hold 
out  a  refuge ;  but  they  were  driven  away 
by  men  armed  with  spears  and  musketry. 
Escape  was  almost  impossible;  the  nume- 
rous lights  placed  in  the  windows  deprived 
them  of  the  shelter  which  the  darkness 
would  have  afforded  them ;  and  patrols 
traversed  the  streets  in  all  directions,  kill- 
ing every  one  they  met.  From  the  streets 
they  proceeded  to  the  houses;  they  broke 
open  the  doors,  and  spared  neither  age, 
sex,  nor  condition.  A  white  cross  had 
been  put  in  their  hats  to  distinguish  the 
Catholics;  and  some  priests,  holding  a 
crucifix  in  one  hand,  and  a  sword  in  the 
other,  preceded  the  murderers,  and  encou- 
raged them,  in  God's  name,  to  spare  nei- 
ther relatives  nor  friends.  When  the  day- 
light appeared,  Paris  exhibited  a  most 
appalling  spectacle  of  slaughter:  the  head- 
less bodies  were  falling  from  the  windows; 
the  gateways  were  blocked  up  with  dead 
and  dying;  and  the  streets  were  filled 
with  carcasses  which  were  drawn  on  the 
pavement  to  the  river.* 

Even  the  Louvre  became  the  scene  of 
great  carnage:  the  guards  were  drawn 
up  in  a  double  line,  and  the  unfortunate 
Huguenots  who  were  in  that  place  were 
called  one  after  another,  and  killed  with 
the  soldiers'  halberts.t  Most  of  them  died 
without  complaining,  or  even  speaking; 
others  appealed  to  the  public  faith  and  the 
sacred  promise  of  the  king.  "  Great  God  !" 
said  they,  "  be  the  defence  of  (he  op- 
pressed. Just  Judge!  avenge  this  per- 
fidy.":): Some  of  the  King  of  Navarre's 
servants,  who  lived  in  the  palace,  were 
killed  in  bed  with  their  wives.§ 

Tavannes,  Guise,  Montpensier  and  An- 
gouleme,  rode  through  the  streets,  encou- 
raging the  murderers:  Guise  told  them 
that  it  was  the  king's  wish ;  that  it  was 


*  D'AubignG,  Davila,  Maiinbourg,  De  Thou,  Mathieu, 
&c,  &c 

t  Mem.  de  Tavannee,  p.  418.   Davila,  liv.  5. 

j  D'.vubigne,  Hist.  Umn.  vol  ii.  p.  18. 

4  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Ouerres  Civiles  de  France. 


necessary  to  kill  the  very  last  of  the  here- 
tics, and  crush  the  race  of  vipers.*  Ta- 
vannes ferociously  exclaimed,  "  bleed ! 
bleed!  The  doctors  tell  us  that  bleeding 
is  as  beneficial  in  August  as  in  May."f 
These  exhortations  were  not  lost  upon  an 
enraged  multitude,  and  the  different  com- 
panies emulated  each  other  in  atrocity. 
One  Cruce,  a  g'oldsmith,  boasted  of  having 
killed  four  hundred  persons  with  his  own 
hands. 

The  massacre  lasted  during  the  whole 
week,  but  after  the  third  day  its  fury  wa3 
considerably  abated  ;  indeed,  on  the  Tues- 
day a  proclamation  was  issued  for  putting 
an  end  to  it,  but  no  measures  were  taken 
for  enforcing  the  order:  the  people,  how- 
ever, were  no  longer  urged  on  to  the 
slaughter.}  What  horrors  were  endured 
during  that  time  can  be  best  described 
by  those  who  were  present  or  contempo- 
raries. Sully  gives  the  following  account 
of  his  sufferings: — "I  went  to  bed  the 
over-night  very  early:  I  was  aroused 
about  three  hours  after  midnight  by  the 
noise  of  bells,  and  the  confused  cries  of 
the  populace.  St.  Jtilien,  my  governor, 
went  out  hastily  with  my  valet-de-chambre 
to  learn  the  cause,  and  I  have  never  since 
heard  any  thing  of  those  two  men,  who 
were,  without  doubt,  sacrificed  among  the 
first  to  the  public  fury.  I  remained  alone 
dressing  myself  in  my  chamber,  where  a 
few  minutes  after  I  observed  my  host 
enter,  pale  and  in  consternation.  He 
was  of  the  religion,  and  having  heard  ' 
what  was  the  matter,  he  had  decided  on 
going  to  mass'to  save  his  life,  and -pre- 
serve his  house  from  plunder.  He  came 
to  persuade  me  to  do  the  same,  and  to 
take  me  with  him.  I  did  not  think  fit  to 
follow  him.  I  resolved  on  attempting  to 
get  to  the  college  of  Burgundy,  where  I 
studied,  notwithstanding  the  distance  of 
the  house  where  I  lived  from  that  college, 
which  made  my  attempt  very  dangerous. 
I  put  on  my  scholar's  gown,  and  taking  a 
pair  of  large  prayer  books  under  my  arm, 
I  went  down  stairs.  I  was  seized  with 
horror  as  I  went  into  the  street  at  seeing 
the  furious  men  running  in  every  direc- 
tion, breaking  open  the  houses,  and  call- 
ing out  'kill!  massacre  the  Huguenots!* 

"♦'EspritTde  la  I.igue,  vol.  ii.  p.  48. 
f  Hrantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  113. 

X  Lapopeliniere  stales  thut  on  the  Sunday,  and  al- 
most every  day,  orders  were  issued  to  slop  the  massacre, 
but  it  still  continued;  "  so  that  I  he  lastday  of  ihe  week 
was  but  little  less  remarked  for  murders  llian  tliOr 
others,"  liv.  29,  p.  67. 


ESCAPE  OF  SULLY. 


14L 


and  the  blood  which  I  saw  shed  before  my 
eyes  redoubled  my  fright:  I  fell  in  with  a 
body  of  soldiers,  who  stopped  me:  I  was 
questioned ;  they  began  to  ill-treat  me, 
when  the  books  which  I  carried  were  dis- 
covered, happily  for  me,  and  served  me 
for  a  passport.  Twice  afterwards  I  fell 
into  the  same  danger,  from  which  I  was 
delivered  with  the  same  good  fortune.  At 
length  I  arrived  at  the  college  of  Burgun- 
dy: a  still  greater  danger  awaited  me 
there.  The  porter  having  twice  refused 
me  admittance,  I  remained  in  the  middle 
of  the  street  at  the  mercy  of  the  ruffians, 
whose  numbers  kept  increasing,  and  who 
eagerly  sought  for  their  prey ;  when  I 
thought  of  asking  for  the  principal  of  the 
college,  named  Dafaye,  a  worthy  man, 
and  who  tenderly  loved  me.  The  porter, 
gained  by  some  small  pieces  of  money 
which  I  put  into  his  hand,  did  not  refuse 
to  fetch  him.  This  good  man  took  me  to 
his  chamber,  where  two  inhuman  priests, 
whom  I  heard  talk  of  the  Sicilian  Vespers, 
tried  io  snatch  me  from  his  hands,  to  tear 
me  to  pieces,  saying  that  the  order  was  to 
kill  even  the  infants  at  the  breast.  All 
that  he  could  do  was  to  lead  me  with 
great  secresy  to  a  remote  closet,  where 
he  locked  me  in.  I  remained  there  three 
whole  days,  uncertain  of  my  fate,  and  re- 
ceiving no  assistance  but  from  a  servant 
of  this  charitable  man,  who  came  from 
time  to  time,  and  brought  me  something 
to  live  upon."* 

The  Queen  of  Navarre  has  also  given 
an  account  of  the  dreadful  night  which 
preceded,  or  rather  ushered  in,  the  mas- 
sacre. She  relates,  that  on  retiring  to 
rest,  her  husband's  bed  was  surrounded 
by  thirty  or  forty  Huguenots,  who  were 
talking  all  night  of  the  accident  which  had 
befallen  the  admiral,  and  resolved  the 
next  morning  to  insist  upon  the  king's 
doing  justice  for  them  on  the  Guises. 
No  sleep  was  to  be  had  under  such  cir- 
cumstances; and  before  day  the  King  of  i 
Navarre  rose,  with  the  intention  of  play-j 
ing  at  tennis,  till  the  king  (Charles)  was! 
up.  When  the  King  of  Navarre  and  his 
gentlemen  had  retired,  the  queen  soon  | 
fell  asleep.  In  less  than  an  hour  she  was 
woke  up  by  a  man,  striking  with  his 
hands  and  feet  against  the  door  of  her 
chamber,  and  calling  out  Navarre!  Na- 
varre !—  Margaret's  chamber-maid  opened 


*  Sully,  liv.  j. 


the  door,  and  immediately  a  man  covered 
with  blood,  and  pursued  by  four  soldiers, 
ran  in  for  refuge.*  "  He,  wishing  for 
protection,"  says  Margaret,  "  threw  him- 
self on  my  bed:  I,  feeling  a  man  lay  hold 
of  me,  threw  myself  out  at  the  bedside, 
and  hirn  after  me,  still  holding  me  round 
the  body:  I  did  not  know  the  man,  nor 
did  I  know  if  he  came  there  to  injure  me, 
or  whether  the  soldiers  were  after  him  or 
me;  we  both  of  us  cried  out,  and  were 
both  equally  frightened."  It  was  with 
difficulty  the  queen  could  obtain  this  per- 
son's pardon:  the  captain  of  the  guards 
conducted  her  to  the  chamber  of  her  sis- 
ter, the  Duchess  of  Lorrain;  and  at  the 
moment  of  entering  that  apartment,  a  gen- 
tleman was  killed  close  to  her.  She  al- 
most fainted  away,  and  could  only  be 
brought  to  by  her  sister's  care.t 

On  coming  to  herself  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  inquired  for  her  husband,  who 
on  quitting  his  room  had  been  conducted 
to  the  king's  presence,  along  with  the 
Prince  of  Conde.  They  were  not  al- 
lowed to  take  their  swords,  and  on  the 
way  they  saw  several  of  their  friends 
murdered  before  them,  particularly  the 
brave  Piles,  who  so  valiantly  defended  St. 
Jean  d'Angely.  In  order  to  frighten 
them  into  compliance  with  the  king's 
wishes,  they  were  made  to  feel  the  full 
extent  of  their  danger;  they  passed 
through  long  lines  of  soldiers  who  were 
prepared  to  massacre  them.  Charles  re- 
ceived them  in  great  anger,  and  com- 
manded them,  with  his  usual  oaths  and 
blasphemies,  to  renounce  the  religion 
which  he  declared  they  had  only  taken 
as  a  pretext  for  their  rebellion.  As  the 
princes,  however,  expressed  the  difficulty 
they  felt  in  changing  their  creed,  his  rage 
became  excessive,  and  he  told  them, 
"That  he  would  no  longer  be  thwarted 
in  his  wishes  by  his  subjects;  that  they 
ought  to  teach  others,  by  their  example, 
to  revere  him  as  the  likeness  of  God,  and 
be  no  longer  the  enemies  of  his  mother's 
images."|  The  Prince  of  Conde  boldly 
told  him,  "That  he  was  accountable  to 
God  alone  for  his  religion;  that  his  pos- 
sessions and  his  life  were  in  his  majesty's 
power,  and  he  might  dispose  of  them  as 
he  pleased;  but  that  no  menaces,  nor 

*  It  wasGastnn  de  Levis.  Viscountde  Lnyran.  Bran- 
tome.  vol.  i.  p. 202.    D'Aubigne.,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 
t  Mem.  de  la  Reine  Marguerite,  p.  181. 
J  Sully,  liv.  1. 


142 


ESCAPE  OF  THE  YOUNGER  LA  FORCE. 


even  death,  should  make  him  renounce 
the  truth."*  They  were  then  remanded 
for  three  days,  with  the  information,  that 
if  they  did  not  become  Catholics  they 
would  be  treated  as  guilty  of  high  treason, 
both  human  and  divine.  The  King  of 
Navarre  was,  in  addition,  to  send  an  order 
to  his  states  forbidding  the  exercise  of 
every  religion  but  the  Romish.t 

Marshal  de  la  Force  was  a  child  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre;  he  has  left  some 
memoirs  of  his  life,  and  has  given  the 
following  narrative  of  what  occurred  to 
him:  "  A  horse-dealer  who  had  seen  the 
Duke  of  Guise  and  his  satellites  go  into 
Admiral  Coligny's  house,  and  gliding- 
through  the  crowd,  had  witnessed  the 
murder  of  that  nobleman,  ran  immediately 
to  give  information  to  M.  Caumont  de  la 
Force,  to  whom  he  had  sold  ten  horses  a 
week  before. 

"  La  Force  and  his  two  sons  lodged  in 
the  faubourg  St.  Germain,  as  well  as 
many  Calvinists.  There  was  not  then 
any  bridge  which  joined  this  faubourg  to 
the  city.  All  the  boats  had  been  seized 
by  order  of  the  court  to  carry  over  the 
assassins.  The  horse-dealer  plunged  in, 
swam  across,  and  informed  M.  de  la 
Force  of  his  danger.  La  Force  was  out 
of  his  house,  and  had  time  enough  to 
save  himself;  but  seeing  his  children  did 
not  follow  him,  he  returned  to  fetch  them. 
He  had  scarcely  entered  again  when  the 
assassins  arrived.  One  Martin,  at  their 
head,  entered  his  room,  disarmed  him  and 
his  two  children,  and  told  him  with  dread- 
ful oaths  that  he  must  die.  La  Force  of- 
fered him  a  ransom  of  two  thousand 
crowns;  the  captain  accepted  it;  La  Force 
swore  to  pay  it  to  him  in  two  days,  and 
immediately  the  assassins,  after  having 
stripped  the  house,  told  La  Force  and  his 
children  to  put  their  handkerchiefs  in 
their  hats  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  made 
them  tuck  up  their  right  sleeves  on  the 
shoulder:  that  was  the  token  for  the  mur- 
derers. In  this  state  they  made  them 
pass  the  river,  and  conducted  them  into 
the  city.  The  marshal  declares  that  he 
saw  the  river  covered  with  dead  bodies. 
His  father,  his  brother,  and  he  landed  be- 
fore the  Louvre:  there  they  saw  several 
of  their  friends  murdered,  and  among 
others  the  brave  De  Piles,  father  of  him 

*  D'Aubi^ne,  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ii.  p  19. 
T  Sully,  liv.  1. 


who  killed  in  a  duel  the  son  of  Malherbe. 
From  thence  Captain  Martin  took  his 
prisoners  to  his  house,  Rue  des  Petits 
Champs;  made  La  Force  and  his  sons 
swear  that  they  would  not  go  out  thence 
before  they  had  paid  the  two  thousand 
crowns;  left  them  in  the  custody  of  two 
Swiss  soldiers,  and  went  in  search  of 
other  Calvinists  to  massacre  in  the  city. 

"  One  of  the  Swiss,  touched  with  com- 
passion, offered  the  prisoners  to  let  them 
escape.    La  Force  would  do  nothing  of 
the   kind:    he   answered,  that  he  had 
pledged  his  word,  and  that  he  would 
rather  die  than  forfeit  it.    An  aunt  of  his 
had  procured  for  him  the  two  thousand 
crowns,  and  they  were  going  to  be  de- 
livered to    Captain    Martin,  when  the 
Count  de  Coeonas  (the  same  who  was 
afterwards  beheaded)  came  to  tell  La 
Force  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  wished  to 
speak  to  him.    Immediately  he  made  the 
father  and  the  children  go  down  stairs, 
bareheaded  and  without  their  cloaks.  La 
Force  plainly  saw  that  they  were  leadin 
him  to  death:  he  followed  Coeonas,  pray- 
irlg  him  to  spare  his  two  innocent  chil- 
dren.   The  younger  (aged  thirteen  years, 
the  writer  of  this,  and  who  was  called 
James  Nompa)  raised  his  voice,  and  re- 
proached the  murderers  with  their  crimes, 
telling  them  they  would  be  punished  for 
it  by  God.    In  the  mean  time  the  two 
children  were  led  with  their  father  to  the 
end  of  the   Rue   des  Petits  Champs. 
They -first  gave  the  elder  several  stabs; 
he  cried  out,  '  Ah,  my  father,  Oh,  my 
God!  I  am  dead.'    At  the  same  instant 
the  father  fell  upon  his  son's  body  co- 
vered with  wounds.    The  younger,  co- 
vered with  their  blood,  but  who  by  an 
astonishing  miracle  had  received  no  stab, 
had  the  prudence  to  cry  out  also,  '  I  am 
dead.'    He  threw  himself  down  between 
his  father  and  brother,  and  received  their 
last  sighs.    The  murderers  believing  them 
all  dead,  went  away,  saying,  'There  they 
are  all  three.'    Some  wretehes  afterwards 
came  to  strip  their  bodies.    The  young 
La  Force  had  one  stocking  left;  a  marker 
of  Verdelet's  Tennis  Court  wished  to 
have  it:  in  taking  it  off  he  mused  on  the 
body  of  the  young  child.    «  Aias !'  said 
he,  4  what  a  pity  !    This  is  but  a  child, 
what  can  he  have  done  V    These  words 
of  compassion  obliged  the  little  La  Force 
to  raise  his  head  gently,  and  say,  in  a 


IGNOMINIOUS  TREATMENT  OF  THE  CORPSE  OF  COLIGNY. 


143 


low  voice,  'I  am  not  yet  dead.'  The 
poor  man  answered,  '  Do  not  stir,  child; 
have  patience.'  In  the  evening,  he  came 
to  fetch  him.  '  Get  up,'  said  he,  '  they 
are  no  longer  here,'  and  put  a  shabby 
cloak  upon  his  shoulders.  As  he  con- 
ducted him,  some  of  the  executioners 
asked  him,  who  is  that  boy  ?  '  It  is  my 
nephew,'  said  he,  '  who  has  got  drunk; 
you  see  what  a  state  he  is  in:  I  am  going 
to  give  him  a  good  whipping.'  At  last 
the  poor  marker  took  him  to  his  house, 
and  asked  thirty  crowns  for  his  reward. 
From  thence  the  young  La  Force  was 
taken,  in  the  disguise  of  a  beggar,  to  the 
arsenal,  to  his  relative,  Marshal  Biron, 
grand-master  of  the  artillery.  He  was 
concealed  some  time  in  the  girls'  cham- 
bers. At  length,  hearing  that  the  court 
were  hunting  after  him  to  destroy  him, 
he  made  his  escape  in  the  dress  of  a  page, 
under  the  name  of  Beaupuy."* 

Although  bigotry  and  fanaticism  were 
the  chief  motives  with  the  murderers, 
part  of  the  crimes  committed  on  the  oc- 
casion were  the  effect  of  other  bad  pas- 
sions, and  many  true  Catholics  were  in- 


a  fire  was  placed  underneath  and  disfi- 
gured it  horribly.* 

It  was  in  this  state,  when  Charles  went 
with  his  court  to  indulge  in  the  sight  of 
his  murdered  enemy:  the  same  whom  a 
few  days  before  he  had  called  his  father, 
assuring  him  that  he  should  always  con- 
sider him  a  faithful  subject,  and  a  brave 
general.  Some  of  the  courtiers  stopping 
their  noses  on  account  of  the  smell,  the 
king  remarked,  "I  do  not  do  as  you,  for 
the  smell  of  a  dead  enemy  is  always 
go«»d."t 

Marshal  Montmorency  employed  some 
persons  to  take  down  the  miserable  re- 
mains at  night,  and  placed  them  in  a  se- 
cret place,  being  afraid  to  trust  them  in 
the  chapel  at  Chantilly,  lest  they  should 
be  taken  away:  they  were  afterwards  in- 
terred at  Montauban,  and  subsequently, 
when  the  decrees  against  Coligny's  me- 
mory were  reversed,  they  were  removed 
to  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors,  at  Chatillon- 
sur-Loing4 

They  who  thus  insulted  Coligny's  re- 
mains may  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the 
lower  classes;  but  the  king  gave  a  public 


volved  in  the  massacre:  those  who  were  approval  of  their  conduct,  and  the  cour- 
rich  were  sacrificed  by  their  heirs,  and  tiers  endeavoured  to  exceed  them  in  bru- 
many  fell  victims  to  private  resentments,  tality.  The  monarch's  ferocity  appears 
Marshals  Biron  and  Cosse  were  both  de- j  to  have  been  contagious,  for  ladies  of  his 
voted  to  destruction,  through  the  effect  of  court  were  seen  descending  into  the 
personal  dislike;  but  Cosse  found  a  |  square  of  the  Louvre,  then  filled  with  the 
powerful  intercessor  in  the  Duke  of  dead  bodies  of  Protestantgentlemen,  many 
Anjou's  mistress;  and  Biron,  who  was  '  of  whom  had  cheerfully  passed  with  them 
commander  of  the  Bastille,  defended  him-  j  some  hours  of  the  preceding  day.  It  was 
self  by  pointing' cannon  against  the  in-  by  their  siren-like  qualities  that  many  of 
furiated  mob:  this  attempt  against  him  the  Huguenot  nobility  had  been  drawn  to 
ensured  his  assistance  for  those  Ilugue- ;  court:  they  had  now  become  harpies, 
nots  who  sought  his  help.t  |  through  the  addition  of  cruelty  to  their 

In  the  mean  time  Coligny's  body  was  fanaticism  and  wantonness;  and,  tramp- 
ling every  proper  feeling  under  foot,  they 


the  object  of  every  kind  of  insult.  His 
head  was  cut  oft*  and  sent  to  Catherine 


jested  and  laughed  as  they  recognised  any 


what  became  of  it  afterwards  is  unknown:  i  of  the  murdered  men.  Among  those  who 
some  say  it  was  sent  to  the  pope,  others  j  fell  within  the  precincts  of  the  palace  was 
to  the  King  of  Spain. X  His  body  was  |  Soubise,§  whose  wife  had  instituted  a 
mangled,  and  drawn  through  the  streets  j  suit  against  him  for  a  divorce,  on  the 
during  two  or  three  days:  the  populace  ground  of  impotency.  His  mangled  body 
then  threw  it  into  the  river,  but  after-  ]  underwent  an  examination  by  all  those 
wards  drew  it  out  again,  and  hung  it  up  ladies,  whose  barbarous  curiosity  was 
by  the  heels  at  the  gibbet  of  Monlfaucon; 


*  This  narrative  is  inserted  in  the  Notes  of  the  Hen 
riade:  the  circumstance  is  mentioned  alto  by  De  Thuu, 
D'Aubicne  anil  Mezeray. 

t  He  Thon,  liv.  5'2. 

I  Tavannes  says  it  was  sent  to  Rome,  Mem.  p.  419: 
and  Felibien  asserts  the  same,  His.  de  Paris,  vol.  ii  p 
1119. 


*  Vie  de  Coliiny,  D'Aubigne,  and  De  Thou, 
t  Rrantoine.  P  Masson,  and  many  others, 
t  Mem,  de  la  Vie  de  J.  A.    De  Thou,  14.    Vie  de 
Coligny. 

§  His  name  was  Dupont  (luillenec;  but,  having  mar- 
ried the  heiress  of  James  Parthenay,  Lord  of  Soubise, 
he  assumed  that  name.  The  circumstance  is  mention- 
ed by  most  writers. 


144  DISSIMULATION 

worthy  of  such  an  Abominable  court.* 
Restraint  of  every  kind  was  thrown 
aside;  and  while  the  men  were  victims 
of  bigoted  fury,  the  women  were  exposed 
to  the  violence  of  lust.f 

The  Count  de  Coconas  boasted  of 
having  rescued  from  the  populace  thirty 
Protestants,  to  whom  he  promised  their 
lives  if  they  would  recant.  He  after- 
wards put  them  all  to  death  in  a  lingering 
way. J 

About  seven  or  eight  hundred  persons 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  prisons,  thinking 
to  find  shelter  under  the  wings  of  justice; 
but  the  captains  placed  there  had  them 
brought  out  to  an  open  spot,  when  they 
were  knocked  on  the  head  and  thrown 
into  the  river.§ 

Guise  considered  it  his  interest  to  give 
shelter  in  his  hotel  to  a  few  Huguenots, 
and  even  Tavannes  spared  some  who 
fell  in  his  way.  When  they  were 
speaking  of  it  in  the  Louvre,  others  re- 
plied, fiercely:  "  It  was  betraying  them, 
it  was  betraying  God  and  the  king  to 
spare  the  heretics:  if  they  are  less  nume- 
rous, vengeance  gtyes  them  more  force: 
Coligny  is  no  more,  but  the  King  of  Na- 
varre and  the  Prince  of  Conde  survive: 
they  will  soon  escape  from  the  court; 
and  the  church  has  every  thing  to  fear 
from  such  converts.  We  must  still  fight; 
we  must  seek  under  the  walls  of  Ro- 
chelle  and  Montauban  those  who  have 
been  suffered  to  escape  from  Pans,  from 
Provence,  Languedoc,  and  other  pro- 
vinces. While  we  grow  weary,  they 
hate  us  the  more,  and  they  have  almost 
ceased  to  fear  us."||  Thus  the  murder  of 
so  many  of  their  countrymen  appeared  in 
their  view  only  an  imperfect  piece  of 
policy  unless  it  were  well  followed  up. 

In  attempting  to  detail  the  particulars 
of  this  dreadful  event,  or  rather  series  of 
events,  it  is  impossible  to  describe  each 
circumstance  in  its  chronological  order. 
The  reader  must  therefore  excuse  those 
retrograde  steps  which  are  unavoidable  in 
such  a  narrative;  perhaps  the  preponde- 

*  De  Thou,  liv  52.  vol.  vi.  p  402. 

t  Brantome.  vol.  i.  p.  303.  "  Je  cognois  denx  grandes 
dames  Huguenottes.  lesquels  an  massacre  de  la  St.  Bar- 
thelemi  souft'rirent  la  charge  de  quel<jHesuns  que  je  scay 
bien,  cartout  estoit  lors  a  I'abandon,"  &c. 

I  L'Estoile,  vol.  i.  p  32.  Montfilave,  Hist,  dcs  Can- 
jarations  lies  Jesuites.  In  this  work  [  find  the  fnllowine 
passage  :  "The  Jesuits  were  very  busy,  and  encouraged 
the  people  to  murder:  their  house  had  been  a  rondezvous 
for  some  time  previous  " 

§  Mezeray,  Mbrege  Cliron. 

S  Lacretelle,  Hist,  des  Ouerres  de  Religion,  vol.  II. 


OF  THE  KING. 

ranee  of  his  sensibility  may  cause  a  wish 
that  a  mere  outline  had  been  given,  which 
would  have  spared  him  an  account  of 
events  so  painful  to  humanity,  so  dis- 
graceful to  the  cause  they  were  intended 
to  benefit.  The  historian,  however,  is 
bound  to  relate  the  whole  truth;  and, 
when  he  treats  of  those  circumstances 
which  affected  the  happiness  of  a  nation, 
he  should  exhibit  every  crime  in  its  full 
deformity.  We  have  seen  the  wretched 
Charles  falter  in  giving  the  fatal  order, 
and  we  find  him  countermanding  it  when 
too  late:  we  must  trace  his  behaviour 
through  the  whole  transaction. 

In  spite  of  the  assertions  of  Romish 
writers,  that  their  church  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  massacre,  it  is  very  clear  that 
a  zeal  to  support  that  religion  was  the 
chief  motive  of  Charles  IX.  He  told 
Ambrose  Pare  on  the  day  of  the  massa- 
cre, that  the  time  was  arrived  when  everv 
one  must  become  Catholic;*  and  it  ap- 
pears that  his  repugnance  to  it  entirely 
ceased  when  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde  showed  a  reluctance  to 
change  their  religion.  His  bigotry,  meet- 
ing with  obstacles,  became  inflamed  to 
such  a  degree,  that  his  impetuous  temper 
disdained  all  bounds,  and  he  was  as  fu- 
rious as  any  of  the  inferior  murderers  in 
the  city.  From  his  window  in  the  Louvre 
he  perceived  some  persons  making  their 
escape  across  the  river,  and  actually  fired 
at  them,  but  happily  without  effect;  call- 
ing out  to  those  who  pursued  them,  "  Kill! 
kill!"  not  wishing,  says  Brantome,  that 
any  should  escape.t 

But  before  the  day  had  elapsed, 
Charles  reflected  that  so  much  bloodshed 
required  some  account  to  be  given,  or  all 
Europe  would  resound  with  indignation 
against  him.  On  the  evening  of  the  24th, 
despatches  were  sent  to  all  the  governors 
of  the  provinces,  informing  them  of  the 
death  of  Coligny,  and  the  troubles  which 
had  occurred  in  Paris;  attributing  every 
thing  to  the  feud  which  had  so  long  sub- 
sisted between  Guise  and  the  admiral, 
and  stating  that  the  populace  in  their  en- 
thusiasm for  the  Guises  could  not  be  re- 
strained.! The  governors  were  ordered 
to  make  proclamation,  that  the  edict  of 


*  Sully,  liv.  1. 

+  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  427. 

I  See  every  historian  except  Lapopeliniere,  who 
passes  it  unnoticed.  The  Abbe  Caveyrac  gives  a  copy 
of  the  proclamation. 


DISSIMULATION  OF  THE  KING. 


145 


pacification  should  be  maintained,  and  in 
order  to  shift  the  blame  entirely  from 
himself,  be  added: — "I  ain  with  the 
King  of  Navarre,  my  brother,  and  my 
cousin,  the  Prince  of  Conde:  if  they  are 
in  any  danger,  I  am  determined  to  share 
it  with  them."*  In  one  letter  he  went 
so  far  as  to  say,  that  he  had  joined  with 
the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  cousin 
the  admiral. t 

This  pretence,  however,  was  too  shal- 
low to  last;  and,  besides,  the  Guises  had 
sufficient  influence  to  compel  the  king  to 
acknowledge  the  share  he  had  in  the 
massacre.  Charles  was  easily  persuaded, 
moreover,  that  his  proclamation  would 
not  only  be  disbelieved,  but  that  he  would 
expose  himself  to  contempt,  by  making 
it  appear  that  he  had  not  authority 
enough  to  compel  the  Guises  to  obey 
him,  nor  strength  nor  resolution  suffi- 
cient to  punish  such  a  crime.  He  there- 
fore changed  his  plan,  and  on  Tuesday 
he  went  to  the  parliament,  and  there 
held  a  bed  of  justice. 

.  As  the  king  was  so  eager  to  send  off 
his  fust  proclamation,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  no  time  would  be  lost  in 
justifying  his  conduct  after  he  had  shift- 
ed his  ground;  but  a  whole  day  was 
passed  over.  The  vacillation  of  the 
court  is  a  proof  of  guilt.  Charles  was 
unprepared  with  measures;  and  the  ori- 
ginal plan  having  failed,  by  Colisny  not 
being  killed  on  the  22d,  every  thing  was 
hastily  concerted,  and  badly  executed. 
When  the  admiral  was  dead,  his  house 
was  ransacked;  but  all  his  papers  were 
sent  to  the  Louvre,  where  they  were  ex- 
amined, in  order  to  find  materials  for  an 
accusation  against  him.  Some  memoirs 
on  different  subjects  were  then  discover- 
ed; among  others,  one  to  persuade 
Charles  to  make  war  against  the  Eng- 
lish. Catherine  showed  that  to  Wal- 
singham,  the  English  ambassador,  who 
only  despised  her  for  her  baseness  in  re- 
sorting to  such  means  for  stopping  his 
complaints  against  her  treachery.  Ano- 
ther paper  demonstrated  the  danger 
which  the  state  would  incur,  if  the  king 
bestowed  an  appanage  on  the  Duke  of 
Alengon.  This  was  shown  to  that 
prince,  who  had  a  great  partiality  for  Co- 


*  p'AnbignC,  vol.  ii.  p.  22,  and  De  Thou,  liv.  52 
f  fllezeray,  Abreni  Chron. 

13 


ligny.  After  reading  it,  he  observed,  "  1 
do  not  know  whether  the  writer  is  any 
friend  to  me,  but  certainly  he  is  a  faith- 
ful subject."* 

On  the  20th,  the  king,  accompanied  by 
a  numerous  suite,  went  early  to  hear 
mass,  and  return  thanks  to  God  for  so 
happy  an  event.  He  then  summoned 
all  the  court  to  hold  a  bed  of  justice. f 
There,  unmindful  of  his  declaration  and 
letters,  which  had  attributed  the  massacre 
to  a  sudden  tumult,  he  entered  into  a 
long  complaint  of  the  conspiracy  of  the 
admiral  and  his  friends,  and  declared  that 
the  massacre  had  taken  place  by  his 
orders,  as  the  only  means  of.preventing 
the  destruction  of  himself  and  all  the 
royal  family,  not  excepting  the  King  of 
Navarre.  He  concluded,  by  giving 
orders  to  investigate  the  conspiracy  of 
the  admiral  and  his  accomplices,  that  the 
prisoners  might  be  punished,  and  the 
memory  of  the  dead  stigmatized.]:  The 
counsellors  could  not  venture  to  raise 
doubts  upon  the  charges  made  by  the 
king  in  person,  although  they  considered 
that,  if  they  were  maintainable  by  proof, 
the  parliament  ought  to  have  been  sum- 
moned on  the  first  day.  Still  they  could 
not  receive  such  a  communication  with- 
out reply;  and  the  chief  president,  De 
Thou,  had  to  express  his  approbation  of 
what  he  strongly  condemned.  The 
words  which  he  used  on  the  occasion 
would,  under  any  other  circumstances, 
have  been  insulting:  he  praised  the  king 
for  having  acted  upon  the  precept  of 
Louis  XI. — He  who  cannot  dissemble  is 
not  fit  to  rrign.^  But  Charles  could  not 
take  offence  at  what  had  been  his  public 
boast;  and  we  are  assured  by  Brantome 
that  he  said,  "  Have  not  I  played  my 
game  well  ?  Have  not  I  known  how  to 
dissemble  ?  Have  not  I  well  learned  the 
lesson  and  the  Latin  of  my  ancestor, 
King  Louis  XI.  ?"|| 

Pibrac,  the  King's  advocate,  then 
asked  if  his  majesty  would  be  pleased  to 
have  the  event  registered  in  parliament, 
to  perpetuate  the  memorial  of  it,  and  if 
he  proposed  reforming  the  ecclesiastic 
and  judicial  orders:  he  also  begged  that 
the  murders    should   be  discontinued. 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  52. 

t  Lapopeliniere,  liv.  29,  p.  67. 

%  Ibid.   Davila,  liv.  5. 

\  D'Aubignt,  vol.  ii.  p.  24.  De  Thou,  liv.  52. 
||  Branloine,  vol.  ix.  p.  424. 


146 


DISSIMULATION  OF  THE  KING. 


The  king  consented  to  the  first  proposi- 
tion, promised  to  consider  of  the  second, 
and  made  proclamation  by  sound  of 
trumpet,  forbidding  any  one  to  kill  ano- 
ther person. 

On  the  28th,  letters  and  a  proclama- 
tion were  sent  to  all  parts,  by  which 
the  king  declared  himself  the  author  of 
the  massacre.  The  edict  contained  long 
charges  against  the  admiral  and  his 
friends;  declared  that  the  edict  of  pacifi- 
cation should  be  maintained;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  prohibited  the  exercise  of  the 
reformed  religion,  until  the  king  shall 
have  provided  for  the  tranquillity  of  the 
kingdom.*  The  parliament  afterwards 
passed  a  decree,  convicting  the  admiral 
of  treason,  condemning  him  as  a  distur- 
ber of  the  peace,  and  an  enemy  of  the 
public  safety.  His  memory  was  de- 
clared infamous,  his  property  confiscated, 
and  his  family  degraded  to  plebeian  rank; 
his  body  (and  if  that  could  not  be  found, 
his  effigy)  was  ordered  to  be  drawn  on  a 
hurdle,  hung  up  at  the  Greve,  and  then 
fixed  on  the  gibbet  at  Montfaucon.  His 
portraits  and  arms  were  every  where  to 
tie  destroyed  by  the  public  executioner, 
and  his  house  at  Chatillon  was  to  be 
razed,  and  the  trees  cut  down.  The  de- 
cree farther  declared,  that  in  future,  on 
the  anniversary  of  h'is  death,  general  pro- 
cessions should  be  made,  to  thank  God 
for  the  discovery  of  this  conspiracy. 

In  the  conduct  of  Charles  IX.  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  decide  whether  his  cruelty  or  his 
dissimulation  is  most  detestable.  His 
own  edicts,  which  closely  followed  each 
other,  were  very  contradictory;  but  it  is 
asserted  by  an  authority,  not  to  be  reject- 
ed in  this  case,t  that,  the  day  after  his 
proclamation  commanding  every  one  to 
remain  tranquil,  he  despatched  Catholics 
of  note  to  all  the  considerable  towns, 
with  verbal  orders  quite  contrary. I  His 
desire  of  exterminating  the  Huguenots 
was  also  unabated,  although  he  had  pub- 
lished orders,  by  sound  of  trumpet,  for- 
bidding any  farther  slaughter,  "  After  the 
fete  was  over,"  says  Brantome,  "  which 
lasted  the  week,  the  king  being  at  table, 
Tavannes  came  to  him,  when  he  said, 


*  Lapopeliniere,  liv.  Si),  p.  I>7. 

f  The  Abbe  Anquetil.  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  52 
t  The  parliament  of  Rouen  was  proceeding  in  an  in- 
quiry respecting  llie  slaughter  which  had  taken  place 
within  th^ir  jurisdiction  ;  but  the  kin?  ordered  that 
body  to  delist  from  the  attempt.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p. 


'  Marshal,  we  have  not  yet  done  with 
these  Huguenots,  although  we  have  well- 
thinned  the  race:  we  must  go  to  Rochelle 
and  Guyenne.'  'Sire,'  said  Tavannes, 
'do  not  give  yourself  any  trouble;  I  will 
soon  finish  them  with  the  aimy  which 
you  have  proposed  to  give  me.'  "* 

But  without  taking  into  account  the 
difference  between  the  declarations  and 
the  actions  of  the  king,  the  discordance 
between  the  studied  excuses  made  on 
four  occasions  is  sufficient  to  condemn 
him.  Elizabeth  had  sent  an  extraordi- 
nary embassy  to  Paris,  and  Charles  gave 
the  Earl  of  Worcester  an  account  of  the 
massacre.  He.  afterwards  wrote  to  La- 
molie-Fenelon,  his  ambassador  in  Lon- 
don, giving  him  the  conversation  at( 
length.  His  defence  then  assumed  was, 
that,  having  discovered  a  dreadful  con- 
spiracy, he  was  obliged  to  permit  what 
had  taken  place.  He  said  that  it  was 
out  of  his  power  to  act  in  a  legal  way, 
as  he  was  in  great  danger;  and  the  con- 
spiracy being  on  the  point  of  execution, 
he  had  not  time  to  investigate  and  pursue 
the  conspirators,  according  to  the  forms 
of  justice;  but  was  constrained,  to  his 
great  regret,  to  strike  the  blow  which  had 
taken  placet 

Another  attempt  to  palliate  the  king's 
conduct  was  made  by  Montluc,  bishop  of 
Valence,  in  an  address  to  the  Diet  of  Po- 
land. Monduc  had  quitted  Paris  before 
the  massacre,  he  must  therefore  have  re- 
ceived his  instructions  from  the  court; 
and  as  this  speech  was  not  delivered  till 
several  months  after,  it  was  not  the  result 
of  any  communication  hastily  made 
during  the  disturbed  state  of  the  court  of 
France.!  The  bishop  in  his  speech 
went  into  a  detail  of  all  the  advantages 
which  the  Poles  would  derive  from 
having  a  French  prince  for  their  king. 
But  as  reports  of  the  massacre  had 
spread  into  every  kingdom,  he  consider- 
ed it  necessary  to  vindicate  the  King  of 
France  from  the  charge  of  tyranny  and 
cruelty.  "  You  cannot  find,"  said  he, 
any  trace  of  cruelty  during  the  whole 
twelve  years  of  the  reign  of  our  king, 
whom  they  call  a  tyrant  and  cruel.  No 
one  has  ever  by  his  commands  been 

*  Branlorne,  Vie  de  Tarnnnes. 

t  D  israeli,  Curiosities  of  Literature,  &c,  quoted  by 
Dr.  Lingard. 

t  It  was  spoken  10th  April,  1573.  Lapopeliniere  gives 
It  at  length  in  his  History,  liv.  35,  pp.  162,  etseq. 


EMBASSY  OF  DE  RETZ  TO  ENGLAND. 


147 


killed  or  wounded,  or  stripped  of  his  pro- 
perty.   Hut  they  endeavour  by  calum- 
nies, foolishly  and  impudently  invented, 
to  impute  the  death  of  the  late  admiral 
and  some  other  gentlemen  to  the  king's 
cruelty,  to  which  he  has  always  been 
averse.   But  it  is  very  easy  to  refute  their 
calumny  by  a  single  word;  for  their  not 
having  been  killed  before,  is  a  sure  ar- 
gument that  the  king  never  had  it  in  his 
heart  to  do  so.    A  hundred  times  he  has 
had  them  near  him  at  court,  and  espe- 
cially at  Blois  a  year  since,  where  they 
might  have  been  massacred  very  con- 
veniently without  any  fear  of  danger,  be- 
cause the  blame  of  it  would  very  proba- 
bly have  fallen  on  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
who  complained  of  his  father  having 
been  treacherously  killed  by  order  of  the 
admiral.    In  this  complaint  were  joined 
his  near  relations  and  connexions,  as 
also  the  Dukes  of  Montpensier,  Ne- 
mours, and  Nevers,  who  for  certain  pri- 
vate offences  had  become  his  declared 
mortal  enemies.    But  what  has  occurred 
in  Paris  has  certainly  been  by  accident, 
which  suddenly  made  it  spring  up,  with- 
out any  one  being  able  to  foresee  it;  and 
contrary  to  the  hopes  and  opinions  of 
every  body.    For   grievously  as  they 
had  offended  the  king,  and  were  even 
then  accused  of  high  treason  for  having 
conspired,  still  the  king,  who  by  his  na- 
ture is  more  inclined  to  clemency,  would 
have  preferred  seizing  their  persons  to 
murdering  them.    His  advice  was  that 
the  whole  affair  should  be  investigated; 
the  business,  however,  to  be  reserved  for 
the  cognizance  of  the  parliament  of  Pa- 
ris.   But,  as  it  commonly  happens  in 
tumults,  on  a  sudden  the  people,  swelled 
with  fury,  became  excited;  and  then  the 
affair  took  place  otherwise  than  was  de- 
sired, and  the  king  was  very  angry  and 
troubled  on  account  of  it." 

The  Count  de  Retz  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land on  an  embassy  i/i  May,  1573.  His 
mission  had  two  principal  objects:  to  dis- 
suade the  queen  from  helping  the  Pro- 
testants in  Rochelle,  and  to  refute  the 
accounts  of  the  cruelty  of  the  massacres 
in  France.  Elizabeth  received  the  am- 
bassador with  great  respect,  and  went 
towards  Dover  to  meet  him.*  He  as- 
sumed a  defence  quite  opposite  to  those 


*  Lapopelinicre,  liv.  34,  p.  159,  The  speech  delivered 
Uy  De&elz  ig  alco  given  at  length, 


preceding,  and  vindicated  the  king's  con- 
duct in  conspiring  against  Coligny.  He 
represented  that  the  admiral  was  much 
better  accompanied  than  the  king  him- 
self; and  that  thus  making  a  greater  ap- 
pearance than  his  master,  the  king  could 
not  suffer  in  him  what  she  (Elizabeth) 
would  not  consider  proper  in  any  of  her 
nobles.    De  Retz  displayed  great  fami- 
liarity with  ancient' history,  and  gave  ex- 
amples of  the  danger  which  such  ambi- 
tion caused.    "  The  king,  my  master," 
added  he,  "had  examples  more  recent 
and  remarkable  than  those  to  warn  him 
of  the  admiral's  overgrown  power.  For 
lie  had  learned  that  the  indolence  of  for- 
mer kings  had  given  too  much  opportu- 
nity to  the  Pepins,  the  most  ambitions  of 
their  time,  to  aspire  to  the  crown,  which 
they  finally  usurped."    Having  shown 
how  the  Capets  took  the  place  of  Pepin's 
race,  he  enlarged  on  the  utility  of  the 
ostracism  of  the  Athenians,  which  was 
an  excellent  plan  for  preventing  any  one 
from  becoming  dangerous  by  his  popu- 
larity: but  that  not  being  practicable  in 
these  times,  "  the  king  was  advised  to 
destroy  the  roots  of  his  greatness,  and 
with  the  same  hand  cut  down  what  had 
already  sprung  up:  this  he  considered 
could  not  be  done  more  effectually  than 
by  the  death  of  him  whose  interest  and 
resources    were    too    much  suspected 
throughout  the  kingdom."    This  state- 
ment made  Elizabeth  inquire  for  what 
reason  the  massacre   had   included  so 
many  other  persons,  innocent  of  such 
ambition,  and  many  of  them  incapable  of 
bearing  arms.    De  Retz  replied  by  as- 
suring her  that  the  number  of  killed  was 
not  the  fourth  part  of  what  had  been  told 
her,  and  referred  her  to  Walsingham  for 
corroboration. 

The  Swiss  had  felt  and  expressed 
much  indignation  at  the  king's  conduct 
to  the  Protestants,  and  Bellievie  was 
sent  to  Baden  in  December,  1572,  to  ex- 
plain the  affair  in  a  favourable  manner. 
He  commenced  a  long  speech  by  ex- 
plaining the  peril  to  which  the  kingdom 
was  exposed  from  the  admiral's  ambition, 
so  that  his  punishment  could  not  be  de- 
ferred; and  unfortunately  some  of  his 
majesty's  subjects  who  professed  the  new 
religion  were  sacrificed  with  him.  But 
Bellievre  was  commissioned  equally  by 
the  Guises  to  clear  their  character:  hq 


148 


MIRACULOUS  ESCAPES  OF  SOME  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


therefore  spares  no  effort  to  blacken  Co- 
ligny's  character,  and  dwells  upon  Mau- 
revel  requiring  no  incitement  to  kill  the 
admiral,  as  lie  considered  himself  in  dan- 
ger of  assassination,  at  the  instigation  of 
Coligny,  rrho  had  always  more  murder- 
ers in  his  pay  than  were  to  be  found  in 
the  rest  of  France.  He  then  showed 
that  the  Huguenots  were  better  prepared 
to  take  the  field  than  the  king;  "and  it 
was  resolved  to  arm  the  people  and  pu- 
nish the  admiral  and  his  accomplices."* 

Had  Charles  IX.  been  actuated  by  any 
motive  which  admitted  an  avowal,  he 
would  not  so  continually  have  shifted  his 
ground;  but  his  excuses  were  always  at 
variance  with  each  other.  Supposing 
any  one  of  them  to  be  true,  there  is  then 
great  room  for  condemning  his  conduct, 
even  on  the  hypothesis  most  favourable 
to  his  character:  but  unsupported  and 
contradictory  as  they  are,  we  can  only 
reject  them  all  as  false;  and  if  any  per- 
sons feel  interested  in  removing  the  spots 
of  infamy  which  disfigure  Charles's  me- 
mory, they  must  endeavour  to  prove 
false,  not  only  the  accounts  given  by  Hu- 
guenot writers,  but  also  those  in  favour 
of  the  persecuting  king. 

It  is  curious  that  a  very  learned  indi- 
vidual, who  has  lately  become  conspi- 
cuous in  the  discussion  of  this  subject, 
should  use  this  identical  argument  to  prove 
the  contrary  propositions.  "  Whence 
arise  these  contradictory  explanations 
imagined  by  the  Court?  Suppose  the 
massacre  a  sudden  and  unexpected  mea- 
sure, and  they  are  easily  accounted  for. "I 
But  if  we  admit  that  it  was  sudden  and 
unexpected,  we  must  suppose  some  vio- 
lent impulse  to  have  caused  such  a  mea- 
sure; and  it  is  the  contradiction  that  per- 
vades the  accounts  of  sucli  impulse 
which  discredits  every  apology  for 
Charles  IX. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Massacres  in  the  Provinces. 

The  Huguenots  were  so  unprepared 
for  any  defence  at  the  time  of  this  trea- 
cherous attack  upon  them,  that  out  of 


near  seven  hundred  persons  of  rank  who 
were  murdered,  most  of  them  experi- 
enced soldiers  and  of  approved  courage, 
only  one  (Guerchy)  died  with  his  sword 
in  his  hand;  he  fought  for  a  long  time 
with  the  assassins,  and  was  at  last  over- 
powered by  numbers.  Taverny,  a  law- 
yer, aided  by  his  valet,  defended  his 
dwelling  for  nine  hours,  which  was  the 
only  resistance  met  with  in  pillaging  so 
many  houses.*  Had  a  few  others  done 
the  same,  the  whole  body  would  have 
had  time  to  rally:  but  they  seemed 
equally  unable  to  defend  themselves  or 
to  fly;  their  faculties  were  benumbed, 
and  they  were  completely  in  the  power 
of  the  murderers. 

There  were,  however,  a  considerable 
number  that  escaped  destruction  in  spite 
of  the  vigilance  of  their  enemies.  On 
the  day  after  Coligny's  death,  the  Duke 
of  Anjou  quitted  the  Louvre  at  the  head 
of  his  guards  and  traversed  the  town  and 
suburbs  to  force  open  the  houses.  "  But 
he  found,"  relates  Davila,  "that  either 
the  greater  part  of  the  Huguenots  were 
already  dead,  or  that,  frightened,  they  had 
placed  in  their  hats  the  white  cross  for  a 
token,  as  all  the  Catholics  wore  it;  or 
that  they  tried  to  save  their  lives  by  con- 
cealing themselves  in  the  best  possible 
manner.  For  if,  by  chance,  going  through 
the  street,  they  were  pointed  out,  or  re- 
cognised in  any  manner,  the  people  im- 
mediately fell  upon  them  and  threw  them 
into  the  river. "t  And  another  writer  in- 
forms us  that  many  put  the  white  cross 
in  their  hats,  and  went  to  mass  through 
terror.} 

Montgomery  and  the  Vidame  of  Char- 
tres,  who  lodged  in  the  faubourg  St.  Ger- 
main, were  early  informed  of  what  was 
passing  in  the  city,  but  could  scarcely  be- 
lieve it,  thinking  the  Guises  with  a  mob 
were  attacking  the  Louvre.  They  went 
to  the  river  intending  to  cross,  and  then 
discovered  their  mistake,  as  they  could 
plainly  seethe  soldiers  approaching  them 
in  boats.  They  lost  no  time  in  taking 
horse  with  a  few  followers,  and  escaped 
into  Normandy,  from  whence  they  passed 
over  to  England.  Their  delay  nearly 
proved  fatal ;  for  at  the  dawn  the  Dukes 
of  Guise,  Nevers,  Aumale,  and  others, 


*  Vi  II  troy,  Mem.  it  El  at.  vol.  vii.  p  189. 
t  Dr.  Lingaril's  Vindication,  &c.  p.  C'J. 


*  D'Aubigne.  vol.  ii.  p.  23.  Pasqnier,  vol.  ii.  p.  133. 
t  Davila,  liv.  5. 

j  Maimbourg,  Hist.  Du  Calvinismc,  liv.  6. 


MASSACRES  IN  THE  PROVINCES. 


149 


Well  attended,  set  out  to  wake  up  those  I  Vezins,  "be  so  mean  as  not  to  resent 
who  slept  in  the  faubourg,  and  wishing  the  perfidy  of  the  court  ?"  "Whatever 
to  go  out  by  the  gate  on  that  side  were  others  may  do,"  answered  Resnier,  "  I 
delayed,  because  the  porter,  having  should  be  ungrateful  to  you  were  I  to  re- 
brought  a  key  in  mistake,  was  obliged  to  sent  it."  Vezins  sternly  replied:  "I 
return  to  his  house  to  look  for  the  right ;  love  courage  both  in  an  enemy  and  a 
one.  Guise  sent  a  party  in  pursuit  of  the  friend.  I  leave  you  at  liberty  to  love  or 
fugitives  as  far  as  Montfort.*  He  had  i  to  hate  me;  and  I  have  biought  you  hU 
promised  Catherine  to  avenge  the  death  ther,  merely  to  enable  you  to  make  the 
of  her  husband  as  soon  as  he  had  ob- 1  choice."  Without  staying  to  prolong 
tainerl  justice  for  his  own  father. t  j  the   conversation,  Vezins   spurred  his 

Persons  were  sent  to  Chatillon  to  lay  |  horse  and  rode  of!"."* 
hold  of  Coligny's  family,  Andelot's  son,  !  D'Aubigne  had  arrived  a  short  time 
and  some  others  who  were  there;  but  previous  to  the  massacre,  in  order  to  ob- 
they  had  succeeded  in  making  their  j  tain  permission  to  go  into  Flanders;  but 
escape,  and  arrived  safe  at  Geneva. +  having  wounded  an  officer,  who  tried  to 
The  widow  of  Teligny,  the  admiral's  arrest  him  for  being  concerned  in  a  duel, 
daughter,  afterwards  married  the  Prince  i  he  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  meeting  with 
of  Orange,  who  also  fell  by  the  dagger  Langoiran,  they  both  quitted  Paris,  three 
of  fanaticism.  days  before  it  took  place.    When  the 

Merlin,  the  admiral's  chaplain,  attempt- !  melancholy  news  of  what  had  occurred 
ed  to  escape  along  with  Teligny,  bv !  reached  him,  he  was  accompanied  by 
crossing  the  tops  of  the  houses:  he  fell  j  eighty  of  his  men;  but  their  spirits  were 
into  a  loft,  and  lay  more  than  three  days  so  dejected  on  the  occasion,  that  they 
concealed  by  the  hay:  his  only  suste-  j  were  seized  with  a  panic  and  tied,  merely 
nance  during  that  time  was  an  egg,  which  because  some  one  hallooed  to  them  at 
a  hen  laid  every  morning  close  to  him. §     a  distance.    The  same  men,  however, 

Resnier's  escape  was  astonishing:  he  showed  soon  after  that  they  had  not  lost 
was  saved  by  Vezins,  a  man  who  had  their  intrepidity,  by  attacking  a  very  con- 
often  vowed  his  death,  and  whose  cha- 1  siderable  force  with  success.t 
racter  was  a  guarantee  for  his  fulfilling  In  the  mean  time  a  retreat  from  Paris 
it.  Resnier  naturally  expected  that  his  afforded  but  little  security,  for  the  massa- 
enemy  would  not  suffer  the  present  op-  ere  was  extended  to  the  provinces.  And 
portunity  to  pass,  and  was  fearfully  again,  we  find  the  subject  entangled  with 
awaiting  him,  when  Vezins  entered  his  controversy;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
apartment  with  his  sword  in  his  hand,  general  belief  that  orders  were  sent  to 
accompanied  by  two  soldiers.  "  Follow  kill  the  Huguenots  in  the  provinces  (and 
me!"  said  he  to  Resnier,  who  passed  be-  this  opinion  is  supported  by  numerous 
tween  the  satellites,  fully  satisfied  that-he  Catholic  authorities.)  two  writers  strenu- 
was  going  to  death.  Vezins  made  him  ously  contend  that  Charles  was  no  partv 
mount  on  horseback,  and  conducted  him  to  it.J  "  The  sufferers  believed,  as  they 
to  his  chateau  at  Quercy.  On  their  ar-  were  not  protected,  they  were  persecuted 
rival  he  thus  addressed  him:  "You  are  by  the  commands  of  the  court.  But  the 
now  safe:  I  could  have  taken  advantage  memory  of  Charles  needs  not  to  bo 
of  this  opportunity  to  avenge  myself,  but  loaded  with  additional  infamy.  There 
between  brave  men  the  danger  ought  to  is  no  evidence  that  the  other  massacres 
be  equal;  it  is  for  that  reason  that  I  have  had  his  sanction  or  permission;  and 
saved  you.  When  you  please,  you  will  vv"hen  we  consider  that  they  happened  at 
find  me  ready  to  finish  our  quarrel  as  he-  very  different  periods,  and  were  confined 
comes  a  gentleman."  Resnier  replied  by  to  the  places  in  which  the  blood  of  Ca- 
protestations  of  gratitude,  begged  his  tholics  had  been  wantonly  spilt,  during 
friendship,  and  asked  for  an  opportunity  the  preceding  insurrections,  we  shall  al- 
to serve  him,  "  Can  the  Huguenots,"  said  tribute  them  rather  to  sudden  ebullitions 


*  I.apnpolini.ire.  liv.  2Q.   D.'Aubignci,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 
t  Bassompiwrre,  Jfouceav,z  Mem  p.  110. 
t  Da  Vila,  liv  5. 

§  D'Aubignu,  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 


*  n<-.  Thou,  liv.  52.    D/Anbigne,  vr.l.  ii.  p.  23. 
+  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  p.  31.— Amsterdam,  1731. 
I    j  The  Abbe  Caveyrac  and  Dr.  Lingard. 


13* 


150 


HORRORS  COMMITTED  AT  LYONS. 


of  popular  vengeance,  than  to  any  pre-  i 
viously  concerted  and  general  plan."* 

Whether  the  events  took  place  by  the 
spontaneous  feelings  of  the  people,  or  in 
consequence  of  the  king's  orders,  will 
not  be  discussed  at  this  moment:  the 
events  themselves  are  not  denied;  the 
massacres  at  Meaux,  Angers,  Bourges, 
Orleans,  Toulouse,  and  Rouen  were  ter- 
rible; and  besides  these  places  most  of 
the  small  towns,  villages,  and  even  cha- 
teaux became  scenes  of  carnage.  It  was 
not  so  violent  in  Burgundy  and  Brittany, 
because  there  were  but  few  Huguenots; 
nor  in  Languedoc,  nor  Gascony,  because 
they  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  pro- 
tect themselves.!  But  it  was  at  Lyons 
that  the  worst  ferocity  was  displayed; 
for  the  Guises  had  a  strong  party  in  that 
town.  Mandelot,  the  governor,  having 
learned  that  some  Huguenots  had  escaped 
the  vigilance  of  the  murderers,  and  yield- 
ing to  positive  orders  received  from  the 
court,  wished  to  compel  the  public  exe- 
cutioner to  put  them  to  death;  but  the 
man  bravely  replied,  that  he  was  not  an 
assassin,  and  worked  only  according  to 
the  orders  of  justice. J 

De  Thou's  picture  of  the  horrors  com- 
mitted at  Lyons  is  heart-rending.  He 
estimates  the  victims  at  eight  hundred: 
but  another  contemporary  makes  the 
number  four  thousand;  and  mentions  that 
a  butcher  who  had  signalized  himself  in 
the  massacres  was  invited  to  dine  with 
the  legate  on  his  passage  through  Lyons. § 
There  may  be  some  exaggeration  here: 
it  is  however  recorded  elsewhere,  that 
when  Cardinal  Orsini  arrived  soon  after 
as  legate,  he  found  a  concourse  of  people 
on  their  knees  before  him,  as  he  quitted 
the  church  of  St.  John,  after  vespers. 
Upon  inquiry  into  the  cause  for  which 
his  absolution  was  demanded,  he  learned 
that  they  were  the  perpetrators  of  the 
late  massacres:  he  instantly  acceded  to 
their  request;  and  as  the  principal  mur- 
derer, Boydon,  would  not  receive  his 
pardon  so  publicly,  he  waited  upon  the 
legate,  who  absolved  him  in  his  cham- 
ber. || 

All  the  circumstances  connected  with 
t liis  terrible  scene  have  been  critically 

*  Dr.  Lin;ard.  History  of  England.  Note  E.  vol.  viii. 
edit,  in  §vo. 

t  Mezera'y,  in  lot.  t  De  Thou,  liv.  54. 

5  Chronologie  de  1'Hist.  de  Lyons. 
{  Mem.  de  l'Etat.  de  France. 


examined  by  a  modern  writer;*  and  it 
results,  that  Mandelot's  character  is  such 
as  might  be  expected  from  a  partisan  of 
the  Guises.  It  appears  from  this  opus- 
cule, that  his  letters  to  Charles  IX.  have 
been  preserved  in  the  Royal  Library; 
and  that,  within  two  days  after  the  mas- 
sacre, he  solicited  a  share  of  the  confis- 
cated property.  Some  of  the  king's  let- 
ters to  him  were  destroyed;  but  the  go- 
vernor's replies  abound  with  allusions, 
that  remove  all  doubt  respecting  the  san- 
guinary nature  of  the  royal  instructions. 

Several  of  the  governors  of  provinces 
refused  to  lend  themselves  to  such  cru- 
elty, and  would  not  obey  the  king's  or- 
ders; for  the  secret  council  had  de- 
spatched letters  to  the  governors  of  the 
towns,  in  which  the  Protestants  were  nu- 
merous, ordering  them  to  plunder  those 
of  the  religion. t  The  Count  de  Tendes 
preserved  the  Protestants  of  Provence, 
observing,  when  he  received  the  king's 
letter,  "  That  it  could  not  be  his  majes- 
ty's orders."!  St.  Heran  de  Montme- 
rin,  governor  of  Auvergne,  addressed  the 
king  in  the  following  terms:  "  Sire,  I  have 
received  an  order  under  your  majesty's 
seal,  to  put  to  death  all  the  Protestants 
who  are  in  the  province.  I  respect  your 
majesty  too  much  to  suppose  the  letters 
are  other  than  forgeries;  and  if  (which 
God  forbid)  the  order  has  really  emanated 
from  your  majesty,  I  have  still  too  much 
respect  for  you  to  obey  it."§  The  Vis- 
count d'Orthez,  who  commanded  at  Ba- 
yonne,  wrote  a  letter  no  less  spirited:  — 
"  Sire,  I  have  communicated  your  majes- 
ty's commands  to  the  faithful  inhabitants, 
and  to  the  garrison;  I  have  found  among 
them  good  citizens,  and  brave  soldiers, 
but  not  one  executioner.  They  and  my- 
self most  humbly  entreat  your  majesty 
to  employ  our  arms  and  our  lives  in 
things  possible;  and  however  hazardous 
they  may  be,  we  will  devote  thereto  the 
last  drop  of  our  blood. "||  The  Viscount 
d'Orthez  and  the  Count  de  Tendes  died 
suddenly  a  short  time  after;  and  the  pre- 
valent opinion  was,  that  they  fell  victims 
to  the  king's  resentment.^ 

The  Bishopof  Lizieux,  James  Hennuyer, 


*  Fericaut,  Notice  de  Mandelot,  Lyons,  ]fc!28. 
t  Mem.  de  Tavanriee,  p.  418. 
t  Brantnme,  vol.  vii.  p  109. 

tj  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Overres  Cicilcs  de  France. 
||  D'Aiibigne,  De  Thou,  Sully. 
If  De  Thou,  hv.  52. 


THE  KING'S  ORDERS  RESISTED  AT  NISMES,  &C. 


151 


also  behaved  in  a  merciful  manner,  and 
displayed  a  truly  Christian  disposition. 
He  was  originally  a  Dominican,  and  had 
been  confessor  to  Henry  II. :  on  the  death 
of  that  king  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Li- 
zieux.  For  twelve  years  he  had  watched 
over  his  people,  imparting  to  them  the  be- 
nelit  of  his  learning,  and  the  advantages 
of  his  example  in  mildness  and  piety,  when 
the  king's  lieutenant  came  to  communicate 
the  orders  he  had  received,  to  massacre 
all  the  Huguenots  of  Lizieux.  "No!  no! 
sir,"  said  the  Bishop  to  him:  "I  oppose, 
and  I  will  always  oppose  the  execution  of 
such  an  order,  to  which  I  cannot  consent. 
I  am  pastor  of  the  church  of  Lizieux,  and 
the  people  you  say  you  are  commanded 
to  slay  are  my  flock.  Although  they  are 
at  present  wanderers,  having  strayed  from 
the  fold  which  has  been  confided  to  me  by 
Jesus  Christ,  the  sovereign  pastor,  they 
may  nevertheless  return,  and  I  do  not  give 
up  the  hope  of  seeing  them  come  back. 
1  do  not  perceive  in  the  gospel,  that  the 
shepherd  ought  to  suffer  the  blood  of  his 
sheep  to  be  shed;  on  the  contrary,  I  there 
find  that  he  is  bound  to  shed  his  blood, 
and  to  give  his  life  for  them.  Return  then 
with  this  order,  which  shall  never  be  exe- 
cuted so  long  as  I  live."  "But,"  said  the 
lieutenant,  "  for  my  justification,  you  must 
give  me,  in  writing,  your  refusal  to  let  me 
act  according  to  the  king's  orders."  The 
Bishop  willingly  gave  rhe  document  re- 
quired, and  agreed  to  incur  all  the  respon- 
sibility of  it.  No  further  orders  arrived 
from  court.*  This  amiable  conduct  of  the 
bishop  overcame  all  opposition,  and  most 
of  the  Protestants  of  that  place  returned  to 
the  Catholic  church,  giving  an  unequivocal 
example  of  the  efficacy  of  mildness,  and  its 
superiority  to  persecution  in  subduing 
enemies. 

Gordes,  governor  of  Dauphiny,  having 
received  a  written  order,  which  revoked 
all  the  verbal  communications,  wrote  to 
the  king,  saying  that  he  had  received  no 
verbal  order;  to  which  the  king  replied, 
that  he  need  not  trouble  himself,  for  they 
were  given  only  to  some  who  were  about 
him.+  All  these  tend  to  prove  that  the 
king  did  issue  orders  in  the  provinces:  be- 
sides, if  it  had  depended  upon  popular 
fury,  the  massacres  would  have  occurred 
immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  news 

*  Maimftourg,  Hist  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  (j. 
t  Lingard,  Vindication,  &c. 


from  Paris;  whereas,  the  time  which  was 
[  occupied  in  awaiting  the  result  of  sponta- 
neous feeling  excited  by  example,  and 
sending  orders  where  requisite,  makes 
it  still  more  probable  that  the  massacres 
were  ordered  by  the  king.  But  we  have, 
in  addition,  the  evidence  of  Tavannes  on 
this  point.  "  Many  towns  of  the  king- 
dom killed  not  only  the  leaders  and  fac- 
tious, hi  they  had  been  commanded,  but 
behaved  with  the  unbridled  license  of  the 
Parisians."*  And  De  Thou,  who  was 
in  a  situation  to  be  well  informed,  de- 
clares that  verbal  orders  were  sent.f 

Davila  goes  so  far  as  to  say,  that  on 
the  day  which  preceded  this  dreadful  ex- 
ecution, the  king  despatched  several 
couriers  to  different  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
with  express  orders  to  the  governors  of 
the  towns  and  provinces  to  do  the  same.J 
And  this  assertion  is  supported  by  a 
journal,  which  was  kept  by  Mallet  and 
Vautier,  inhabitants  of  Senlis,  in  which, 
town  no  massacre  took  place.  They 
simply  state,  "That  on  the  arrival  of 
orders  from  Paris  against  the  Huguenots, 
on  the  24th  of  .August  (the  very  day  of 
the  St.  Bartholomew,)  the  inhabitants 
assembled,  and  having  a  horror  of  dip- 
ping their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  fel- 
low citizens,  they  only  enjoined  them  to 
quit  the  town,  which  was  done  without 
noise  and  without  tumult. "§ 

The  orders  of  the  court  arrived  at  Nis- 
mes  in  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  Au- 
gust Guillaume  Villar,  the  consul  of 
that  city,  immediately  shut  the  gates, 
that  no  stranger  might  enter,  and  con- 
fided the  superintendence  of  that  charge 
to  two  eminent  citizens,  one  a  Protest- 
ant, the  other  a  Catholic.  He  then  con- 
voked a  meeting,  which  was  attended  by 
the  principal  residents  belonging  to  each 
religion;  and,  in  an  eloquent  address, 
showed  the  necessity  of  union  in  their 
terrible  situation.  He  called  upon  all 
present  to  swear  they  would  maintain 
order,  and  prevent  any  violence;  each 
pledging  himself  to  protect  the  others, 
without  distinction  of  religion.  By  this 
laudable  measure,  Nismes  was  spared 
the  prevailing  horrors.|| 

The  events  at  Toulouse  form  a  melan- 

*  Tavannes,  p.  41!). 
t  De  Thou.  liv.  52. 
X  Davila,  liv.  5. 

§  This  Journal  is  quoted  in  Esprit,  de  la  Liguc,  vol.  ii. 
p  57. 

||  Menard,  Hist,  dc  JVismes,  vol.  v.  pp.  71,  72. 


152 


BARBARITIES  AT  TOULOUSE. 


choly  contrast  with  what  precedes.!  with  seven  or  eight  of  the  rabble,  armed 
There,  the  barbarity  displayed  was  ag-l  with  axes,  cutlasses,  &c,  proceeded  to 
gravated  by  a  long  detention,  completely  the  Conciergerie,  by  order  t)f  the  advo- 
destroying  all  pretext  of  a  hasty  move-  cate-general,  and,  having  made  the  pri- 
ment.  The  news  of  tbe  massacre  in  soners  descend  one  by  one,  murdered 
Paris  was  kept  secret  for  some  days,  as  them  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  without 
the  parliament  and  the  capitouls  were  giving  any  time  to  speak  or  pray.  There 
undecided  how  they  should  act.  On;were  three  hundred  killed  in  that  man- 
Sunday,  the  31st  of  August,  all  the  gates'  ner.  They  were  stripped,  and  their 
were  shut,  with  the  exception  of  a  post-,  bodies  remained  in  the  court  of  the  pa- 
errand  trustworthy  persons  were  placed !  lace  for  two  whole  days,  after  which 
to  watch  those  who  entered  or  went  out.  j  they  were  thrown  into  a  trench.  The 
Some  Protestants  had  gone  early  in  the  counsellors  were  hanged  in  their  robes 
morning,  for  worship,  to  a  village  called ;  before  the  palace;  and  the  bodies  of  the 
Castanet.  They  became  suspicious,  and;  victims  were  abandoned  to  pillage.  Or- 
were  inclined  to  keep  away  from  the ;  ders  were  afterwards  issued  to  all  places 
town.  Others  returned,  leaving  their i  in  the  dependencies  of  Toulouse  to  do 
swords  at  the  gate.    The  next  day  the  the  same.* 

president  Daphis  sent  for  several  coun-i  The  news  of  the  massacre  created  a 
sellors  residing  in  the  environs,  as  their  great  sensation  throughout  Europe.  The 
absence  gave  rise  to  rumours.  It  was  indignation  which  it  excited  was  aecom- 
true,  he  said,  that  there  had  been  a  mas-  panied  by  terror;  for  it  seemed  the  sig-- 
sacre  in  Paris;  but  it  had  arisen  out  of  alnal  of  a  crusade  against  the  Protestants, 
private  quarrel,  and  that  the  king  would  I  The  English  were  far  from  esteeming 
not  infringe  the  edict  of  pacification,  i  their  insular  position  a  guarantee:  they 
Some  returned,  but  others,  more  wary,  had  experience  of  the  impervious  cha- 
withdrew  to  Montauban.  racter  of  Romish  intrigue,  in  the  different 

On  the  2d  of  September,  in  order  to '  manoeuvres  (not  to  say  plots)  on  behalf 
quiet  those  in  the  town,  and  attract  those  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots:  and  the  pre- 
who  were  outside,  there  was  published,  j  tended  rupture  between  France  and 
by  sound  of  trumpet,  a  prohibition  against  Spain,  which  vanished  as  soon  as  its  ob- 
molesting  any  of  the  religion:  for  decep-  ject  was  accomplished,  made  them  dread 
tive  purposes,  great  pomp  was  displayed  either  an  immediate  attack  from  Philip 
on  that  occasion.  The  president,  find- ill.,  or  a  general  revolt  of  the  papists  in 
i ng  that  many  Protestants  still  kept  away,!  Great  Britain.  This  alarm  was  increased 
resolved  to  seize  those  in  his  power:  and  by  the  absence  of  news  from  their  ani- 
on the  morning  of  the  3d  of  September,!  bassador,  Walsingham,  whose  messen- 
the  troops,  divided  into  several  bodies,  ger  had  been  detained  by  some  accident, 
broke  into  the  houses,  seized  the  Pro-  The  fugitives,  hourly  arriving,  gave 
testauts,  and  confined  them  in  the  pri-  dreadful,  often  exaggerated,  details;  and 
sons  and  convents.  A  general  order  was,  an  account  of  his  death  was  generally 
issued  for  their  arrest;  and  those  con-J  expected.  Walsingham  was  one  of  the 
cealed  were  to  be  given  up.  Five  coun-;most  experienced  statesmen  of  the  age: 
sellors  were  thus  captured.  The  victims;  his  penetration  was  remarkable,  and  he 
remained  in  the  prisons  during  three  constantly  employed  a  number  of  spies ; 
weeks,  after  which  they  were  collected  but  the  massacre  took  him  by  surprise, 
in  the  Conciergerie;  and,  on  the  3d  of i  His  life,  however,  was  in  no  danger;  for 
October,  orders  came  from  Paris,  that  his  house  was  protected  by  order  of 
the  execution  was  to  be  no  longer  delay-  Catherine,  and  all  the  English  who  had 
ed.  The  parliament  still  hesitated;  and  presence  of  mind  to  take  shelter  there 
the  president,  perceiving  an  unwilling-  were  safe. 

ness  among  the  counsellors,  said,  "Do  Lamotte-Fenelon,  the  French  ambas- 
as  you  please,  and  say  what  you  think  sador  in  London,  was  ordered  to  give  an 
fit;  but  for  my  part,  I  shall  set  about  ex-  account  of  the  motives  which  had  caused 
editing,  in  the  king's  name,  what  my!  the  massacre:  he  was  received  by  the 
charsre  and  mv  duty  command."    On  the |   ~~    ;     .  „  ,  :  ,„„  ,  ,,.,„ 

uiaigu  wiu  m  i         1       .  .  *  Chromquede  Castrcs,  par  un  Anonvme,  1500,u  lb  10. 

next  day,  before  sunrise,  two  students,  I  ms.  uib.  Koyaie,  No.  in. 


REJOICING 

queen  and  the  court  in  deep  mourning, 
and  nothing  more  was  said  to  him  than 
civility  and  etiquette  required. 

The  French  Protestants  were  crying 
out  for  aid,  and  the  nation  at  large  was 
anxious  to  help  them:  Walsingham  in- 
formed his  sovereign  that  the  friendship 
of  Catherine  de  Medieis  was  more  dan- 
gerous than  her  enmity;  but  Elizabeth 
persisted  in  refusing  help  to  the  sufferers, 
and  even  permitted  the  proposal  of  a 
marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Alengon.  It 
must  however  be  said,  in  justice  to  this 
queen,  that  she  would  not  hastily  risk  a 
war,  which  at  that  time  might  cause  slill 
more  injury  to  the  Protestant  interest: 
and  that,  while  she  suffered  the  empty 
forms  of  negotiation  to  be  pursued,  she, 
being  decided  on  refusing  every  offer  of 
marriage,  was  careful  to  send  such  secret 
information  as  kept  alive  the  hopes  of  the 
Huguenots. 

All  the  princes  of  Europe  expressed 
their  indignation  on  the  occasion,  except 
two:  the  King  of  Spain  and  the  pope. 
A  courier,  with  an  account  of  the  mas- 
sacre, was  sent  off  to  Philip  II.,  who, 
although  pleased  with  the  event,  could 
not  conceal  his  regret  that  the  King  of 
Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  had 
been  spared.  Having  read  the  letter,  he 
sent  it  to  the  admiral  of  Castile,  who  re- 
ceived it  while  at  supper,  and  thinking  to 
promote  the  cheerfulness  of  his  guests, 
he  read  it  to  them.  The  Duke  of  Infan- 
tado,  who  was  present,  is  stated  to  have 
asked  if  the  admiral  and  his  friends  were 
Christians.  And  on  receiving  an  answer 
in  the  affirmative:  "How  is  it  then,  that, 
being  Frenchmen  and  Christians,  they 
should  have  been  killed  like  brutes?" 
"Gently,  duke,"  said  the  admiral;  "do 
you  not  know  that  war  in  France  is 
peace  for  Spain  ?"*  This  dreadful  event 
put  an  end  to  Philip's  fears  for  Flanders, 
at  least  for  the  present;  and  policy  recon- 
ciles a  tyrant  to  the  worst  of  crimes. 

At  Rome  great  rejoicing  took  place: 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  liberally  rewarded 
the  messenger,  and  questioned  him,  like  a 
person  informed  beforehand. t  The  Car- 
dinal Alexandrin  had  made  no  secret  of 
expecting  the  news  of  a  great  victory 
gained  over  the  heretics,  and  exclaimed 
when  it  arrived,  "The  king  of  France 

*  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  189. 

t  Esprit  de  la  Ligue ,  vol.  ii.  p.  65. 


AT  ROME.  153 

has  kept  his  word!"*  The  pope  went 
in  a  grand  procession,  performed  high 
mass  with  all  the  splendour  of  his  court, 
and  ordered  a  Te  Deum  to  be  sung  in 
order  to  celebrate  the  event;  the  firing  of 
cannon  at  the  same  time  announced  the 
irlad  tidings  to  the  neighbouring  villages. 
A  medal  was  struck,  bearing  on  one  side 
the  head  of  Gregory  XIII.,  and  on  the 
other  the  exterminating  angel  striking 
the  Protestants,  with  this  inscription: 
"  Hugftmotorurn  Stragrs,  1572."t 

Here  ought  to  finish  the  discussion  of 
this  sanguinary  subject;  and  here  it 
would  finish,  had  not  its  continuation 
been  rendered  necessary  by  the  incon- 
siderate zeal  of  the  advocates  of  popery, 
who,  instead  of  excusing  these  excesses, 
by  attributing  them  to  the  ferocious  man- 
ners of  the  age,  (in  which  they  would  in 
some  degree  meet  with  the  concurrence 
of  all  candid  persons,)  deny  the  existence 
of  many  facts  which  have  been  handed 
down  to  us:  while  some  go  so  far  as  to 
reverse  the  tables,  and  attempt  to  show 
that  the  church  of  Rome  is  less  perse- 
cuting than  the  reformed  churches.  On 
this  account  it  has  been  considered  neces- 
sary to  examine  the  characters  and 
weight  of  the  principal  champions  of  the 
church  of  Rome. 

Lapopeliniere,  a  contemporary,  and 
the  Abbe  Caveyrac,  in  the  last  century, 
are  well  known  to  all  inquirers  upon  this 
subject:  their  mouldering  celebrity  has 
been  recently  revived  by  the  polished 
pen  of  a  divine,  whose  anxiety  to  remove 
this  stain  from  his  church  has  made  him 
also  enter  the  lists.  Of  these  writers, 
the  first  aimed  at  making  such  a  plausible 
narrative,  as  should  represent  Charles, 
and  the  Queen-mother  in  a  favourable 
light;  the  second  tried  to  justify  the 
French  government  for  having  perse- 
cuted the  Huguenots;  while  the  third 
endeavours  (and  the  effort  cannot  be 
blamed)  to  efface  those  opinions  which 
Protestants  in  general  entertain  of  the  se- 
vere persecutions  inflicted  by  the  church 
of  Rome.  We  find,  in  consequence,  in 
the  works  of  the  first,  softened  state- 
ments, apologetic  reasonings,  and  the 
entire  omission  of  some  accounts;  in  the 
pages  of  the  second  reigns  a  spirit  of 


*  Lttcrefetle,  Hist,  des  Guerrcs  de  Re/i«ion,  vol.  ii. 
■f  L'Estoile  mentions  that  in  June,  1608,  lie  obtained 
one  of  these  medals.  Journal  de  Henri  IV . 


154 


APOLOGY  FOR  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 


rancorous  bigotry  accompanied  with  j 
much  sophistry;  while  the  third  offers  a] 
critical  examination,  the  object  of  which 
is  to  show  that  the  received  accounts  be- 
ing inconsistent  with  each  other,  the  pro- 
babilities arc  favourable  to  the  Catholic 
religion.  It  will  not  be  supposed  that 
these  three  are  the  only  writers  who 
have  undertaken  the  defence  of  the 
church  of  Rome;  but  the  periods  at 
which  they  wrote,  and  the  feelings 
which  pervade  them,  give  a  superior  in- 
terest; while  the  constant  reference  which 
is  made  to  them  creates  an  importance 


edict  of  Nantes  and  the  cruelties  which 
followed:  the  subject  being  continually 
under  discussion,  it  was  considered  ne- 
cessary to  publish  some  counter  state- 
ment, and  the  Abbe  Caveyrac  in  conse- 
quence composed  his  apology.*  His 
work  may  be  said  to  carry  its  own  refu- 
tation within  itself,  and  that  may  be  the 
reason  why  we  hear  of  no  reply  of  any 
note:  indeed  it  is  impossible  to  read  this 
justification  of  bigotry,  without  pitying 
the  narrow  or  perverted  mind  that  can 
approve  of  it.  The  work  itself  does  not 
belong  to  this  portion  of  our  subject;  but 


beyond  other  authors  on  the  subject;  for[as  it  was  requisite  for  the  abbe  to  revert 
these  reasons  1  submit  a  short  notice  of1  to  the  commencement  of  the  moral  con- 


each.* 

Lancelot  Vcesin  de  Lapopelinere  was 
educated  as  a  Protestant,  and  became  a 
Catholic.  The  period  of  his  conversion 
is  uncertain;  but  his  historyf  displays 
feelings  very  different  from  the  character 
universally  attributed  to  the  Huguenots 
of  that  irritated  period.  His  eloquence 
made  him  conspicuous  at  conferences; 
but  on  aecount  of  his  repeated  efforts  to 
persuade  the  Protestants  to  abate  their 
demands,  which  were  obstacles  to  a  pa- 
cification, he  incurred  the  suspicions  of 
his  comrades;  he  is  said  to  have  fought  a 
duel  on  that  very  account  in  1579.|  His 
book  is  dedicated  to  the  queen-mother,  in 
the  style  of  a  most  servile  courtier;  and 
to  show  how  desirous  he  was  of  palli- 
ating the  conduct  of  the  court,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  point  out  his  unfairness  in 


tagion,  he  found  it  necessary  to  apologize 
for  another  equally  wicked  piece  of  po- 
licy in  the  century  preceding  the  subject 
of  his  labours.  He,  therefore,  annexed 
a  dissertation  on  the  St.  Bartholomew, 
which  contains  four  propositions,  viz.: 
1.  That  religion  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  massacre.  2.  That  it  was  an  affair  of 
proscription.  3.  That  it  was  only  in- 
tended for  Paris.  And  4,  That  the  num- 
ber killed  was  much  less  than  has  than 
stated. 

"  Religion,"  says  the  abbe,  "  had  no- 
thing to  do  with  it,  either  as  motive, 
counsel,  or  agent.  The  attempts  to  car- 
ry off  two  kings,  many  towns  being 
withdrawn  from  their  allegiance,  sieges 
maintained,  foreign  troops  introduced  into 
the  kingdom,  and  our  pitched  battles 
fought  against  the  sovereign,  were  mo- 


one  particular;  he  has  not  made  the  leastltives  sufficiently  powerful  to  irritate  the 


mention  of  the  King's  proclamation  on 
the  24th  of  August,  which  attributed  the 
massacre  to  the  Guises,  and  which  pro- 


monarch  and  render  his  subjects  hateful 
to  him:  these  caused  him  to  write  to 
Schomberg,  his  ambassador  in  Germany, 


clamation  was  so  notorious,  that  he  could  that  he  could  endure  it  no  longer."!  In 
not  plead  ignorance  of  it.  By  that  omis-  J  reply  to  these  motives,  the  answer  which 
sion,  Charles  is  made  to  appear  consist-  first  suggests  itself  is,  that  Charles  is  ac- 
ent  in  the  charge  which  he  laid  before  cused  of  making  a  peace  in  order  to  lull 
the  Parliament  on  the  26th,  respecting' his  Protestant  subjects  into  security,  and 
the  detected  conspiracy  of  the  Hugue-'of  contriving  a  marriage .  for  the  purpose 
nots.  of  collecting  their  leaders  together:  if 

The  philosophical  writers  of  the  eigh- ,  therefore  religion  be  unconnected  with 
teenth  century  had  indulged  in  very  se> 


vere  strictures  on  the  revocation  of  the 


*  The  memoirs  of  Tavannes  have  been  greatly  praised 
as  containing  a  ilhinterestcd  and  faithful  account  of  the 
event;  but  a  careful  perusal  of  them  must  convince 
every  one,  that  the  younger  Tavannes  aimed  at  an 
apology  for  his  lather's  memory,  ill  hopes  of  obtaining 
the  good  graces  of  Henry  IV. 

t  Histoire  de  France,  &c.  depuis,  1550,  jusq'a  ces- 
temps,  ( 1577.)  2  vols,  folio,  Paris,  1581. 

%  Diographie  de  Lavocat,  Jijemoires,  §-c.  du  P,  Nice- 
ran,  vol.  x:£Xi.\,p.381, 


the  motive,  his  treachery  remains  the 
same;  and  when  Caveyrac  argues  that 
the  above  motives  were  sufficiently  pow- 
erful, he  gives  a  practical  illustration  of 


*  Apo'ogie  de  Louis  XIV.,  et  de  son  conceit,  sm  la 
revocation  da  PEditde  Nantes;  avec  une  Dissertation 
snr  la  St.  Barthelemi.  Par  I'Abbe  Nove  de  Caveyrac., 
Paris,  1758. 

]  Dissertation,  p.  2, 


ArOLOGY  FOR  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 


155 


tfie  odious  decree  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance, that  faith  need  not  be  kept  with 
heretics;  for  Charles  had  published  three 
decrees  of  pacification,  each  of  which 
declared,  that  the  Protestants,  in  taking 
arms,  had  been  actuated  by  a  desire  to 
serve  his  majesty;  and  the  friendship 
that  he  professed  to  entertain  for  Coligny 
is  notorious. 

In  order  to  show  that  religion  had  no- 
thing to  do  widi  the  massacre  as  counsel, 
the  abbe  roundly  asserts  that  neither  car- 
dinals, bishops,  nor  priests,  were  admit- 
ted into  this  fatal  divan;  adding,  "even 
the  Duke  of  Guise  was  excluded  from 
it."*     It  is  remarkable  how  unsparingly 
the  abbe  condemns  almost  every  writer 
on  this  subject:  he  cannot  credit  their 
accounts,  as  they  either  wrote  under  a 
delusion,  or  were  interested  in  propa- 
gating a  falsehood;  but  still  he  offers  no 
reason  why  his  bare  assertion  should  be 
received.    It  has  been  said  by  many  con- 
temporaries, that  persons  belonging  to 
the  clergy  were  in  the  plot,  and  the  ab- 
sence of  a  refutation  leaves  their  testi- 
mony quite  as  good  as  the  contradiction 
of  the  Abbe  Caveyrac.    When  Pius  V. 
denounced  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the 
king,  if  he  did  not  annihilate  the  enemies 
of  the  church,  the  Catholic  religion  was 
assuredly  made  both  motive  and  coun- 
sel;t  and,  if  it  were  not,  how  is  it  that 
the  massacre  was  immediately  followed 
by  the  suppression  of  the  reformed  reli- 
gion?   '•  But,"  says  the  abbe,  "  if  Gre- 
gory XIII.  went  in  procession  from  the 
church  of  St.  Mark  to  that  of  St.  Louis; 
if  he  appointed  a  jubilee;  if  he  had  a 
medal  struck  on  the  occasion, — all  these 
demonstrations  of  gratitude,  rather  than 
satisfaction,  had  for  their  real  and  sole 
principle,  not  the  massacre  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, but  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy 
which  they  had  plotted,  or  at  least  which 
the  king  took  pains  to  accuse  them  of  at 
all  the  courts  of  Christendom. "J 

To  prove  that  the  Catholic  religion 
had  no  part  in  the  massacre  as  agent, 
the  abbe  gives  a  long  account  of  persons 
saved  from  murder  by  Catholics,  and 
mentions  cases  where  convents  and  reli- 


*  Diss.  p.  3.  The  absence  nf  Guise  certainly  in- 
creases the  probability  of  De  Retz  having  really  made 
the  proposition  attributed  to  him. 

+  De  Thou  slates  positively  that  a  medal  was  pre- 
sented to  the  king  on  the  7th  of  September  with  this 
motto,  Pietns  ezcitavit  justiliain,  liv.  53. 

I  Dissertation,  p.  3. 


gious  houses  afforded  refuge.  "  At  Bor- 
deaux there  were  several  saved  by  priests 
and  other  persons,  from  whom  such  help 
was  not  expected'.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  Catholics  perished;  and  if  their 
names  had  been  preserved  we  should  be 
surprised  at  their  number."*  Here  is  an 
evident  attempt  to  divert  the  attention 
from  the  main  question,  that  religion  was 
the  chief  motive  in  the  massacres  which 
were  committed.  It  is  undeniable  that 
the  white  cross  was  worn  to  distinguish 
the  murderers,  and  that  the  bare  fact  of 
going  to  mass  saved  the  lives  of  many; 
if,  therefore,  the  king  and  queen  had  no 
idea  of  religion  in  commanding-  the  mas- 
sacre,  they  were  evidently  convinced  that 
the  multitude  would  better  execute  their 
purpose,  if  they  were  called  upon  in  the 
name  of  the  church.  Admitting  this  sup- 
position, the  king's  conduct  appears  still 
blacker;  it  is  deprived  of  the  excuse  of 
pious  intentions,  and  receives  the  addi- 
tional stigma  of  having  employed  the  re- 
ligious feelings  of  a  mob  in  the  execution 
of  an  atrocious  crime.  • 

The  Abbe's  second  proposition,  show- 
ing that  it  was  an  affair  of  proscription,! 
contains  a  long  series  of  abnse  against 
Coligny  and  the  Huguenots,  all  which 
confirms  the  generally  received  opinion, 
that  the  court  had  some  perfidious  mea- 
sures in  contemplation  for  a  long  time 
previous:  it  also  destroys  the  only  argu- 
ment calculated  to  relieve  the  king  from 
his  odious  reputation,  in  attributing  the 
massacre  to  a  dread  of  the  Huguenots' 
vengeance,  when  Guise  had  revenged  his 
father  on  the  person  of  the  admiral. 

In  developing  his  third  proposition, 
that  the  affair  regarded  Paris  only,  the 
abbe  gives  a  view  of  the  different  opi- 
nions upon  the  plot;  he  considers  three 
hypotheses  as  particularly  worthy  of  at- 
tention. One  is  the  account  given  by 
Queen  Margaret,  who  assures  us  that  the 
king  was  led  to  form  the  fatal  resolution 
by  the  threats  of  vengeance  which 
escaped  the  Huguenots.  The  second  is 
the  statement  made  by  Tavannes,  ac- 
cording to  which  it  originated  with  the 
queen-mother,  who  had  great  fears  on 
account  of  the  king's  placing  so  much 
confidence  in  Coligny;  .she  employed 
Maurevel  to  despatch  him,  and  thus  ren- 


*  Dissertation,  p  5. 


t  Ibid.  p..  6. 


156 


LETTER  OF  THE  VISCOUNT  D'ORTHES. 


dered  the  massacre  necessary.  The  peetation  was  that  the  marriage  would 
third  is  the  declaration  made  by  the  take  place  in  June,  and  that  ceremony 
Duke  of  Anjou  to  his  surgeon,  Miron, '  heing  over,  the  Huguenot  nobility  would 
during  their  journey  to  Poland.  This  soon  disperse;  in  addition  to  which,  the 
last,  which  is  long,  is  the  abbe's  favour- ! king's  eagerness  in  drawing  them  all  to 
ite  version,  "  because  the  confession  con-  court  would  preclude  the  postponement 
tains  nothing  in  the  prince's  favour;  but  of  his  plan  any  more  than  was  necessa- 
on  the  contrary,  he  declares  himself  thelry;  the  letter  was  most  probably  written 
accomplice,  or  rather  the  first  author  of  to  discredit  the  general  opinions,  by  a  re- 
the  admiral's  death:  if  he  had  been  less  uluclio  in  absitrduvi. 
alarmed  at  his  brother's  silence,  his  walk- 1  The  letter  of  the  Viscount  d'Orthes, 
ing  with  great  strides,  his  angry  looks,  refusing  to  murder  the  Huguenots,  is  de- 
and  his  putting  his  hand  at  times  to  his  clared  to  be  a  fable,  and  every  authority 
dagger,  he  would  not  have  gone  to  relate  is  rejected,  except  Lapopeliniere,  whom 
those  things  to  his  mother,  and  they  i  he  takes  care  on  every  occasion  to  call  a 
would  not  have  put  together  all  the  re-\Cafvinist  writer,  in  spite  of  his  abjura- 
ports,  notices,  suspicions,  &c,"  and  theition.  But  admitting  that  no  orders  were 
abbe  then  shows  that  the  dreadful  results  ,sent,  the  abbe  himself  has  shown  that  in 
would  not  have  taken  place.     "It  is  [many  cases  they  were  not  necessary. 


true,"  says  he,  "  that  this  arch  rebel 
might  have  been  able  to  destroy  the 
throne  and  the  altar,  as  he  designed,  but 
that  was  not  the  object  of  their  fears  at 
the  time:  their  aim  was  to  prevent  his 
gaining  all  the  king's  confidence."*  The 
abbe  thus  attempts  to  show  that  the  mas- 
sacre was  not  premeditated,  and  then  re- 
futes all  who  have  asserted  that  orders 
were  sent  into  the  provinces  to  take  simi- 
lar measures,  on  the  ground  of  those 
massacres  not  being  simultaneous.  Some 
occurred  two 
even  a  month 


were 

"  The  death  of  the  leaders  and  factious 
alone  was  resolved  on:  the  horrors  were 
not  meant  to  extend  beyond  Paris;  and 
if  in  spite  of  precautions,  the  murders 
were  spread  from  the  capital  to  the  other 
towns,  it  was  because  the  news  of  the 
event,  being  diffused  throughout  the 
kingdom,  invited  the  Catholics  of  many 
cities  to  do  the  same."*  It  will  never  be 
contended  that  the  news  was  more  than  a 
week  in  penetrating  into  every  corner  of 
France;  whence  then  arose  the  delay  in 


and  three  weeks,  some  some  of  the  towns?  It  was  because  the 
after;  which  delay,  to  a  :  inhabitants  felt  averse  to  it,  and.  the  mas- 
candid  inquirer,  offers  a  fair  presumptive  sacres  did  not  occur  there  till  fresh  in- 
evidence,  nut  only  that  such  orders  were  jstructions  and  instigating  emissaries  had 
actually  sent,  but  that,  in  consequence  of 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  governors, 
additional  orders  were  issued  for  en- 
forcing the  execution  of  the  first.t  But 
not  only  does  the  abbe  refuse  his  credit 
to  every  writer,  he  attempts  to  discredit 
all  their  accounts,  by  producing  one 
which  is  unworthy  of  attention,  from 
the  palpable  marks  of  f.ibi ication  it 
contains.  It  is  a  letter  purporting  to  be 
written  bv  the  Queen  to  Strozzy,  and 


arrived  to  carry  the  point.  In  the  towns 
where  fanaticism  reigned,  they  wanted 
only  an  example.  Bigotry  requires  no 
orders:  permission  to  exert  itself  is  all 
that  is  necessary. 

The  fourth  and  last  proposition  is,  that 
the  number  of  killed  on  the  occasion  is 
much  less  than  has  been  stated.  After 
examining  every  account,  the  abbe  settles 
down,  as  usual,  with  the  opinion  of  La- 
popeliniere, who  estimates  the  killed  in 


sent  to  him  in  the  month  of  April,  with  Paris  at  a  thousand.  "This  opinion  is 
orders  to  open  it  on  the  24th  of  August:  the  more  probable,  as  it  can  be  supported 
it  contains  information  of  the  massacre] by  an  account  of  the  Hotel-de-Ville  of 
resolved  on,  and  orders  him  to  do  the  [Paris,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the 


same  in  his  government 
cessary  to  observe,  that 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  the  general  ex- 


*  Dissertation,  p  21. 

t  At  Bordeaux  the  people  were  exhorted  from  Die 
pulpits  to  massacre  the  heretics  on  the  fete  of  St.  .Mi- 
chael. (29th  Sep.)— D\iubigne,  vol.  ]i.  p.  27. 


It  is  only  ne-  provost,  &c.  had  bodies  to  the  number  of 
till  the  death  of! eleven  hundred  buried  in  the  environs  of 
St.  Cloud,  Autenil,  and  Chaillot.    It  is 
certain,  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
admiral,  who  was  exposed  at  the  gibbet 


*  Dissertation,  p.  25 


DR.  LINGARD'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


157 


at  Montfaucon,  and  Oiulin  Petit,  a  book- 
seller, who  was  buried  in  his  cellar,  that 
all  the  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  Seine. 
Carts  were  loaded  with  dead  bodies  of 
girls,  women,  children  and  men,  and 
were  taken  to  the  river  and  thrown  in. 
The  carcasses  stopt  partly  at  a  small 
island,  which  was  then  opposite  the 
Louvre,  partly  at  that  which  is  called  the 
Isle  des  Cygnes:  it  was  therefore  neces- 
sary to  take  measures  for  their  interment, 
lest  they  should  infect  the  air  and  water; 
and  eight  grave-diggers  were  employed 
for  eight  days,  who,  so  far  as  we  may 
rely  on  people  of  that  description,  buried 
eleven  hundred  bodies.  If  it  were  essen- 
tial to  examine  this  account,  we  should 
find  strong  presumptions  against  its  ac- 
curacy. It  is  hardly  possible  that  eight 
grave-diggers  could  have  buried  eleven 
hundred  bodies  in  eight  days;  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  draw  them  out  of  the  water; 
it  was  requisite  that  the  trenches  should 
be  rather  deep  to  avoid  infection;  the  soil 
where  they  were  made  is  very  firm,  fre- 
quently stony:  how  then  could  each  of 
these  eight  men  have  been  able  to  bury, 
for  his  part,  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
bodies  in  eight  days  ?  a  thing  difficult  to 
do  and  to  believe.  We  ought  even  to 
presume  that  these  men,  of  but  little  de- 
licacy by  condition  and  nature,  would 
make  no  scruple  of  swelling  the  number 
of  interred,  to  increase  their  pay;  and 
indeed  they  had  nobody  to  control  them: 
(query?)  I  therefore  make  every  allow- 
ance, in  supposing  a  thousand  persons | 
were  massacred  in  Paris,  conformable  to 
what  Lapopeliniere  has  written."* 

Without  staying  to  inquire  where  those 
bodies  were  buried,  which  stopped  facing 
the  Louvre,  there  is  great  probability, 
from  the  strength  of  the  current  in  the 
Seine,  that  for  every  corpse  which  took 
ground,  six  or  seven  floated  on.  The 
island  has  disappeared  within  the  last 
twelve  months;t  but  it  will  be  recollected, 
that  the  branch  of  the  river  separating  it 
from  Auteuil  was  nearly  dry  during  the 
summer  months;  the  bodies  therefore  on 
the  north  side  of  the  stream  would  be 
carried  into  the  opening,  or  against  the 
inlet,  and  there  remain;  while  those  in  the 
middle  of  the  river  would  pass  down  to 


*  Dissertation,  p.  30. 

t  It  was  (Jug  away  in  1826  and  1827,  to  widen  the 
river  on  the  establishment  of  a  dock  atGrenelle. 

14 


the  sea.  Thus,  this  account  from  the 
,  Hotel-de-Ville,  instead  of  proving  that 
fewer  persons  were  killed  than  is  thought, 
'j actually  substantiates  the  opinion  to  be 
drawn  from  a  general  review  of  the  ac- 
counts of  that  lime,  viz:  that  more  than 
six  thousand  persons  fell  in  Paris  alone. 
It  is  clear  that  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
bodies  lodged  at  the  Isle  des  Cygnes;  for 
as  the  municipal  officers  thought  fit  to 
have  them  thrown  into  the  river  at  first, 
why  did  they  not  simply  renew  the  pro- 
cess, and  send  the  bodies  on  again,  by 
pushing  them  into  the  stream?  but  as  they 
remained  there  several  days,  and  consti- 
tuted but  a  small  portion  of  the  victims; 
and  as  other  towns  contributed  to  charge 
the  rivers  in  the  same  way,  it  was  thought 
better  to  put  them  under  ground.  With 
respect  to  those  buried  at  Chaillot,  there 
could  be  no  reason  for  carrying  them  half 
a  league  over  a  high  hill,  from  Auteuil, 
which  has  a  clay  soil,  to  Chaillot,  which 
is  very  stony  t  it  is  much  more  likely 
that  they  were  persons  killed  at  Chaillot 
in  attempting  to  make  their  escape;  for  at 
that  period,  one  of  the  principal  outlets 
of  Paris  was  in  that  direction. 

Great  importance  has  been  attached  to 
the  recent  publication  of  Dr.  Lingard. 
His  history  of  England  has  been  held  up 
as  an  antidote  to  the  incorrect  and  preju- 
diced writers  of  preceding  times;  the  per- 
secution of  the  French  Protestants  being 
so  interwoven  with  the  events  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  he  could  not  avoid  discuss- 
ling  the  subject;  and  a  short  notice  of  this 
episode  will  therefore  be  useful.  His 
account  is  founded  on  the  Duke  of  An- 
jou's  confession.  In  the  body  of  the 
work  his  remarks  are  short;  but  the  sub- 
ject is  treated  more  at  length  in  a  note  at 
the  end  of  the  volume.  The  assertions 
which  are  there  made  excited  considera- 
ble attention  on  their  publication,  and  some 
observations  in  the  reviews  became  the 
cause  of  a  treatise  in  vindication  of  the 
original  remarks.  In  the  history,  the 
notes,  and  the  vindication,  there  are  many 
inaccuracies  which  will  immediately 
strike  every  one  acquainted  with  the 
French  history  of  this  period;  and  with- 
out insinuating  that  the  reverend  gentle- 
man has  intentionally  misrepresented  any 
point,  there  is  fair  ground  for  inferring 
that  he  has  in  some  cases  taken  a  quota- 
tion on  the  authority  of  a  partial  writer, 


158 


DR.  LINGARD's  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


and  that  his  acquaintance  with  the  French 
authors  is  very  superficial:  the  following 
are  a  few  of  the  cases  alluded  to. 

"  Coligny  and  his  counsellors  perished; 
the  populace  joined  in  the  work  of  blood, 
and  every  Huguenot,  or  reputed  Hugue- 
not, who  fell  in  their  way  was  murder- 
ed."* Justice  to  the  population  of  Paris 
demanded  a  statement  of  the  methods 
used  to  excite  their  feelings;  but  that 
is  passed  in  silence,  because  the  detail 
would  be  fatal  to  the  sentiment  meant  to 
be  impressed.  "Several  hours  elapsed 
before  order  could  be  restored  in  the  ca- 
pital."t  Certainly  several  days  elapsed 
before  any  real  attempt  was  made  to  put 
an  end  to  the  carnage.  In  the  afternoon 
of  the  twenty-fourth,  public  proclamation 
was  made  to  desist  from  the  massacre, 
and  Dr.  L.  has  given  a  quotation  from 
Lapopeliniere,  to  show  that  the  king  gave 
orders,  by  sound  of  trumpet,  for  every 
B  one  to  return  home,  under  pain  of  death 
for  those  who  continued  the  murders;^ 
but  in  common  fairness,  the  extract  from 
that  writer  should  have  been  given  more 
at  length:  it  would  then  appear  that  the 
last  day  of  the  week  was  but  little  less  re- 
markable for  murders  than  the  others.§ 

The  work  contains  some  errors  which 
deserve  notice,  although  they  are  unim- 
portant in  point  of  historical  argument. 
"So  powerful  a  nobleman,  who  had 
twice  led  his  army  against  that  of  the 
crown,  was  naturally  an  object  of  jea- 
lousy. "||  "  They  reminded  him  (the 
king)  of  the  two  rebellions  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, «fec."^f  It  is  certainly  of  no  real 
consequence  that  Coligny  had  been  en- 
gaged against  the  king's  troops  more  than 
twice,**  and  that  there  had  been  three  civil 
wars  or  rebellions,  instead  of  two;  but  the 
assertion  shows  how  much  this  writer's 
reputation  for  research  and  accuracy  has 
been  overrated.  Two  other  remarks  are 
unaccountable:  in  one,  the  admiral's  as- 
sassin is  placed  in  an  upper  window, ff  a 
thing  impossible  in  a  narrow  street;  the 
other  mentions  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
of  the  parliament  hoicse.\\ 

*  Hi/5t.  of  England,  vol.  viii.  p.  96.      f  Ibid. 
X  Note  E,  p.  440. 

§  Lapopeliniere,  vol.  ii.  liv.  29,  p.  C7. 
II  Note  E.  |i-  4Hb. 
IT  Nnte  E,  p.  438. 

**  Brides  sieges  and  skirmishes,  there  were  no  Ips« 
than  six  battles,  viz:  Drcux,  St  Denis,  Jarnac,  La 
roclie  Abeille,  Montcontour,  and  Arnay  le  Due. 

ft  Note  E  p.  437. 

jj  Note  E.  p.  439.   If  by  Parliament  House  is  meant 


The  doctor's  remarks  respecting  the 
number  of  killed,  are  curious:  "  among 
the  Huguenot  writers,  Perefixe  reckons 
100,000;  Sully,  70,000;  Thuanus, 
30,000;  Lapopeliniere,  20,000;  the  re- 
formed Marty  rologist,  15,000;  andMasson, 
10,000.  But  the  Martyrologist  adopted 
a  measure  which  may  enable  us  to  form 
a  tolerable  conjecture;  he  procured  from 
the  ministers  in  the  different  towns  where 
massacres  had  taken  place,  lists  of  the 
names  of  persons  who  had  suffered,  or 
were  supposed  to  have  suffered.  He 
published  the  result  in  1582;  and  the  rea- 
der will  be  surprised  to  learn,  that  in  all 
France  he  could  discover  the  names  of 
no  more  than  786  persons;  perhaps,  if 
we  double  that  number,  we  shall  not  be 
far  from  the  real  amount."*  Of  the  above 
six  Huguenot  writers,  three  were  well 
known  Catholics,  viz  :  Perefixe,  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris;  Thuanus,  or  De  Thou, 
and  Masson.  Lapopeliniere  abjured  Pro- 
testantism, and  the  only  Huguenot  of 
them  all  is  Sully,  with  the  exception  of 
the  anonymous  Martyrologist,  respecting 
whom  it  is  a  fair  subject  for  inquiry  who 
he  was;  and  whether  his  work  was  not 
one  of  the  artifices  of  the  League,  to  di- 
minish the  odium  which  even  at  that  time 
was  entertained  for  these  effects  of  Popish 
bigotry.  Dr.  L.  himself  seems  aware 
that  his  position  is  untenable,  for  in  his 
Vindication  he  changes  his  ground;  re- 
presents his  printer  to  have  inserted  the 
word  Huguenot  instead  of  National;] 
and  afterwards  declares  how  little  import- 
ance he  attaches  to  the  contradictory  con- 
jectures of  historians;  adding,  that  as  he 
had  taken  Caveyrac  for  I i is  guide,  he  re- 
fers the  reader  to  him  as  his  sole  autho- 
rity, t  Such  a  reference  renders  comment 
unnecessary;  it  must  however  be  ob- 
served, that  more  than  seven  hundred 
persons  of  distinction  were  killed, §  and 
supposing  the  Martyrologist  to  have  been 
what  is  pretended,  his  researches  must 
have  been  for  persons  of  a  particular 
class,  or  he  could  easily  have  found  more 
names  than  he  did;  but  the  list  contains 
chiefly  the  names  of  persons  of  the 
lowest  condition;  and  when  the  period  of 


the  Palace  of  Justice,  it  is  at  variance  with  the  general 
accounts;  and  there  was  no  other  building  which  could 
be  so  called. 

*  Note  E.  p.  441. 

t  Vindication,  Ate  ,  p  15.  J  'bid.  p.  45. 

§  Maimbourg,  Hist  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  ti. 


CONVERSION  OF  NAVARRE  AND  CONDE. 


159 


its  publication  is  considered,  there  is  very- 
great  appearance  of  its  being  intended  to 
discredit  the  then  prevailing  opinions,  if 
not  in  France,  at  least  in  foreign  parts. 

In  replying  to  the  reviewers,  Dr.  L. 
goes  more  deeply  into  the  subject,  but 
with  no  better  success,  for  errors  are  often 
discernible.  "  The  ceremony  (the  mar- 
riage) had  been  fixed  for  the  18th  of  Au- 
gust, but  he  (Coligny)  went  to  court 
in  June,  &n."*  It  was,  however,  the 
death  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre  in  June, 
which  caused  it  to  be  delayed  till  August. 
To  show  how  unlikely  it  was  that  the 
king  should  be  so  great  a  dissembler,  he 
is  stated  to  have  been  no  more  than 
twenty  years  of  age,t  whereas  he  was  in 
his  twenty-third  year. 

Respecting  the  league  of  Bayonne  in 
1565,  there  are  some  observations  worthy 
of  attention.  Dr.  L.  shows  that  there  is 
no  proof  of  it  beyond  the  suspicions  of 
the  Huguenots,  and  which  suspicions  had 
not  much  effect  even  on  them:  for  they 
placed  themselves  without  hesitation  at 
the  mercy  of  the  court,  at  the  assembly 
at  Moulins  in  15664  So  far,  however, 
from  trusting  to  the  court,  the  fact  was, 
that  they  went  so  well  accompanied,  that 
the  queen  did  not  dare  attempt  any  thing. § 
It  is  moreover  singular  that  to  prove 
there  was  nothing  in  contemplation 
against  the  Huguenots,  a  letter  should  be 
produced  from  Strada,  written  by  Philip 
II.  to  his  sister  in  the  Netherlands.  It 
states,  "  that  the  Queen  of  Spain  having 
entreated  her  brother  and  her  mother  to 
remedy  the  perilous  state  of  religion  in 
France,  found  them  perfectly  disposed  to 
follow  the  counsels  which  were  discussed: 
that  several  marriages,  and  an  alliance 
against  the  Turks  were  proposed;  but 
that  nothing  was  decided,  because  the 
queen  turned  aside  every  subject  but  that 
of  religion,  which  she  recommended 
anew  to  her  brother  and  mother,  at  ihe 
suggestion  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  and  that 
the  meeting  broke  up."||  It  has  been 
said  that  Strada  did  not  believe  that  any 
idea  of  the  massacre  was  entertained  at 
this  meeting;  but  the  substance  of  the 
letter  which  he  has  preserved,  shows  that 
measures  were  then  canvassed  for  sup- 

*  Vindication,  p.  18. 

t  Ibid.  p.  13    Charles  IX.  was  born  ill  May,  1550. 

t  Vindication,  p.  51. 

§  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  314. 

K  Vindication,  4c,  p.  53. 


pressing  the  Huguenot  party;  and,  the 
argument  as  to  whether  he  did  or  did  not 
believe  that  the  massacre  was  then  dis- 
cussed, rests  altogether  upon  a  disputed 
punctuation. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Conversion  of  Navarre  and  Conde— Execution  of  Bri - 
quemaui  ami  Cavagnes— Fourth  civil  war— Siege  of 
UochellH—Conspiracy  of  the  Politiques—  Death,  of 
Charles  IX. 

On  the  morning  of  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew Charles  IX.  had  ordered  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  to 
abjure  their  heresy:  when  order  was  re- 
stored, they  were  again  summoned  before 
his  presence.  Catherine  had  employed 
Cosmo  Ruggieri,  her  countryman,  to  cast 
the  nativity  of  the  princes.  He  made 
the  calculation  with  great  apparent  care 
and  minuteness,  and  announced  that  the 
state  had  nothing  to  fear  from  them.* 
Repeated  efforts  had  been  made  in  the 
mean  time  to  win  them  over  by  the  ex- 
hortations of  Maldonathus,  a  Jesuit,  as- 
sisted by  other  theologians:  Navarre  dis- 
played some  reluctance  to  the  change, 
but  Conde  gave  a  most  decided  refusal. 
The  king's  anger  being  inflamed  by  this 
opposition  to  his  will,  he  was  inclined  to 
renew  the  dreadful  scenes  in  Paris,  which 
even  then  continued  to  desolate  the  pro- 
vinces. He  vowed  he  would  put  to  death 
every  Huguenot  persisting  in  heiesy,  be- 
ginning with  the  Prince  of  Conde:  he  or- 
dered his  guards  to  be  drawn  out,  and 
then  sent  for  the  two  princes.  The  young 
Queen  of  France,  whose  charms  gave  her 
some  influence  over  her  husband's  violent 
temper,  entreated  him  with  tears  to  desist 
from  his  purpose,  and  wait  a  little  longer: 
Charles  was  persuaded  to  send  away  his 
guards,  but  still  ordered  the  princes  to  be 
brought  before  liim.f  Navarre  was  in- 
duced to  comply  with  the  king's  wish, 
more  by  the  example  of  De  Rosiers  (a 
Huguenot  minister,  who  had  abjured,) 
than  from  the  effect  of  conviction;  but 
Conde  was  inflexible.  Charles,  with  a 
fierce  look,  said  to  him,  "  The  mass, 
death,  or  the  Baslile .'"  And  sent  him 
back  to  confinement.^ 

*  Mem.  de  la  Viede  J.  A.  Thou,  p. 244. 

t  Sept.  9.    Lapopeliniere,  Maiinbourg,  D'Anhigne. 

t  D'AubignG,  vol.  ii.  p.  30.    Mathieu,  liv.  6,  p.  348. 


160 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR. 


In  a  short  time  the  prince  yielded; 
and,  after  proper  instructions  from  his 
uncle,  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  he  went 
to  mass  with  the  princess  his  wife,  and 
the  different  members  of  the  Bourbon 
family.  They  all  received  absolution; 
and  that  they  should  not  afterwards  dis- 
avow their  consent,  Navarre  and  Conde 
were  made  to  write  to  the  pope  for  his 
approval  of  their  return  to  the  church  of 
Rome.  The  King  of  Navarre  also  pub- 
lished the  declaration  required  of  him, 
which  prohibited  the  exercise  of  the  re- 
formed religion  in  his  states* 

Zealous  Catholics  argued  upon  these 
conversions,  to  show  the  utility  of  the  mas- 
sacre; and  the  king's  counsellors  recom 
mended  another  cruel  measure  to  prove 
its  necessity.  Briquemaut  and  Cavagnes 
were  brought  to  trial  for  the  alleged  plot 
of  the  Huguenots.  Briquemaut  had  taken 
refuge  in  Walsingham's  house,  where  he 
was  seized  in  the  dress  of  a  groom.t 
They  were  both  condemned  to  be  hanged, 
as  convicted  of  all  the  crimes  which  the 
decree  of  the  Parliament  attributed  to  the 
Protestants:  the  sentence  was  carried 
into  execution  at  the  end  of  October. 
Tavannes  informs  us  J  that  they  were 
both  offered  their  lives,  if  they  would 
confess  the  existence  of  a  conspiracy,  but 
they  refused  to  listen  to  sueh  terms; 
while  De  Thou  declares, §  that  Brique- 
maut himself  made  great  efforts  to  avoid 
death.  He  offered  not  only  to  acknow- 
ledge Coligny's  guilt,  but  even  to  serve 
against  Rochelle.  Cavagnes,  however, 
exhorted  him  to  display  the  firmness  for 
which  he  was  celebrated;  and  from  that 
time  his  intrepidity  never  forsook  him. 

They  were  drawn  on  a  hurdle,  and  the 
effigy  of  Colignv  was  placed  beside  them. 
The  populace  insulted  them  as  they  went 
to  execution,  and  afterwards  offered  every 
possible  indignity  to  their  bodies.  The 
king  and  the  queen-mother  were  at  the 
window  of  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  to  witness 
the  dreadful  spectacle;  when,  in  order  to 
make  the  representation  more  complete 
for  the  gratification  of  their  vengeance,  a 
toothpick  was  placed  in  ih&  admiral's 
mouth.  || 

*  The  teller  to  the  poieami  lie  declaration  are  given 
at  length  by  LapopHmiere. 
i  Lapopeliniere  ami  Maltliien. 

t  Mem,  p.  419    The  same  is  mentioned  in  a  work 
entitled,  De  Furoribus  Oallicis,  p.  411.    Edin.,  1573. 
§  Book  53.  vol.  vi.  p.  4<i0. 

jj  De  Thou,  liv.  53.   The  admiral  had  a  habit  of  con- 


'  The  court,"  says  the  Abbe  Crillon, 
"thought  to  have  drowned  Calvinism  in 
the  blood  of  its  principal  defenders;  but 
that  hydra  resumed  fresh  vigour."*  A 
fourth  civil  war  became  inevitable:  the 
government  had  taken  measuresforseizing 
the  towns  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Protest- 
ants, but  were  successful  only  at  La 
Charite.  A  body  of  soldiers  having  ob- 
tained admission  upon  some  pretext,  sud- 
denly seized  upon  the  gates  and  principal 
places,  so  that  the  inhabitants  were  una- 
ble to  help  themselves,  and  the  town  was 
in  the  power  of  the  king's  officers. 
Joyeuse  and  Strozzy  attempted  the  same 
thing  at  Montauban  and  Rochelle,  but 
failed,  in  consequence  of  information  being 
sent  to  those  places,  which  put  the  garri- 
sons on  their  guard. t 

The  timely  arrival  of  Resnier  was  the 
cause  of  Montauban  being  preserved. 
After  his  remarkable  escape  from  the 
massacre  he  travelled  southward,  and  ar- 
rived at  that  town  with  about  eighty 
horsemen.  He  found  the  inhabitants  in 
such  a  state  of  alarm,  that  he  could  not 
persuade  them  to  defend  the  place.  On 
retiring  from  Montauban,  his  little  troop 
fell  in  with  a  division  of  Montluc's  army: 
they  fought,  less  with  any  hope  of  suc- 
cess, than  from  a  desire  to  sell  their  lives 
as  dearly  as  possible;  their  desperation 
was  rewarded  with  a  victory,  for  Mont- 
luc's cavalry  was  nearly  destroyed,  and 
his  standard  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Pro- 
testants. Returning  to  Montauban  with 
the  news  of  this  success,  Resnier's  exam- 
ple revived  the  courage  of  the  people; 
they  shut  their  gates  against  the  king's 
troops,  and  many  other  places  were  then 
encouraged  to  do  the  same.t 

By  sacrificing  the  admiral  and  his 
friends,  the  King  of  France  had  completely 
destroyed  every  chance  of  employing  the 
martial  spirit  of  the  nation  in  a  manner 
either  useful  or  glorious;  and  he  had  ren- 
dered reconciliation  with  his  revolted  sub- 
jects absolutely  impossible.  Great  exer- 
lions  were  requisite  for  raising  his  forces. 
Three  armies  were  levied :  one  under  La 
Chastre  was  employed  to  reduce  San- 
cerre;  Damville,  with  another,  undertook 


stanllv  using  a  tooth-pick  ;  and  it  became  proverbial  10 
>ay,  Dieu  me  garde  du  curedent  de  M.  I'JldmiraV  See 
Brantoine,  vol.  viii.  p  535 

*  Vie  de  Cri/lon,  written  in  17?5  by  one  of  his  de- 
scendants, Louis  Abbe  de  Crillon,  canon  of  Toulouse. 

t  Davila.  liv.  5. 

t  Sully,  liv.  1.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  78. 


ATTACK  ON  ROCHELLE. 


161 


to  quiet  Languedoc;  the  third,  command- 
ed by  Villars,  admiral  of  France,  was  sent 
into  Guyenne.  Besides  these,  there  were 
the  forces  under  Strozzy  before  Rochelle, 
and  Montluc's  army  near  Montauban, 
ready  to  join  that  of  Marshal  Damville .* 

Rochelle  being  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Huguenots,  it  was  considered  that  the 
conquest  of  it  would  be  followed  by  the 
submission  of  the  other  towns,  or  at  least 
the  dispersion  of  the  Protestants,  and  the 
retreat  or  adhesion  of  their  leaders.  To 
make  more  sure  of  their  object,  Biron  was 
proposed  as  their  governor,  he  being  high 
in  the  confidence  of  the  Protestant  party, 
and  reasonably  so,  as  his  destruction  had 
been  intended  with  theirs.  Another  rea- 
son for  trying  persuasion  and  gentle 
means,  was  the  fear  lest  despair  might 
make  them  deliver  the  place  to  the  Eng- 
lish. These  proposals  and  delays  gave 
sufficient  time  to  prepare  for  the  defence 
of  trie  place,  by  repairing  the  works,  as 
well  as  in  sending  abroad  to  negotiate  for 
assistance. 

The  Protestant  authorities  at  Rochelle 
began  early  to  prepare  for  the  storm, 
which  it  was  evident  would  soon  burst 
over  them.  The  inhabitants  were  num- 
bered, and  all  capable  of  bearing  arms 
were  enrolled  and  exercised.  The  most 
important  posts  were  confided  to  indivi- 
duals of  approved  fidelity  ;  and  as  a  mea- 
sure of  precaution,  they  were  renewed 
everv  week.  Provisions  were  collected, 
and  a  premium  given  for  the  importation 
of  ammunition.  It  is  stated  by  Amos 
Barbotf  that  thirty  thousand  casks  of 
wine  were  collected  in  the  town ;  so  that 
if  their  store  of  food  was  in  proportion, 


the  Baron  de  la  Garde  gave  rise  to  suspi- 
cions of  some  project  for  seizing  the  town. 
The  unfavourable  impression  caused  by 
the  letters  was  augmented  by  tidings  from 
Montauban,  informing  them  of  the  treache- 
rous conduct  of  a  governor,  who  had  been 
admitted  by  the  confiding  inhabitants  of 
Castres,  and  a  massacre  of  many  Protest- 
ants followed.  The  magistrates  of  Ro- 
chelle were  then  fully  decided  against  ad- 
mitting Marshal  Biron.* 

Finding  that  Biron  would  not  be  re- 
ceived, and  that  after  what  had  passed  the 
Protestants  would  distrust  any  offer  which 
might  be  made,  Charles  sent  La  Noue  to 
Rochelle  with  full  powers. f  He  was, 
happily  for  him,  in  Hainault  at  the  time  of 
the  massacre,  but  finding  himself  too  weak 
to  oppose  the  Duke  of  Alva,  he  returned 
to  France,  and  claimed  the  protection  of 
his  old  friend  the  Duke  of  Longueville. 
His  reputation  stood  so  high  with  all  par- 
ties, that  his  Huguenotism  was  forgotten 
in  estimating  his  character.  With  the 
greatest  share  of  bravery  and  skill,  he  was 
known  to  be  earnest  in  his  wishes  for 
peace :  he  was  besides  considered  so  in- 
capable of  dissimulation,  that  the  highest 
importance  was  attached  to  his  recom- 
mendations, by  Catholics,  as  well  as  Pro- 
testants.}: On  his  arrival  at  court,  the 
king,  to  his  surprise,  received  him  with 
great  demonstrations  of  kindness,  and 
conferred  upon  him  the  confiscated  pro- 
perty of  Teligny,  his  brother-in-law. 
Charles  then  proposed  to  him  to  go  to 
Rochelle,  to  persuade  the  inhabitants  to 
submit.  La  Noue  declined  such  a  com- 
mission ;  but  the  king's  threats  overcame 
his  reluctance. 5    He  was  accompanied  by 


they  were  well  supplied.  The  consistory! a  Florentine  priest,  named  Gadagni;  and 
ordered  a  general  fast,  and  prayers  to  im-  on  approaching  Rochelle,  sent  a  message 


plore  Divine  assistance.} 

Biron  a/rived  at  the  end  of  September, 
and  delivered  letters  from  the  court  to  the 
magistrates  of  Rochelle.  The  letters  were 
attentively  read  before  a  full  assembly. 
One  of  them  was  from  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, who  recommended  them  to  receive 
the  new  governor.  The  magistrates  were 
undecided;  and  it  was  fully  expected  that 
a  deputation  would  be  sent  to  meet  the 
marshal :  but  two  letters  received  from 


*  D'Aubigne,  Hist.   Univ.    Mezeray,  Mregl  Chron- 
f  An  advocate,  mayor  in  1610.  who  compiled  a 
valuable  record  from  the  archives  of  this  city. 
X  Arcere,  vol.  i.  p.  404. 


14 


to  the  town  to  announce  his  arrival. ,| 

Biron  was  in  constant  communication 
with  the  leading  Huguenots,  and  sent 
them  information  calculated  to  dispel  any 
thoughts  of  submission,*!  which,  added  to 
the  exhortations  of  their  ministers,  not 


*  I  hid  ,  p.  41-2. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  53. 

%  On  ne  se  pent  as*ez  saonler  de  dire  les  biens,  les 
vertus,  les  valeurs  el  les  meriles-  qui  estoitit  en  luy  ;  si 
hien  qu'il  fut  ten ii  estre  resie  le  pins  grand  capifaine 
que  nous  (Missions  aujourd  lmy  en  France.  Brantorne, 
y.  de  la  Aoue. 

$  I. a  promesge  de  M.  de  I, a  None  avoit  este  faite.  lui 
aijunt  le  couteau  d  la  gorge.— Mem.  du  due  de  Bouillon. 
p.  12,  vol.  xlviii.  of  the  collection,  published  in  1788. 
[  D'Aubigne,  vol.  li.  p  34. 
IT  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  039. 

* 


162 


ATTACK  ON  ROCHELLE. 


only  made  them  decided  in  defending  the  leys  and  negotiations,  the  inhabitants  had 


town,  but  rendered  them  distrustful  and 
suspicious  of  any  offer  which  might  be 
made. 

In  a  village  near  the  town,  La  Noue 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  deputies  from 
Rochelle  ;*  their  coolness  was  painful  to  a 
man  so  jealous  of  the  esteem  of  his  friends. 
"  We  have  been  invited,"  said  they,  "  to 
confer  with  La  Noue ;  but  where  is  he  1 


an  opportunity  of  furnishing  themselves 
with  every  necessary ;  and  in  supplying 
them  with  an  excellent  commander  (which 
they  stood  in  need  of)  by  sending  La 
Noue.* 

The  town  is  naturally  well  fortified ; 
and  batteries  and  trenches  had  been  added 
to  its  other  means  of  defence.  The  garri- 
son consisted  of  fifteen  hundred  regular 


It  is  to  little  purpose  that  the  person  to  troops,  and  about  two  thousand  of  the  in- 


whom  we  speak  resembles  him  in  person, 
when  in  character  he  differs  so  widely 
from  him."  La  Noue,  pointing  to  the  ar-j 
tificial  arm  he  wore,  (and  which  had  pro- 


habitants,  who,  though  not  well  disciplined, 
were  far  from  being  inexperienced,  having 
taken  part  in  the  preceding  civil  wars; 
the  women  also  joined  with  ardour  in  the 


cured  for  him  the  surname  of  Bras  de  defence  of  the  place,  and  emulated  the 
fer,)  reminded  them  of  the  limb  he  had  <  animation  of  their  husbands  and  brothers. 


lost  in  their  service  :t  but  they  persisted 
in  asserting,  that  they  remembered  with 
gratitude  their  valued  friend,  but  that  they 
could  not  then  recognise  him.  Finding 
it  impossible  to  treat  with  the  deputies,  he 
requested  permission  to  enter  the  town  : 
the  inhabitants  received  him  joyfully,  but 
they  would  hear  no  more  of  his  proposals 
for  a  peace,  and  gave  him  a  choice  of 
three  things ;  either  to  retire  into  England, 
to  remain  in  the  town  as  a  private  indi- 
vidual, or  to  become  their  general.  In 
accepting  the  mission,  his  conscience  had 
reproached  him  with  having  joined  the 


The  influence  of  the  preachers  was 
likewise  very  great:  two  among  them,  La 
Place  and  Denord,  were  remarkable  for 
their  energy  in  addressing  the  people. 
Their  harangues  excited  the  feelings  of 
their  hearers,  whose  humanity  was  ap- 
pealed to,  by  descriptions  of  the  sufferings 
endured  by  their  brethren;  but  they  prin- 
cipally dwelt  upon  the  paramount  claims 
of  religion  to  their  most  devoted  services. 
Denord  was  very  eloquent;  and  possessed 
such  influence  by  his  persuasive  style, 
that  he  was  called  the  Pope  of  Rochelle.f 
Although  the  town  was  not  completely 


enemies  of  his  religion  ;  he  had  no  hopes  i  invested  before  the  close  of  January,  1573, 


of  persuading  them  to  accept  of  peaceful 
terms;  and  after  consulting  with  Gadagni, 
he  consented  to  take  the  command  of  the 
town.!  This  step  on  his  part  did  not, 
however,  destroy  the  good  opinion  which 


there  were  several  attacks  in  December; 
one  in  particular  was  upon  a  mill  near  the 
counterscarp.  As  it  could  not  be  easily 
fortified,  it  served  as  a  barbican,  or  post 
of  observation  in  the  daytime;  and  at 


Charles  had  entertained  of  him;  and  it  is  I  night,  it  was  left,  under  the  guard  of  a  sin- 


a  case  almost  unparalleled,  that  being  com- 
missioned by  two  contending  parties,  he 
preserved  the  confidence  of  both.  In 
action  none  more  bravely  joined  in  repel- 
ling the  assailants;  and  at  quiet  intervals 
he  never  omitted  to  exhort  the  towns- 
people to  listen  to  the  king's  offers,  which 
were  liberty  of  conscience  and  full  security 
for  themselves  ;  but  they  insisted  on  treat- 
ing for  all  the  Protestants,  a  demand  to 
which  the  king  would  not  listen. 

It  is  remarked  by  Davila,  that  the 
court  committed  two  errors  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  proceeded  to  reduce 
Rochelle;  by  losing  so  much  time  in  par- 

*  liaii  Nov.  1572. 

|  At  the  siejie  of  Fonlenay,  in  1569,  his  left  arm  was 
so  severely  fractured  by  a  musket- ball  (bat  amputation 
•w  as  necessary.    Ainirault,  p  62. 

J  De  Thou,  liv  53.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii  p.  34. 


gle  sentinel.  Strozzy  considering  the 
position  would  be  valuable  to  the  besieging 
force,  advanced  by  moonlight  to  attack  it. 
The  sentinel,  with  a  hardihood  rarely 
equalled,  resolved  to  defend  the  mill,  al- 
though twoculverines  were  pointed  against 
it.  He  fired  briskly  on  the  assailants ;  and 
in  order  to  deceive  them,  called  out  as  if 
giving  orders  to  his  men,  while  an  officer 
hallooed  from  the  nearest  bastion  that  he 
would  soon  be  reinforced.  The  contest 
was  too  unequal  to  allow  time  for  assist- 
ance to  arrive;  and  to  avoid  the  conse- 
quences of  an  assault,  he  demanded  quar- 
ter for  himself  and  his  men :  it  was  granted, 
and  he  walked  forth  alone.  Strozzy  was 
so  enraged  at  his  presumption  in  pretend- 


*  Davila,  liv.  5. 


t  Arcire,  p.  421. 


SLACKENING  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


163 


ing  to  hold  out,  that  he  ordered  him  to  be 
hanged  for  his  insolence;  but  Biron  inter- 
fered, and  saved  his  life,  at  the  same  time 
condemning  him  to  the  galleys.  This 
courageous  fellow  happily  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape;  his  name  has  not  been 
preserved ;  but  Amos  Barbot  says  he  was 
a  brazier  of  the  isle  of  Rhe.* 

In  order  to  prevent  the  arrival  of  sup- 
plies by  sea,  the  besiegers  made  use  of  a 
galleon,  originally  a  prize  of  the  Huguenot 
cruizers,  and  afterwards  taken  by  the 
Catholics:  dismasted,  and  filled  with 
stones,  it  was  sunk  at  the  mouth  of  the 
harbour,  and  served  as  a  redoubt  for 
annoying  the  town.  The  Rochellese  at 
once  saw  the  inconvenience  to  which  it 
might  expose  them,  and  the  following 
night,  at  low  water,  proceeded  with 
torches  and  combustibles  to  destroy  it. 
The  wood  was  too  wet  to  ignite,  before 
the  flood-tide  compelled  them  to  retire.f 

The  besieging  army  was  formidable; 
the  Duke  of  Anjou  had  the  chief  com- 
mand, and  reached  the  camp  in  February. 
He  was  accompanied  by  the  elite  of  the 
French  nobility;  the  King  of  Navarre  and 
the  Prince  of  Conde  were  also  obliged  to 
appear  in  the  royal  army,  with  a  view  to 
destroying  more  completely  the  hopes  of 
the  Huguenots.  The  Rochellese  defended 
themselves  in  a  manner  which  surprised 
their  assailants.  The  principal  direction 
of  the  royal  army  was  intrusted  to  Biron  i 
and  Strozzy;  but  Biron  was  not  very  de- 
sirous of  seeing  the  Huguenot  party  sub- 
dued ;  and  although  the  operations  were 
on  a  grand  scale,  it  is  said  that  more 
might  have  been  done  if  he  had  thought 
proper.}  Another  circumstance  proved 
very  favourable  to  the  besieged:  in  the 
royal  army  there  was  neither  system  nor 
secrecy.  The  Duke  of  Anjou  became 
disheartened,  and  summoned  La  Noue  to 
quit  the  place.  That  general  obeyed  the 
order  willingly;  for  in  his  endeavours  to 
persuade  the  town  to  submit  to  the  king, 
he  had  undergone  many  insults  and  mor- 
tifications from  the  more  violent  Hugue- 
nots: he  asked  for  and  obtained  permis- 
sion to  retire  to  his  own  house,  and  live  in 
private.} 

The  Rochellese  could  not  but  regret  the 
loss  of  their  brave  leader ;  but  no  time 
was  to  be  lost,  and  they  chose  five  or  six 


*  Arctic-,  p.  h36.  t  Ibid.  p.  437. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5.  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  131. 
i  Uavila,  liv.  5.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii  p  45. 


men  of  experience,  who  jointly  exercised 
the  command.  Their  hopes  were  kept  up 
principally  by  the  news,  that  Montgomery 
was  coming  to  their  assistance.  He  ar- 
rived in  April,  but  his  vessels,  though 
numerous,  were  unfit  for  action  ;  and  the 
king's  fleet  and  batteries  compelled  him 
to  keep  out  to  sea  :*  one  ship,  however, 
laden  with  ammunition  and  stores,  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  port,  which  proved 
of  great  assistance  to  the  besieged.f 
Charles  complained  to  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land of  this  breach  of  the  treaty  existing 
between  them,  but  De  Retz,  who  was 
employed  on  the  embassy,  could  only  ob- 
tain a  disavowal  of  her  having  equipped 
the  fleet,  which  she  said  had  been  put  to 
sea  unknown  to  her.f 

In  the  mean  time  every  thing  lan- 
guished in  the  royal  camp  :  the  Duke  of 
Anjou  had  been  wounded  ;  Aumale  and 
several  others  of  rank  killed ;  and  above 
twenty  thousand  men  had  perished  in  the 
different  attacks.  The  prince  regretted 
that  he  had  undertaken  an  affair,  which 
seemed  likely  to  destroy  his  reputation. 
The  length  of  the  siege,  instead  of  weak- 
ening the  Rochellese,  seemed  to  impart 
both  vigour  and  desperation;  and  a  furious 
sortie  which  they  made  in  June,  convinced 
him  that  his  chance  of  success  was  very 
small.  Twelve  hundred  men  attacked 
the  royal  camp,  while  an  equal  number 
from  the  wall  opened  a  destructive  fire 
upon  the  besiegers.  The  efforts  of  Cril- 
lon,  one  of  the  bravest  men  of  the  age, 
preserved  the  royal  army  from  defeat,  but 
he  fell  covered  with  wounds,  and  was 
thought  to  be  dead ;  a  violent  struggle 
ensued  for  the  possession  of  his  body, 
which  ended  in  the  repulse  of  the  Hugue- 
nots.§  This  circumstance  proved  clearly 
to  the  Duke  of  Anjou  how  capable  the 
town  was  of  prolonging  the  defence;  and 
notwithstanding  the  arrival  of  six  thou- 
sand Swiss  to  reinforce  him,  he  decided 
upon  taking  the  first  opportunity  to  raise 
the  siege. 

The  existence  of  a  new  confederacy 
likewise  contributed  very  much  to  help 
the  Rochellese,  by  adding  to  the  confu- 
sion and  distraction  which  reigned  in  the 
Duke  of  Anjou's  councils.    They  were 


*  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p  358. 

t  Davila,  liv.  5. 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii  p.  48. 

i  Vie  lie  Crillon,  (by  the  Abbe  Crillon,)  p.  3SL 


164 


SLACKENING  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


called  the  PolUiques,  and  embraced  per- 
sons of  both  religions.  Their  aim  was  to 
destroy  all  foreign  influence,  and  to  effect 
some  reformation  in  the  state,  without 
any  consideration  for  religion.  It  had  ori- 
ginated with  the  Montmorencies,  Biron, 
and  Cosse  previous  to  the  massacre ;  the 
Duke  of  Alencon  from  his  intimacy  with 
Coligny  had  imbibed  a  taste  for  the  re- 
formed religion,  and  was  easily  persuaded 
to  join  them  ;  Navarre  and  Conde  would 
not  be  induced  to  make  common  cause 
with  Alencon,  while  they  were  under  sur- 
veillance at  court ;  but  on  finding  them- 
selves more  free  in  the  camp,  their  adhe- 
sion was  soon  brought  about,  by  the 
mediation  of  Turenne,  a  youth  of  great 
talents*  A  plan  was  proposed  for  seizing 
upon  Angouleme  or  St.  Jean  d'Angely; 
and  they  expected  that  upon  their  taking 
arms  and  declaring  their  reasons,  they 
would  be  certainly  joined  by  all  the  Hu- 
guenots. La  Noue  returned  to  the  camp 
from  Rochelle  about  the  same  time;  and 
as  there  was  some  difference  among  the 
parties  upon  the  plan  of  operations,  they 
agreed  to  refer  to  his  experience.  He 
listened  to  all  their  reasons  ;  and  showing 
them  the  certainty  of  their  danger,  the 
little  probability  of  any  advantageous  re- 
sult, and  the  prospect  of  Anjou's  departure 
for  Poland,  which  would  effect  their  pur- 
pose for  them  without  having  recourse  to 
arms,  he  persuaded  them  to  renounce  it 
altogether.t 

The  news  of  this  combination  reached 
the  king,  who  became  uneasy,  lest  some 
surprise  should  be  attempted  against  him- 
self; and  he  sent  orders  to  his  brother  to 
hasten  the  reduction  of  Rochelle,  as  he 
required  the  troops  near  his  own  person. 
These  orders  were  the  cause  of  so  many 
ill-timed  assaults  being  made,  and  with  so 
little  success.  But  while  things  were  in 
this  position,  the  news  arrived  of  Anjou's 
election  to  the  crown  of  Poland  ;  and  the 
diet  having  insisted  on  some  conditions  in 
favour  of  the  Huguenots,  the  opportunity 
was  taken  for  putting  an  end  to  the  con- 
flict.   During  the  siege  the  Rochellese 


*  Henry  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne,  Viscount  Turenne, 
afterwards  Mike  of  Bouillon:  his  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  constable  Montmorency,  and  his  father  w  as 
killed  at  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  56.  Mem.  de  Bouillon,  p.  24.  Vie  de 
Mornay,  liv.  1,  p.  25.  Davila,  liv.  5.  Arcere,  vol.  i.  p. 
501.   Amirault,  p.  97. 


had  several  times  been  offered  liberty  of 
conscience  for  themselves,  but  they  de- 
clared they  would  never  betray  their  cause 
by  treating  alone;  the  king  at  last  finding 
his  treasury  empty,  and  his  army  unable  to 
subdue  the  town,  sent  orders  for  con- 
cluding peace  on  any  terms ;  and  deputies 
from  Nismes  and  Montauban  were  sent 
for,  to  confer  with  those  of  Rochelle. 

A  treaty  was  concluded  at  the  end  of  June 
which  secured  to  all  Protestants  liberty  of 
conscience,  but  freedom  of  worship  was 
confined  to  Rochelle,  Nismes,  and  Mon- 
tauban. Great  efforts  were  made  to  have 
Sancerre  included  in  the  treaty,  but  as 
that  town  was  expected  to  surrender 
every  day,  they  could  not  carry  that 
point.  The  treaty  stipulated  also,  that  no 
one  should  be  troubled  for  any  promise  of 
abjuration  which  had  been  extorted  from 
him,  and  that  all  who  had  taken  arms 
should  be  restored  to  their  honours  and 
fortunes,  and  be  acknowledged  faithful 
subjects.  The  treaty  was  ratified  the 
sixth  of  July,  and  Biron  entered  the  town 
as  governor  appointed  by  the  king.* 

La  Chastre,  governor  of  Berry,  a  vio- 
lent Catholic  and  zealous  partisan  of  the 
Guises,  had  camped  before  Sancerre  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1572  ;  his  attacks  on 
the  town  were  furious  and  incessant,  but 
the  resolution  of  the  besieged  seemed  to 
increase  with  every  assault.  At  the  end 
of  three  months  he  converted  the  siege 
into  a  blockade,  and  then  the  inhabitants 
exceeded  even  their  former  firmness.  So 
Ions;  as  they  could  procure  the  flesh  of  the 
vilest  animals,  they  cheerfully  made  it 
their  food;  but  having  consumed  every 
thing  of  that  kind,  they  ate  skins  and 
parchments,  and  straw  mixed  with  the 
most  rancid  grease;  human  flesh  was 
their  last  resource,  and  even  that  was 
eaten  by  some  people.  The  defence  of 
Rochelle  preserved  them  from  desponding, 
and  having  great  hopes  of  being  included 
in  any  treaty  which  might  be  made,  they 
sustained  their  privations  with  firmness. 
The  same  circumstances  which  obtained 
favourable  terms  for  Rochelle,  really  saved 
the  lives  of  the  remainder  of  the  garrison: 
but  the  town  was  sentenced  to  pay  a 
heavy  fine,  the  municipal  privileges  were 
all  cancelled,  and  the  fortifications  de- 


*  Davila,  liv.  5.  De  Thou,  liv.  56.  D'Aubigne.  vo!. 
li.  pp.  iietseq.   The  latter  gives  ihetteaiy  at  length. 


DEPARTURE  OF  ANJOU  FOR  POLAND. 


165 


stroyed.*  The  siege  altogether  had  lasted 
eight  months. 

The  greatest  magnificence  was  dis- 
played in  the  reception  of  the  Polish  am- 
bassadors :  but  Henry  lingered  in  Paris, 
he  felt  a  wish  to  stay,  from  a  warm  at- 
tachment to  the  Princess  of  Conde  ;  and 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  while  he  hinted  the 


wretches  have  the  insolence  to  propose  to 
us."*  A  sudden  illness  prevented  the  king 
from  going  beyond  Vitry,  where  he  re- 
mained while  the  queen-mother  proceeded 
to  Blamont  in  Lorrain.  She  there  took 
leave  of  the  King  of  Poland  in  a  most 
affecting  manner,  and  her  parting  expres- 
sion has  caused  suspicions  of  the  too  cer- 
tain knowledge  she  had  of  Charles's  ap- 

said 


possibility  of  an  approaching  vacancy  on 

the  French  throne,  gave  him  to  under- 'proaching  death:  "Go,  my  son, 
stand  that  it  was  to  his  interest  to  remain! she,  "you  will  not  be  long  there."f 
in  France.  Charles,  however,  observing!  The  King  of  Poland  quitted  France  in 
the  delay  in  his  departure,  showed  great! November,  1573.  During  the  journey  he 
displeasure:  he  had  felt  extreme  satisfac-  stopped  at  Heidelberg,  where  the  Elector 
tion  on  hearing  the  decision  of  the  Polish  Palatine  omitted  nothing  which  could  re- 
diet;  and  Catherine,  in  a  letter  which  has  J  mind  him  of  the  St.  Bartholomew.  In  the 

apartment  destined  for  him  was  placed  a 


been  preserved,  informed  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  while  before  Rochelle,  "  that  she 
had  never  before  seen  his  brother  so 
pleased  at  his  good  fortune,  and  that  it 
only  remained  for  God  in  his  grace  to 
enable  him  to  take  Rochelle ;"  but  the 
delay  made  the  king  suspect  some  conspi- 
racy against  him  ;  he  began  to  form  plans 


large  picture  of  the  massacre,  in  which 
the  admiral  and  the  principal  persons 
murdered  were  represented  in  their  natu- 
ral size.J  The  king  was  surrounded  with 
French  Protestants  who  had  escaped:  they 
regarded  him  with  a  mournful  air,  and  suf- 
fered him  to  hear  some  of  their  murmurs 


of  a  very  violent  nature  to  counteract  i  against  himself,  as  a  cause  of  their  misfor- 


them ;  and  declared  with  an  oath  that  one 
of  them  must  leave  the  kingdom. f  A 
longer  stay  became  dangerous,  and  Cathe 


tunes.  The  elector  afterwards  led  him  to 
the  picture,  and  pointing  to  the  portrait 
of  Coligny,  he  said,  "  You  know  this 


rine  recommended  her  favourite  son  to i man;  you  have  killed  in  him  the  greatest 
depart.   He  quitted  Paris  the  28th  of  Sep- captain  in  all  Christendom.    And  you 


tember,  1573. 
Charles  proposed 


ought  not  to  have  done  so,  for  he  has 
to  accompany  his !  done  the  king  and  yourself  great  ser- 


brother  to  the  frontier,  less  from  affection  vices."  Henry  attempted  an  excuse  upon 
than  to  prevent  his  taking  up  quarters  in i the  ground  of  the  conspiracy,  to  which 
some  province.  The  king  made  a  short  the  elector  answered,  "We  know  the 
stay  at  Villers-Coierets,  and  while  there  whole  history  of  that,"  and  quitted  the 
received  a  deputation  of  Protestants,  who  room.§  This  was  not  the  only  mortifica- 
presented  a  request  embracing  many  tion  of  the  kind  which  Henry  experienced 
points,  upon  which  that  party  founded  on  his  journey. 

their  complaints.   Catherine  was  very  in-     The  Duke  of  Alencon  aspired  to  filling 


dignant  at  the  boldness  of  the  demand, 
and  said,  "If  Conde  were  still  alive  and  at 
the  head  of  twenty  thousand  horsemen, 
and  fifty  thousand  infantry,  and  in  pos- 


the  post  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  king- 
dom, which  became  vacant  on  his  bro- 
ther's departure.  Charles  was  willing  to 
accede  to  his  wish,  but  the  queen-mother 


session  of  the  principal  towns  of  the  king- 1  considering  it  possible,  that  some  means 


dom,  he  would  not  ask  for  half  what  these 


*  Davila,  liv.  5.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  53.  Mnthieu. 
liv.  (!.  Slrada,  de  Bello  Bclgico,  lib.  7.  ArcCre,  vol.  i. 
p.  534. 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol  it  p.  I0fi.  De  Thou,  liv.  57.  The 
Queen  of  Navarre  in  her  Memoirs,  p.  1f5,  mention! 
that  she  informed  her  brother  of  a  conspiracy,  on  his 
promising  to  take  no  vengeance  on  the  p  trues  impli- 
cated: it  is  not  surprising  then,  that  he  should  he  irri- 
tated. Charles  appears  to  have  had  a  design  of  assem- 
bling the  States  General,  as  the  best  method  of  quiet- 
ing the  country ;  for  he  appointed  two  gentlemen  of 
eai'h  province-to  make  a  survey,  and  ascertain  what 
was  requisite.— See  also  the  Memoirs  of  William  de 
Saulx  seigneur  de  Tavannes,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  book. 


might  be  used  to  prevent  the  return  of  her 
fayourite  son,  whenever  the  king  should 
die, — besides  knowing  his  turbulent  dispo- 
sition, rendered  more  dangerous  from  his 
inexperience, — she  aimed  at  removing 
him  to  some  distance,  and  indulged  him 
with  the  hopes  of  a  marriage  with  the 
Queen  of  England,  or  of  obtaining  for  him 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  57,  vol  vii  p.  ]7. 

t  D'Aubigne  and  Mezeray. 

%  Discours  du  Roi  Henri  III.  (a  Mirou  ) 

}  Brantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  210.    De  Thou,  liv.  57. 


166 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  POLITIQUES. 


the  government  of  Flanders:  the  vacant  arose  between  Navarre  and  Aleneon,  and 
office  was  in  the  mean  time  conferred  upon  i  on  one  occasion  it  required  the  interposi- 


the  Duke  of  Lorrain.  Alencon's  dissatis- 
faction revived  the  hopes  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, who  anticipated  great  results,  if  they 
could  have  the  king's  brother  at  their  head : 
they  offered  to  make  him  chief  of  their 
party ;  persuading  him  that  he  might  thus 
obtain  even  more  power  and  considera- 
tion than  had  been  refused  him  *  In  this 
manner  was  renewed  the  project,  which 
had  been  abandoned  at  La  Noue's  recom- 
mendation ;  and  the  Politiques  or  malcon- 
tents re-appeared  as  a  party,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  many  persons  of  distinction. 

The  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde  were  ready  to  join  in  any  under- 
taking likely  to  put  an  end  to  their  forced 
residence  at  court,  which,  from  the  strict- 
ness with  which  they  were  watched,  was 
a  captivity;  Navarre  besides  had  a  great 
wish  to  visit  his  own  dominions.!  The 
leaders  of  the  association  held  their  confe- 
rences, sometimes  at  the  residence  of  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  sometimes  at  that  of 
Madame  de  Sauve :}  both  those  ladies  had 
such  a  reputation  for  intrigue,  that  the 
visits  of  the  confederates  *excited  no  sus- 
picion. But  bad  as  were  the  morals  of 
that  corrupt  court,  the  undisguised  licen- 
tiousness of  this  coterie  excited  at  last  the 
king's  severe  displeasure. 

The  Duke  of  Aleneon  had  two  favour- 
ites, who  were  of  bold  and  scheming  dis- 
positions, and  by  whose  counsels  he  had 
been  excited  to  such  measures.  They 
were  Joseph  Boniface  de  la  Mole,  and  An- 
nibal,  Count  de  Coconas,  an  Italian.  The 
Queen  of  Navarre  laid  no  restraint  on  her 
passion  for  La  Mole,  and  the  Duchess  of 
Nemours,  Guise's  mother,  placed  her  af- 
fections on  Coconas :  the  King  of  Navarre 
and  the  Duke  of  Aleneon  disputed  for  the 
affection  of  Madame  de  Sauve,  who  was 
also  addressed  by  the  Duke  of  Guise. 
Charles  IX.  was  indignant  that  his  sister 
should  so  disgrace  herself,  and  employed 
some  person  to  despatch  La  Mole  as  he 
quitted  the  young  queen's  apartment ;  but 
either  being  warned,  or  by  chance,  he 
stayed  there  till  morning,  and  thus  es- 
caped the  snare.?    Disputes  frequently 


*  Davila,  liv  5.  Mezeray. 

+  Perefixe,  Hist,  de  Henri  le  Grand. 

X  She  was  the  wife  of  the  Baron  Ue  Sauve:  after  his 
death,  in  1579,  she  married  the  Marquis  De  Noirmou- 
tier. 

§  Journal  de  Henry  III. 


tion  of  several  gentlemen  to  prevent  their 
fighting* 

The  Queen  of  Navarre  was  the  person 
who  composed  these  differences;  and  in 
spite  of  the  little  reserve  which  was  main- 
tained, the  enterprise  of  the  confederates 
failed  only  from  a  misunderstanding  re- 
specting the  day  of  its  execution.  Their 
ulterior  intentions  are  unknown,  at  least 
there  is  so  much  uncertainty  respecting 
them,  that  it  is  impossible  to  form  an  opi- 
nion upon  the  subject ;  but  whether  they 
contemplated  any  measure  for  excluding 
the  King  of  Poland  after  his  brother's  death, 
or  not,  it  is  clear  that,  at  the  moment,  their 
object  was  only  to  withdraw  all  the  con- 
federated princes  from  the  court,  then 
staying  at  St.  Germain's;  and  to  conduct 
them  into  some  province,  in  which  the 
Protestants  were  numerous.  An  escort 
was  all  they  required ;  and  if  the  evasion 
were  effected  simultaneously  with  the  ar- 
rival of  their  conductors,  success  would  be 
certain.  As  a  collateral  measure,  and  to 
prevent  immediate  pursuit,  by  any  consi- 
derable force,  it  was  proposed  to  surprise 
a  few  surrounding  towns  at  the  same 
time.t 

On  Shrove  Tuesday,}  1574,  the  court 
was  surprised  by  the  information,  that 
armed  bodies  had  been  seen  in  every  di- 
rection around  the  chateau ;  their  arrival 
was  not  to  have  taken  place  for  a  fort- 
night, but  the  consternation  of  the  queen- 
mother  gave  the  confederates  every  op- 
portunity to  effect  their  purpose  at  once. 
Aleneon  hesitated;  and  when  his  friends 
begged  him  to  depart  without  loss  of  time, 
he  replied,  that  he  would  not  go,  unless 
the  town  of  Mantes  were  ready  to  receive 
him.  Duplessis-Mornay  represented  that 
his  presence  alone  was  sufficient  to  open 
the  gates,  and  that  without  him  they  could 
not  get  possession  of  the  town :  the  Duke 
of  Aleneon  was  inflexible.^ 

Mornay,  unwilling  to  abandon  the  en- 


*  Matthieu,  liv.  7,  p  409. 

t  Le  Lahoureur.  hi  his  additions  to  Castelnau,  re- 
presents Navarre  and  Aleneon  as  having  planned  the 
murder  of  Catherine  (le  Medicis  But  liayle  (Art.  Henry 
IV.)  considers  there  is  no  foundation  for  such  a  hypo- 
thesis ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  hardly  probable  thai  if  Navarre 
had  meditated  such  a  thing,  he  would  have  chosen  Alen- 
eon for  a  conlederate 

%  The  30th  of  February  is  said  to  lie  the  precise  day 
by  De  Liques  in  his  Life  of  Duplessis-Mornay,  and 
Amiraull  in  that  of  La  Noue. 

,;.  Vie  de  Duplessis-Mornay,  liv.  1,  p.  20.  Mem.  de 
Bouillon,  p.  40. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  POLITIQUES. 


167 


terprise,  went  to  Mantes,  accompanied  by 
his  brother ;  they  each  of  them  seized  a 
gate,  and  waited  the  arrival  of  Guitry, 
who  commanded  the  escort,  when  they 
would  be  able  to  overpower  the  town. 
He  happened  to  arrive  too  late,  and  Mor- 
nay  and  his  brother  escaped  by  a  strata- 
gem ;  they  sallied  from  the  town  under 
pretence  of  attacking  Guitry,  and  after 
some  pretended  manoeuvres  and  pursuit, 
they  all    retired   together.     The  king 
thanked  him,  by  letters,  for  having  saved 
the  town  from  surprise;  but  he  would  not 
trust  himself  within  reach  of  the  king's  re- 
sentment, which  he  knew  would  be  vio- 
lent, when  the  whole  affair  were  laid  open* 
La  Mole,  in  the  mean  time,  perceiving 
that  the  enterprise  had  failed,  thought  to 
obtain  the  queen's  favour  by  giving  a  full 
account  of  the  affair :  he  assured  her  that 
she  need  be   under  no  apprehensions 
whatever,  as  the  exclusive  object  was  to 
release  the  princes  from  their  captivity. 
Catherine  would  not  trust  to  this  repre- 
sentation, but  gave  immediate  orders  to 
set  out  for  Paris.    D'Aubigne  has  given 
us  a  description  of  the  confusion  which 
this  sudden  departure  of  the  court  pro 
duced:  "the  Cardinals  of  Bourbon,  Lor 
rain,  and  Guise,  Birague  the  Chancellor, 
Morvilliers,  and  Bellievre,  were  all  mount- 
ed on  Italian  coursers,  grasping  the  saddle 
bows  with  both  hands,  and  in  as  great 
fear  of  their  horses  as  of  their  enemies."! 
The  king,  dangerously  ill,  was  taken  out 
of  his  bed  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  be 
carried  in  a  litter.    His  sufferings,  both 
bodily  and  mental,  ami  the  mystery  which 
still  hung  over  the  affair,  made  him  sus- 
pect the  worst,  and  his  mind  recalled  the 
attempt  uponMeaux:  he  said  with  a  sigh, 
as  he  was  moved  into  his  litter,  "at  least 
they  might  have  waited  for  my  death  !"J 

The  principal  object  of  the  confederates 
failed;  but  the  plans  of  the  Huguenots  had 
led  to  events  which  were  of  serious  con- 
sequence. They  had  resolved  on  taking 
arms  in  every  part  of  France  at  the  end 
of  the  carnival;  the  Ilochellese  had  chosen 
La  Noue  for  their  general  ;§  and  in  the 
night  of  Shrove  Tuesday  he  seized  two 
towns  by  escalade.    Other  chiefs  did  the 


same  in  different  provinces;  and  among 
them  Montgomery,  who  was  in  Guernsey, 
waiting  for  a  favourable  opportunity:  he 
took  Carentan,  Saint  Lo,  Domfront,  and 
Valognes,  and  levied  contributions  on  the 
surrounding  country.*  The  Prince  of 
Conde,  Thore,  and  Turenne  escaped  into 
Germany  ;  the  rest  were  imprisoned.  Na- 
varre and  Alengon  were  confined  in  the 
castle  of  Vincennes;  the  marshals  Mont- 
morency and  Cosse  were  sent  to  the  Bas- 
tille, to  the  great  joy  of  the  Parisians,  who 
hooted  and  hissed  them  as  they  were  con- 
veyed thither,t  the  persons  of  inferior  rank 
were  held  in  custody  to  await  the  result 
of  a  judicial  inquiry,  which  was  proceeded 
with  directly  the  court  appeared  secure 
from  danger.}: 

Catherine,  alive  to  every  suspicion,  and 
fearing  the  worst  consequences  if  her  fa- 
vourite son  were  prevented  from  enjoying 
his  right  of  succession,  was  resolved  on 
adopting  some  measure  of  severity  to 
deter  all  parties  from  repeating  these  ma- 
chinations ;  and  at  the  same  time  she 
hoped  to  convert  this  attempt  against  her 
authority  into  an  occasion  for  strengthen- 
ing it.  The  Viscount  de  Bourdeille,  a 
courtier  who  appears  to  have  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  the  king  and  his  mother, 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Alencon  to  caution 
him  how  he  conducted  his  affairs.  "If," 
says  he,  "  I  had  the  honour  of  being  with 
you  for  two  hours,  I  would  tell  you  things 
which  you  would  find  strange  and  ma- 
liciously invented:  so  that  unless  the  king, 
the  queen-mother,  and  you  do  not  take 
better  care  than  hitherto,  I  fear  I  shall  see 
you  aussi  petits  compagaons  que  mny.n\ 
From  this  it  would  appear  that  Bourdeille 
participated  in  the  queen's  fears  of  some 
deep  plan  of  the  Politiques  respecting  the 
government.  When  Catherine  questioned 
the  Duke  of  Alenpon,  he  confessed  every 
thing;  and  hetrayed  his  friends,  without 
stipulating  for  the  least  consideration  in 
their  favour.  ||  The  queen  wished  the 
chancellor  to  examine  the  King  of  Na- 
varre; but  he  refused  to  submit  to  such  a 
proceeding,  which  would  compromise  his 


*  Vie  lie  Diiplessis-Momay,  p.  27. 
t  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ii.  p.  119. 
X  Brantome,  vol.  ix  p  437 

$  He  had  retired  lo  Knchelli'  in  Jan.  1574,  aclunted  by 
doubts  which  he  entertained  on  account  of  thelreache- 
*ous  character  of  the  queen.    Amirault,  p.  lUti. 


*  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  170.    Davila,  liv.  5. 

t  Davila  liv.  5,  p  665.    Le  Grain,  liv.  2.  p.  112. 

t  Commission  pour  instruire  les  proces,  &c — Mem.  de 
Never*,  vol.  i.  p.  72. 

}  Andre.  Viscount  and  Baron  de  Bourdeille,  was  the 
elder  brother  of  Pierre  de  Bourdeille,  Seigneur  and 
Abbe  de  Brantome.  This  and  other  letters  are  to  be 
found  in  the  14th  volume  of  his  works. 

||  Mem.  du  U  ic  ile  Bouillon,  p.  42. 


168 


DEATH  OF  CHARLES  IX. 


dignity  as  an  independent  prince.  How- 
ever, to  satisfy  the  queen-mother  that  he 
was  innocent  of  the  charges  she  preferred, 
he  made  a  declaration  in  her  presence,  in 
which  he  complained  of  many  abuses;  still 
he  does  not  appear  to  have  made  any  dis- 
closure which  might  implicate  any  one* 
Thore  indeed  was  so  seriously  involved 
by  Alencon,  that  he  would  certainly  have 
been  put  to  death :  Navarre  met  him  in 
the  palace,  and  told  him  to  lose  no  time  in 
making  his  escape. t  It  was  necessary  to 
discover  something  on  which  to  found  a 
charge  of  high  treason,  for  the  evasion  of 
the  princes  was  an  act  which  did  not  jus- 
tify severity ;  several  were  put  to  the  tor- 
ture and  made  to  confess  things  against 
Montmorency  and  Cosse.  In  searching 
La  Mole's  dwelling  they  found  an  image 
in  wax,  which  was  said  to  represent  the 
king,  whom  they  attempted  to  destroy  by 
magic.}  Upon  these  grounds  La  Mole 
and  Coconas  were  beheaded;  a  gentle 
man  named  Tourtray,  was  also  put  to 
death;  and  the  Florentine,  Cosmo  Rug- 
gieri,  was  sent  to  the  galleys.^  This  man 
was  famous,  not  only  as  an  astrologer,  but 
also  as  a  maker  of  subtile  poisons :  the 
queen-mother  and  several  noblemen  gave 
him  great  protection,  and  from  that  circum 
stance  arose  so  much  suspicion  of  persons 
of  rank  being  poisoned  at  this  time. 

Charles  in  the  mean  time  was  drawing 
to  the  close  of  his  mortal  career:  he  exhi- 
bited a  shocking  spectacle  of  wretchedness, 
to  serve  as  a  warning  to  kings  who  may 
have  an  inclination  for  bigotry  or  cruelty. 
His  bodily  sufferings  were  rendered  more 
violent  by  his  dreadful  remorse:  his  blood 
is  said  to  have  started  through  all  his 
pores;  and  the  St.  Bartholomew  being 
ever  present  to  his  imagination,  he  could 
not  help  expressing  the  regret  which  it 
caused  him. j|  As  his  end  approached  he 
sent  for  the  King  of  Navarre,  whom  he 
called  his  brother:  the  queen-mother,  afraid 
lest  it  was  to  confer  upon  him  the  regency 
of  the  kingdom,  wished  to  deter  him  from 
obeying  the  summons.  As  he  proceeded 
to  the  king,  who  also  was  in  the  castle  of 
Vincennes,  she  gave  orders  that  he  should 
pass  through  vaults,  between  a  double  line 


of  guards  ready  to  despatch  him.  Na- 
varre, startled,  retreated  a  few  paces,  and 
refused  to  go;  but  the  captain  informed 
him  there  was  no  danger,  and  though  he 
placed  but  little  dependence  on  the  decla- 
ration, he  had  to  pass  before  the  carbines 
and  halberts.* 

The  dying  king  conversed  with  him  for 
some  time  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  and 
expressed  sorrow  at  the  severity  with 
which  he  had  been  treated.  "  I  know," 
said  he,  "  that  you  were  not  concerned  in 
the  late  affair,  though,  if  I  had  paid  atten- 
tion to  what  was  said,  you  would  not  now 
be  alive ;  but  I  have  al  ways  loved  you,  and 
to  your  care  I  confide  my  wife  and  my 
daughter:  I  recommend  them  to  you."  The 
king  then  cautioned  him  to  distrust  . 


•  D'Aubigne.  vol.  ii.  p.  121.  Le  Grain,  liv.  2,  p.  112 
Matlhieu,  liv.  6,  p.  374.    De  Thou,  liv.  57. 

f  Mem.  du  Due  de  liouillon,  p.  42. 

j  Me m.  de  Nevers,  vol.  i.  p.  73. 

^  This  execution  took  place  at  il.e  end  of  April,  1574. 
Journal  de  Henry  III. 

|i  Sully,  liv.  1. 


The  name  was  not  heard  distinctly  in  the 
chamber,  but  the  queen-mother  immedi- 
ately said,  "  Sir,  you  should  not  say  that !" 
"Why  not?"  replied  the  king,  "for  it  is 
true."  It  is  probable  that  the  King  of 
Poland  was  alluded  to,  for  his  vices  were 
well  known  to  Charles:  some,  however, 
think  it  was  against  the  queen-mother 
herself  that  the  caution  was  directed.t 

Charles  died  a  few  days  after,  in  the 
25th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  fourteenth 
of  his  reign. |  The  reason  assigned  for 
his  death,  by  Ambrose  Pare,  his  sur- 
geon, was  his  passion  for  hunting,  when 
he  incessantly  blew  a  horn.  "  However," 
says  Brantome,  "  it  could  not  be  driven 
out  of  some  persons'  ideas,  that  he  was 
poisoned  when  his  brother  set  out  for 
Poland;  and  it  was  said,  with  the  powder 
of  some  marine  animal, §  which  makes 
the  party  languish  a  long  time,  and  then 
by  degrees  he  dwindles  away  and  becomes 
extinct  like  a  candle.  Those  who  have 
been  suspected  of  being  the  authors  of  it, 
have  not  come  to  a  better  end."||  Mar- 
shal Bassompierre  relates  in  his  memoirs, 
that  having  cautioned  Louis  XIII  not  to 
blow  a  horn  too  much,  as  it  killed 
Charles  IX.,  that  king  answered,  "You 
mistake;  blowing  the  horn  did  not.  cause 
his  death;  but  he  quarrelled  with  the 
queen  Catherine,  his  mother,  at  Mon- 
ceaux,  and  left  her  and  went  to  Meaux; 
and  if  he  had  not  yielded  to  the  per- 
suasions of  Marshal  de  Retz,  who  con- 
ducted him  back  to  Monceaux,  to  join 


*  Cayet,  liv.  ],  p.  252.  f  Ibid. 

J  301  h  May,  1574. 

t  Lie*  re  morin  is  the  expression  in  the  original. 
I)  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  44u. 


CAPTURE  OF  MONTGOMERY. 


169 


the  queen  his  mother,  he  would  not  have 
died  so  soon."* 

De  Thou,  in  allusion  to  the  king's  ill- 
ness at  Vitry,  says  that  few  persons 
would  believe  the  disorder  was  natural, 
andjjn  giving  an  account  of  his  death, 
he  mentions',  "  that,  to  remove  doubts,  the 
king's  body  was  opened,  but  some  livid 
spots  which  were  discerned,  and  could 
not  be  accounted  for,  only  served  to  con- 
firm the  public  in  their  suspicion."! 

In  his  person  Charles  IX.  was  of  good 
stature,  but  without  a  pleasing  physiog- 
nomy: he  took  great  pleasure  in  strong 
bodily  exercise,  and  did  not  want  cou- 
rage. His  character  can  best  be  learned 
from  his  history:  he  possessed  a  good 
share  of  intellect,  and  was  inclined  to 
poetry.  Had  he  been  free  from- his  mo- 
ther's influence,  he  might  have  made  a 
much  better  king. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Capture  and  execntion  of  Montgomery— Flight  of 
Henry  III.  from  Poland— Death  of  the  Princess  of 
Conde  and  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain. 


During  the  latter  month  of  Charles 
life  the  queen-mother  had  tried  to  have  the 
regency  settled  upon  her,  in  a  manner 
that  should  prevent  every  kind  of  dis- 
pute. So  long  as  the  king  retained  his 
strength,  he  refused  to  give  any  thing 
more  than  letters  to  the  governors  of  the 
provinces,  desiring  them  to  obey  her  in 
every  thing  during  his  illness;  and,  in 
the  event  of  his  death,  till  the  arrival  of 
the  King  of  Poland;  but,  as  his  dissolu- 
tion approached,  he  gave  her  the  full 
powers  she  wished  for,  and  a  short  time 
before  he  died  he  declared  it  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  princes  and  great  officers  of 
state 4 

The  condition  of  public  affairs  would 
have  presented  to  any  other  person  a 
most  appalling  aspect;  but  discord  was 
Catherine's  element,  and  it  is  even  pro- 
bable that  she  made  the  civil  war,  with 
which  France  was  threatened,  a  means 
of  obtaining  her  wish.  The  Prince  of 
Conde,  on  arriving  at  Strasbourg,  had 
abjured  the  Catholic  religion  and  renew- 

*  Mem.  de  Bassompierre,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  57. 
Journal  de  Henri  III.  Brantome,  Vxt  de  Charles 

15 


ed  his  profession  of  Protestantism.  This 
event  raised  the  hopes  of  the  Huguenots, 
and  they  took  arms  every  where  as  if  the 
attempt  on  St.  Germains  had  been  suc- 
cessful. The  death  of  Charles  IX.  be- 
came an  additional  motive  with  them,  on 
account  of  their  detestation  of  his  succes- 
sor; and  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that 
if  the  attempt  had  not  been  made  too  soon, 
if  the  confederates  had  remained  quiet 
till  after  the  king's  death,  they  might 
have  succeeded  in  placing  the  crown  on 
Alencon's  head.  The  taking  of  arms 
was  so  general,  that  in  the  southern  pro- 
vinces every  private  gentleman  assisted 
in  seizing  on  some  strong  place.* 

Three  armies  had  been  levied  to  quell 
the  insurrection:  one  under  the  Duke  of 
Montpensier  to  oppose  La  Noue  in  Poic- 
tou;  a  second,  under  his  son,  the  prince 
dauphin,  was  sent  to  Dauphiny;  and  the 
third  under  Marshal  Matignon  was  em- 
ployed against  Montgomery,  who  had 
made  great  progress  in  Normandy.  As 
Marshal  Damville  already  commanded 
in  Dauphiny  and  Languedoc,  the  queen 
wished  to  displace  him,  and  persons  were 
sent  with  orders  to  that  effect,  with  pri- 
vate instructions  to  put  him  to  death  if 
possible. t  The  agents,  however,  could 
do  nothing  against  Damville's  address: 
he  deceived  the  court  by  pretending  to 
take  no  offence  at  his  brother's  confine- 
ment, and  offered  to  lay  aside  his  govern- 
ment and  charge  of  marshal,  until  the 
king  should  be  pleased  to  restore  them; 
but  all  the  while  he  was  increasing  the 
strength  of  his  partisans  in  different 
towns,  and  prevented  any  thing  being 
effected  in  the  quarlei'4 

The  Duke  of  Montpensier  could  do 
but  little  with  his  army;  but  Marshal 
Matignon  was  more  successful.  He 
marched  direct  to  St.  Lo,  where  Mont- 
gomery was.  The  town  is  near  the  sea, 
on  the  mouth  of  a  river  which  afforded 
the  count  a  haven  for  his  ships.  Matig- 
non succeeded  in  completely  investing 
the  place,  and  a  battery  erected  below  the 
shipping  entirely  blockaded  the  town  on 
that  side.  Montgomery,  being  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  neighbourhood,  made 
his  escape  by  night;  crossed  an  arm  of 
the  sea  in  a  fishing  boat  which  lay  on 


*  ltavila,  liv.  5  p.  ot)7. 

f  Brantome,  vol.  vii.  p.  175.  Davila,  liv  5,  p.  670. 
Villeroy  labours  hard  to  clear  himself  from  this  impu- 
tation.— Memoires  d'Etat,  vol.  i.  pp.  0,  et  seq 

X  Davila,  liv.  5,  p.  671. 


170 


CAPTURE  OF  MONTGOMERY. 


the  shove;  and  retired  to  Domfront,  ano- 
ther town  held  by  his  forces.  His  son 
remained  at  St.  Lo,  the  count  promising 
to  return  in  a  few  days,  with  some 
troops  to  help  him.  Directly  Matignon 
was  informed  of  Montgomery's  escape, 
he  followed  him  to  Domfront,  leaving 
sufficient  force  to  mask  St.  Lo:  the  for- 
tifications of  Domfront  being  very  feeble, 
the  marshal  soon  obtained  possession  of 
the  town  ;  but  the  castle  was  extremely 
strong.* 

The  court  was  delighted  at  the  pros- 
pect of  capturing  the  count ;  but  jealousy 
of  Matignon,  made  Fervaques,  an  officer 
of  distinction,  wish  to  disappoint  him. 
He  was  attached  to  the  service  of  the 
King  of  Navarre,  who  was  naturally  de- 
sirous that  Montgomery  should  escape. 
Fervaques,  accompanied  by  D'Aubigne, 
went  to  the  besieging  army,  with  the  in- 
tention of  conveying  the  count  safely  out 
of  the  town,  under  pretence  of  examining 
the  trenches.  D'Aubigne  approached  one 
of  the  sentinels,  and  contrived  to  send  a 
message  to  the  count,  who  met  him  at 
the  same  place  the  next  night.  D'Au- 
bigne offered  him  the  means  of  escape, 
which  Montgomery  refused,  as  he  ex- 
pected assistance  from  Germany  very 
speedily  ;  a  few  days  after  he  was  obliged 
to  surrender  at  discretion.! 

The  news  of  his  capture  reached  Paris 
three  days  before  the  king's  death,  but  he 
paid  no  attention  to  it,  The  queen  was 
surprised,  and  said  to  him,  "How!  my 
son,  do  you  not  rejoice  at  the  capture  of 
him  who  killed  your  father  1"  He  an- 
swered, that  he  took  no  farther  concern 
about  that,  or  any  thing  else.  This  list- 
lessness  was  considered  a  sure  sign  of 
his  approaching  end.f 

Montgomery  was  the  most  obnoxious 
man  of  all  the  Huguenot  party,  but  the 
death  of  Henry  II.  was  purely  accidental, 
and  ought  not  to  have  been  placed  among 
the  charges  against  him.  He  was  an  in- 
defatigable leader,  and  his  assistance  and 
co-operation  had  enabled  Coligny  to  re- 
"  cover  himself  after  the  defeat  at  Montcon- 
tour:  he  had  besides  been  active  and 
useful  in  missions  to  England,  to  obtain 
reinforcements.  So  particularly  was  he 
doomed  to  destruction  at  the  St.  Bartho- 


*  Ibid.  p.  075. 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  126. 

i  Branlome,  vol.  ix.  p.  443.   Malhieu,  liv.  G,  p.  370. 


lomew,  that  his  escape  was  mentioned 
in  the  first  despatch  sent  off  to  communi- 
cate the  news  to  the  King  of  Spain.* 

No  time  was  lost  in  condemning  him 
to  the  penalties  of  high  treason  ;  he  was 
beheaded  at  the  Greve,  his  body  quar- 
tered, and  his  family  degraded  from  their 
nobility.  Previous  to  his  execution,  he 
was  cruelly  tortured  to  make  him  confess 
the  existence  of  the  late  admiral's  conspi- 
racy, but  the  pain  drew  no  such  acknow- 
ledgment from  him,  and  mangled  and 
wounded  as  he  was,  he  went  to  the 
scaffold  with  remarkable  serenity.f  We 
have  an  account,  given  by  a  contempo- 
rary, of  his  steady  attachment  to  his 
principles:  "He  would  not  confess  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Narbonne,  who  went  to 
him  in  the  chapel  to  admonish  him ;  nor 
would  he  take  or  kiss  the  crucifix,  which 
is  usually  presented  to  those  who  are 
being  led  to  execution,  nor  in  any  way 
attend  to  the  priest,  who  had  been  placed 
in  the  cart  by  his  side.  A  cordelier  think- 
ing to  draw  him  out  of  error,  began  to 
speak  to  him,  and  said  that  he  had  been 
abused.  Looking  at  him  steadily,  he  an- 
swered, "How!  abused?  and  if  I  have 
been  it  is  by  those  of  your  order  :  for  the 
first  person  who  ever  handed  me  a  Bible 
in  French,  and  made  me  read  it,  was  a 
cordelier  like  you ;  and  therein  I  have 
learned  the  religion  which  I  hold,  which 
alone  is  the  true  religion,  and  in  which, 
having  since  lived,  I  wish  now  by  the  grace 
of  God  to  die.'  "J 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Charles 
IX.  Catherine  sent  a  courier  to  Poland  to 
communicate  the  intelligence  to  her  son 
Henry ;  at  the  same  time,  to  be  more  se- 
cure in  hef  authority,  she  removed  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  the  Duke  of  Aleneon 
from  Vincennes  to  the  Louvre,  where  she 
placed  them  in  apartments,  the  win- 
dows of  which  were  grated  :  she  alsofnt 
so  many  persons  to  watch  them,  that 
escape  was  impossible.^  But  in  order  to 
render  their  captivity  less  irksome,  she 
allowed  them  the  society  of  her  damsels 
without  any  restraint.||  In  addition  to 
these  precautions,  the  queen  had  all  the 
gates  of  the  Louvre  blocked  up,  with  the 
exception  of  one,  which  was  well  guarded 

*  Biantome,  vol.  viii.  p.  18-*. 
t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  131. 
;  25ili  June,  1574.    Journal  de  Henri  III. 
§  Biantome,  vol.  i.  p.  171. 
H  Mezeiay,  Mrigt  Chron. 


FLIGHT  OF  HENRY  III.  FROM  POLAND. 


171 


by  Swiss ;  and  the  streets  adjoining  were 
barrica'doed,  for  she  was  fearful  of  some 
attempt  connected  with  the  recent  affair 
of  Shrove  Tuesday.*  Catherine's  pre- 
cautions were  not  without  reason  ;  for  two 
proclamations  were  issued  in  the  month 
of  July  which  forebode  a  great  trouble 
for  her.  One  was  from  Damville,  who, 
finding  himself  exposed  to  such  danger 
from  the  queen's  machinations,  had  de- 
cided on  joining  the  confederates;  the 
other  was  from  the  Prince  of  Conde,  who 
announced  that  his  German  levies  would 
be  ready  to  march  directly  the  Protest- 
ants could  find  the  means  of  paying  them. 
An  assembly  was  held  in  consequence  at 
Milhaud,  where  it  was  decided  that  the 
Prince  of  Conde  should  be  proclaimed 
their  chief,  until  they  could  be  joined  by 
the  King  of  Navarre. t 

The  queen-mother,  uncertain  of  the  na- 
ture of  her  son's  policy,  anxiously  awaited 
his  arrival ;  but  as  it  was  desirable  to  have 
a  strong  force  on  foot,  in  case  he  should 
wish  to  subdue  his  enemies  by  the  sword, 
she  sent  Count  Schomberg  to  raise  six- 
thousand  Swiss,  and  some  troops  of  Ger- 
man cavalry  :\  while,  in  order  to  be  nearer 
the  frontier  on  Henry's  arrival,  she  went 
to  Lyons,  taking  with  her  the  two  cap- 
tive princes;  which,  says  Brantome,  she 
did  so  cleverly,  that  no  one  would  have 
thought  they  were  prisoners  who  saw 
them  riding  in  her  carriage  with  her.§ 

The  courier  with  the  intelligence  of 
Charles's  death  arrived  at  Cracow  in  the 
middle  of  June,  and  Henry  immediately 
confirmed  the  regency  to  his  mother. 
The  French  nobles  who  had  followed 
him  were  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  re- 
turning to  their  native  land.  The  Poles 
were  desirous  of  retaining  him,  and 
especially  wished  that  he  should  preside 
at  a  Diet  about  to  be  held  on  the  frontiers 
of  Lithuania.  Henry  had  discussed  the 
affair,  and  he  thought  it  better  to  quit 
the  kingdom  immediately,  than  to  waste 
his  time  in  formal  consultations  with  the 
Polish  senate:  his  mother  had  informed 
him  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  France,  and 
that  his  presence  was  necessary ;  and  in 
order  to  prevent  his  plans  being  sus- 
pected, he  acquiesced  in  the  demands  of 


*  Journal  tie  Henry  III. 

t  Davila.  liv.  C>.    Lapopeliniere,  liv.  38.  Mezeray, 
Abrigi  CUron.    Arcere,  p.  559. 
X  Davila,  liv.  C,  p.  U. 
I  Vol.  i.p.  71.  {Viedc  Catherine  ) 


the  Poles,  at  the  moment  he  was  taking 
measures  for  leaving  them  abruptly. 
Bellievre,  the  French  ambassador  at  his 
court,  demanded  his  audience  of  leave, 
on  the  ground  of  his  functions  having 
ceased  at  the  death  of  the  prince  who  had 
commissioned  him ;  he  set  out  for  France 
immediately,  and  ordered  relays  on  the 
road  for  the  king  and  his  suite.  On  the 
night  of  the  18th  of  June,  1574,  this 
prince  quitted  his  palace  like  a  criminal 
fleeing  from  justice  ;  but  all  his  care  and 
arrangement  barely  preserved  him  from 
being  arrested  and  conducted  back  to  the 
Diet,  which  he  had  so  shamefully  insulted. 
When  his  departure  was  known  in  the 
morning,  Count  Tanchin,  the  grand 
Chamberlain,  pursued  him  with  five  hun- 
dred horsemen  ;  but  before  he  could  over- 
take him,  Henry  had  reached  the  Impe- 
rial dominions.*  The  French  who  re- 
mained at  Cracow  were  in  danger  of 
being  sacrificed  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
Poles ;  the  senate  was  in  some  measure 
appeased  by  the  explanation  given  by 
Danzay,  whom  Henry  had  appointed  to 
be  his  ambassador  in  Denmark;  he 
showed  the  danger  which  pressed  Henry's 
return  to  France,  Conde  having  an  army 
of  Germans  read)'  to  join  the  Huguenots 
already  in  revolt.  This  excuse  would 
have  justified  Henry  in  the  eyes  of  pos- 
terity, if  his  flight  had  not  presented  such 
inconsistency.  He  feared  faction  in 
France;  he  knew  that  more  than  one 
ambitious  leader  was  ready  to  dispute  the 
crown  with  him,  and  felt  conscious  of 
having  incurred  the  hatred  of  a  large 
body  in  arms.  But  when  he  arrived  at 
Vienna,  Maximilian  treated  him  with 
such  distinction,  that  he  forgot  the  state 
of  his  affairs,  and  remained  six  days  in 
the  midst  of  pleasure  and  festivity. f 

The  emperor's  two  sons  conducted 
hi  in  to  the  frontier,  and  w  ishing  to  avoid 
a  renewal  of  the  treatment  he  had  expe- 
rienced in  passing  through  Germany,  he 
took  the  route  of  Friuli  and  Venice:  he 
was  received  at  the  latter  town  in  a  most 
magnificent  manner.  He  first  alighted 
at  Murano,  a  town  famous  for  its  manu- 
factories of  mirrors  and  crystals,  where 
the  display  so  enchanted  his  weak  mind, 
that  he  ennobled  all  the  manufacturers: 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  58.    Mnthieu,  liv.  7. 

t  Brantome,  vol.  iv.  p.  75.   Mezeray,  Abrigi  Chion. 


172 


ARRIVAL  OF  HENRY  III.  IN  FRANCE. 


"  by  which,"  says  a  modern  writer,*  "  it 
is  not  to  be  understood  that  they  became 
Patricians  of  Venice;  but  that  sort  of  no- 
bility which  swarms  throughout  Italy 
and  Germany.  A  grand  procession  of 
gallevs  of  every  kind  were  sent  to  con- 
duct him  from  Murano  to  Venice.  Hen- 
ry threw  his  arms  round  the  neck  of 
Antonio  Canale,  who  superintended  it; 
lavished  the  most  flattering  compliments 
upon  him  for  his  exploits  at  the  battle  of 
Lepanto,  and  knighted  him.  At  a  sitting 
of  the  grand  council  the  king  assisted  in 
the  costume  of  a  Venetian  Senator." 

Henry  made  some  stay  at  Venice;  but 
throughout  his  journey  he  was  willing  to 
stop  wherever  there  were  fetes:  so  much 
so,  that  instead  of  being  actuated  by  love 
for  France,  his  conduct  seemed  the  result 
of  dislike  to  Poland.  He  was  sumptu- 
ously entertained  by  the  Dukes  of  Fer- 
rara,  Mantua,  and  Savoy,  and  entered  his 
own  dominions  in  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember, having  occupied  nearly  three 
months  in  his  journey. f 

Catherine  presented  to  him  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  the  Duke  of  Aleneon, 
saying,  "  I  hand  over  to  you  these  two 
prisoners:  you  have  been  informed  of 
their  conduct,  and  it  is  for  you  to  decide 
on  their  fate."  Henry  received  them 
with  a  formal  embrace,  and  listened  to 
their  excuses,  when  they  made  many 
protestations  of  their  attachment  to  his 
person  and  government.  He  set  them  at 
liberty,  recommended  them  to  live  united, 
and  cautioned  them  against  pernicious 
counsels  which  might  be  given  them.:} 
The  princes  received  the  sacrament  with 
him,  and  swore  fidelity  and  obedience. § 

Henrv  hesitated  for  a  considerable  time 
in  deciding  upon  the  policy  he  should 
adopt.  Not  only  France,  but  the  princi- 
pal governments  of  Europe  were  in  sus- 
pense; all  being  anxious  to  see  whether 
the  hero  of  Jarnac  and  Montcontour 
would  quiet  his  kingdom  by  arms,  or  ap- 
pease it  by  measures  of  a  conciliatory 
nature.     At  Vienna  the  Emperor  had 


*  Dnru  Hist,  de  fenise,\\v.  28. 

t  The  Duke  of  Savoy  availed  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  obtain  a  written  promise  that  Pignerol  and 
some  other  places  in  Piedmont  should  he  given  up  to 
him:  this  disgraceful  cession  of  territory  paused  a  spi 
rited  remonstrance  from  the  Duke  of  Nevers  and  Mar- 
shal Bourdillon. — See  Mem.de  JVevers,  vol.  i.  pp.  1, 
and  68. 

J  Mathieu,  liv.  7.  p  402. 

|  Lui  jurant  par  Ic  Dieu  qu'ils  alloient  recevoir,  %c.— 
Journal  de  Henri  III. 


urged  him  to  abstain  from  rigorous  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  Venetian  senate  had 
suggested  the  same  thing;  but  his  con- 
sciousness of  being  detested  by  the  Pro- 
testants for  his  conduct  at  the  St.  Bartho- 
lomew made  him  resolve  on  a  war  for 
the  purpose  of  exterminating  them.  He 
found  three  armies  in  the  field,  and  had 
only  to  extend  the  scale  of  operations. 
Two  of  these,  however,  being  command- 
ed by  princes  of  the  house  of  Bourbon, 
the  queen-mother  thought  it  might  lead 
to  a  revival  of  the  importance  of  that  fa- 
mily, and  Marshal  Bellegarde  was  ap- 
pointed to  command  in  Dauphiny,  in  the 
place  of  the  Prince  Dauphin.  Belle- 
garde  immediately  commenced  the  siege 
of  Livron;  but  without  any  prospect  of 
success,  for  he  was  obliged  to  detach  a 
part  of  his  forces  to  oppose  Montbrun, 
who  ravaged  Dauphiny  uncontrolled. 

Montbrun  was  a  gentleman  of  Dau- 
phiny, and  one  of  the  first  who  took 
arms  at  the  time  of  the  conspiracy  of 
Amboise.  He  was  nephew  of  Cardinal 
Tournon,  who  persuaded  him  to  return 
to  the  Romish  Church,  and  obtained  for 
him  the  king's  pardon.*  But  he  after- 
wards rejoined  his  old  friends,  and  his 
successful  encounters  gave  him  such  con- 
fidence that  he  actually  seized  the  king's 
baggage  in  passing  to  Lyons.  Being 
summoned  in  the  king's  name  to  release 
the  prisoners  he  had  taken,  he  answered 
with  astonishing  effrontery: — "What! 
the  king  writes  to  me  as  king,  as  if  I 
must  acknowledge  him  as  such.  I  wish 
him  to  know,  that  it  would  be  very  well 
in  time  of  peace:  but  in  war,  when  folks 
are  armed  and  in  the  saddle,  every  one  is 
equal."  His  good  fortune  at  last  desert- 
ed him;  a  few  months  afterwards  he  at- 
tacked some  troops  of  Gordes,  the  go- 
vernor of  the  province,  when  he  got  so 
entangled  in  a  position  between  a  moun- 
tain and  a  river,  that  his  followers  were 
completely  routed,  and  himself  wounded 
and  taken  prisoner:  he  was  speedily  ex- 
ecuted, by  order  of  the  parliament  of 
Grenoble.t 

But  embarrassed  as  the  public  affairs 
were  at  this  period,  Henry's  disposition 
to  gallantry  prevented  him  from  giving 

*  Fleury.  Hist  da  C.  Tournou.  p.  316. 

t  Feb.  1575.  Brantome,  vol.  x.  p.  178.  Davila,  liv.  6. 
In  his  life,  written  by  Guy  Allard,  (p.  90,)  it  is  men- 
tioned, that  the  king  sent  him  a  pardon,  but  the  mes- 
senger arrived  too  late;  he  had  then  been  executed  two 
hours. 


SUDDEN  DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE ^OF  CONDE. 


173 


them  "  his  fixed  and  serious  attention. 
Catherine  encouraged  this  bias,  which 
became  so  much  security  for  the  duration 
of  her  authority.  Nothing  could  surpass 
the  splendour  of  the  court  at  Lyons;  and 
it  was  a  great  misfortune  for  Henry  to  be 
so  exposed,  at  a  time  when  his  affairs  re- 
quired such  different  pursuits.  His  mind, 
bent  upon  pleasure,  here  received  the 
death-blow  to  all  his  energy;  and  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne  of  France  became 
the  epoch  of  so  complete  a  change  in  his 
disposition,  that  the  Duke  of  Anjou  could 
no  longer  be  recognised  in  him.  Flat- 
teries and  seductions  of  every  kind 
fanned  into  dreadful  activity  almost  every 
bad  quality,  while  his  unbridled  passions 
made  him  a  slave  to  licentiousness,  to  the 
destruction  of  his  character  as  a  man, 
and  the  loss  of  his  dignity  as  a  monarch. 

Every  attraction  which  female  inge- 
nuity could  devise  was  put  in  practice  at 
this  time  by  the  numerous  beauties  of 
the  court,  who  aimed  at  the  honour  of 
being  the  king's  mistress;  but  the  charms  j 
of  the  P  rincess  of  Condc  rendered  their 1 
efforts  unavailing;  and  though  Henry's 
whole  time  was  absorbed  in  gallantry 
and  dalliance,  he  never  formed  any  at- 
tachment. The  princess  had  been  the 
idol  of  his  heart  before  he  left  France: 
while  in  Poland,  he  wrote  to  her  with 
his  own  blood,  to  assure  her  of  his  affec- 
tion; and  when  he  returned,  he  renewed 
his  correspondence  with  her.  At  last, 
finding  her  fixed  on  rejecting  his  suit,  he 
proposed  to  marry  her:  a  divorce,  he  re- 
presented, could  be  easily  effected,  on  the 
ground  of  the  prince's  heresy,  and  the 
circumstance  of  her  having  had  no  child; 
by  him.  The  letter  which  contained! 
this  proposal  was  intercepted  by  the 
queen-mother,  who  took  alarm  at  the  idea 
of  such  a  marriage,  by  which  her  influ- 
ence would  be  inevitably  destroyed.  Her 
most  ready  method  to  prevent  any  result, 
was  to  write  to  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
thinking  that,  jealous  of  his  honour,  and 
his  wife's  affection,  he  would  speedily 
send  for  her  to  join  him.  But  Conde 
had  full  confidence  in  the  validity  of  his 
marriage,  and  in  the  virtue  of  the  prin- 
cess, and  took  no  measures  for  removing 
her  trom  a  court  where  it  suited  his  inte- 
rests to  have  her  remain.* 


Catherine  then  persuaded  her  son  how 
necessary  it  was  he  should  marry,  to 
preserve  the  kingdom  from  the  horrors 
of  a  contested  succession.  She  recom- 
mended several  princesses,  beautiful  and 
accomplished,  it  is  true,  but  not  likely  to 
excite  him  to  act  as  a  king,  and  to  govern 
for  himself,  which  the  Princess  of  Conde 
would  be  sure  to  do.  Henry  appeared  to 
assent  to  his  mother's  wish;  and  to  der 
ceive  her  more  completely,  he  sent  an 
embassy  to  Sweden  to  demand  the  hand 
of  that  king's  sister;  but  Catherine  was 
informed  by  her  agents  that  he  secretly 
took  measures  for  effecting  his  object, 
and  that  he  had  arranged  for  speedily  an- 
nulling the  prince's  marriage,  that  he 
might  espouse  the  princess.  This  intel- 
ligence was  closely  followed  by  orders 
from  the  king,  to  prepare  for  his  entry 
into  Paris;  but  while  the  preparations  for 
that  entry  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
court,  the  Princess  of  Conde  died  sud- 
denly.* Henry's  grief  was  extremely 
violent:  he  did  not  refuse  to  join  in  the 
general  suspicion,  that  the  death  of  the 
Princess  of  Conde  was  the  effect  of  his 
mother's  contrivance;  at  the  same  time, 
he  entertained  such  a  dread  of  her  vin- 
dictive disposition,  that  he  did  not  dare 
to  reproach  her  with  it.  The  condition- 
of  a  country  under  such  rulers  cannot  be 
too  much  deplored. 

The  court  was  soon  after  diverted  from 
this  subject  by  another  demise;  and  Hen- 
ry's grief  was  assuaged  by  the  direction 
of  his  thoughts  into  a  different  channel: 
at  the  end  of  December  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorrain  expired,  after  a  short  illness. 
The  very  prominent  part  he  had  taken  in 
the  government  of  France,  during  so 
many  years,  caused  his  decease  to  ab- 
sorb every  other  idea  for  some  days. 
The  queen-mother  was  relieved  from  the 
fears  which  his  intriguing  ambition  had 
frequently  caused  her;  but  his  talents  and 
resources  had,  at  times,  been  of  inestima- 
ble value.  The  cardinal  had  shown  great 
ability  as  a  statesman;  but,  unfortunately 
for  his  reputation,  his  ideas  were  framed 
on  the  doctrines  of  Machiavelli.  As  an 
ecclesiastic,  he  ranked  high  for  his  learn- 
ing and  eloquence,  and  he  had  a  great  re- 
putation for  piety;  but,  says  Brantome, 
he  was  thought  to  avail  himself  of  tha; 


*  Malthieu,  Mezeray,  and  De  Lusaau,  Vic  de  Crillon.        *  Vie  de  Crillon.   Mezeray,  Mregi  Chron. 

15* 


174 


PLOT  AGAINST  THE  KING  DISCOVERED. 


for  purposes  of  grandeur.    The  same 
writer  states,*  "  That  he  had  frequently 
heard  the  cardinal  discuss  the  confession 
of  Augsburg,  and  preach  upon  it,  too,  in 
order  to  win  over  the  German  princes, 
more  than  for  any  other  reason."    In  his 
temper  he  was  haughty,  and  in  his  dispo- 
sition vindictive.:  with  respect  to  his  con- 
duct, if,  as  it  has  been  said,  he  was  a  li- 
bertine, he  had  sufficient  prudence  to 
avoid  public  scandal  in  his  pursuits.  He 
was  liberal  with  his  money,  but  his  mind 
was  too  elevated  for  him  to  sink  into 
common  extravagance;  and  his  chief  ex- 
penditure was  the  employment  of  agents 
at  every  court  in  Europe,  for  obtaining 
early  information  of  what  was  going  on.t 
This  rendered  him  formidable  to  his  op- 
ponents, by  his  knowledge  of  their  diffe- 
rent manoeuvres;  while  his  thorough  skill 
as  a  financier  made  him  highly  valuable 
to  an  administration. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


The  Duke  of  Alenoon  escapes  from  court  tn  join  the 
malcontent*—  Defeat  of  the  Reitres  at  Dormans— 
Escape  of  the  King  of  Navarre. 


Marshal  Bellegarde  was  still  before 
the  walls  of  Livron,  the  feeble  garrison 
of  which  town  defied  his  continued  ef- 
forts: the  king  thought  that  his  presence 
would  have  some  effect  upon  the  exer- 
tions of  the  besieging  army,  and  went  to 
the  camp,  accompanied  by  the  queen-mo- 
ther and  the  whole  court.  His  arrival 
was  no  sooner  known  to  the  garrison, 
than  the  walls  were  crowded  with  men, 
women,  and  children,  who  said  the  most 
insulting  things  of  him  and  his  mother.J 
"Cowards!"  they  exclaimed,  addressing 
the  king's  followers;  "  Assassins!  what 
are  you  come  for?  Do  you  think  to  sur- 
prise us  in  our  beds,  and  to  murder  us,  as 
you  did  the  admiral  ?  Show  yourselves, 
young  minions!  come,  and  prove  to  your 
cost,  that  you  are  unable  to  make  head 
even  against  our  women."§  Their  inso- 
lence was  the  more  mortifying  to  the 
king,  as  the  courageous  resistance  of  the 
garrison  had  wasted  his  army  considera- 
bly; and  the  remains  were  so  dispirited, 


that  he  ordered  the  siege  to  be  raised, 
giving  out  as  a  pretext  tha,t  he  wanted 
the  troops  for  his  coronation.* 

For  that  purpose  he  quitted  Dauphiny 
in  January,  1575.    He  was  on  the  road 
to  Rheims,  when  Fervaques  approached 
him  in  the  dress  of  a  countryman,  to  give 
information  of  a  plot  against  his  life. 
He  denounced  the  Duke  of  Alencon  as 
the  chief  conspirator,  and  Henry  was 
willing  to  believe  the  account  upon  the 
statement  of  Fervaques  alone;  but  Ca- 
therine recommended  an  inquiry  into  the 
affair.    Fervaques  introduced  a  person, 
named  by  the  queen,  to  the  assembled 
conspirators,  as  a  confidant  of  Alengon: 
relying  on  the  honour  of  Fervaques,  they 
threw  off  all  reserve  before  the  stranger, 
and  convinced  him  that  their  intention 
was  to  kill  the  king,  and  place  the  Duke 
of  Alencjon  on  the  throne.    They  were 
satisfied  that  nothing  could  be  more  easy, 
and  complained  of  the  Duke,  who  had 
sent  them  no  communications  for  a  long 
time.    The  spy  gave  them  some  plausi- 
ble reason,  and  returned  to  make  his  re- 
port, f    It  is  unknown  whether  this  con- 
spiracy was  altogether  new,  or  merely  a 
revival  of  that  for  which  La  Mole  and 
others  had  suffered.    The  king  immedi- 
ately sent  for  his  brother,  and,  in  a  me- 
nacing and  angry  manner,  reproached 
him  with  the  crime,  of  which  he  said  he 
had  sufficient  proofs,  and  for  which  he 
deserved  death.    Alencon  confessed  that 
the  plan  had  been  proposed  to  him,  but 
that  he  had  never  consented  to  be  a  party 
to  it,  and  that  he  imagined  it  had  been 
abandoned.    The  queen's  influence  and 
persuasion  brought  the  king  to  hush  up 
the  matter;  but  if  left  such  an  impression 
on  his  mind,  that  he  was  always  ready 
to  encourage  suspicions  against  his  bro- 
ther.   As  none  of  the  accomplices  in  this 
plot  were  punished,  it  was  thought  at  the 
time  that  the  whole  affair  was  got  up  by 
the  queen-mother,  to  answer  some  of  her 
intricate  purposes,  by  alarming  her  son. 
Henry  confided  his  safety  to  the  King  of 
Navarre,  who  acted  as  captain  of  his 
body-guards,  and  never  quitted  the  door 
of  his  carriage.f 

After  various  delays,  Henry  arrived  at 
Rheims,  where  he  was  crowned  by  the 


*  Vol.  viii.p.  149. 
I  Sully,  liv.  1. 


f  Ibid.  p.  148. 

§  De  Thou,  liv.  GO. 


*  Mezeray,  Jlbrege  Chron. 

f  Matthieu,  liv.  7,  p.  410. 

J  Mein.  de  Nevers,  vol.  i.  pp.  78—9.  Perefixe. 


THE  KING  SUSrECTS  HIMSELF  POISONED. 


175 


Cardinal  of  Guise  *  There  were  present 
so  few  persons  of  distinction,  that  De 
Retz  performed  the  duty  of  constable  :t 
the  day  following  he  married  Louisa  de 
Vaudemont,  daughter  of  tiie  Duke  of  Mer- 
cceur,  a  relation  of  the  princess  of  Lor- 
rain  ;  a  match  which  had  been  strongly 
recommended  by  the  late  cardinal,  and 
very  much  increased  the  importance  of 
his  family. 

The  king  returned  to  Paris  towards 
the  end  of  March,  and  in  a  short  time  re- 
ceived proposals  of  an  accommodation  with 
the  confederates,  who  sent  deputies  for 
that  purpose,  when  they  heard  of  his 
arrival.  Their  demands,  which  were 
thought  unreasonable  by  the  court,  were 
supported  by  the  influence  of  the  ambas- 
sadors from  England  and  the  Swiss  can- 
tons. The  king  was  unwilling  to  grant 
the  terms  they  desired ;  and  even  had  his 
feelings  been  that  way  inclined,  the  re- 
monstrances of  the  Catholic  party  were 
so  violent,  that  he  would  not  have  ven- 
tured to  slight  them.  The  deputies 
quitted  the  court,  leaving  one  of  their 
number  to  keep  open  a  chance  of  some 
arrangement. | 

Never  was  a  court  more  curiously  di- 
vided than  that  of  Henry  III.  at  this  time. 
The  Duke  of  Guise  sought  the  friendship 
of  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  they  lived  in 
great  harmony ;  but  Guise  discovered 
that  he  was  deceived,  and  a  mortal  hatred 
arose  between  them.§  Guise  considered 
that  while  Navarre  lived  he  could  never 
be  safe;  while  he  was  well  aware  that 
Guise  would  never  allow  him  the  privi- 
leges to  which  he  was  entitled,  as  first 
prince  of  the  blood.  The  queen-mother, 
who  had  formerly  been  so  partial  to  the 
King  of  Navarre,  now  entertained  an 
equal  dislike  to  him,  and  went  so  far  as 
to  ask  her  daughter  Margaret  if  he  had 
any  defect,  for  in  that  case  a  divorce 
should  be  obtained. ||  The  queen's  hatred 
arose  from  an  astrologer  having  predicted 
that  he  would  be  king  of  France.  Her 
hopes  had  long  dwelt  upon  another  pre- 
diction, that  her  four  sons  should  be 
kings,  and  she  had  made  great  endea- 
vours to  realize  the  idea.  When  Henry 
returned  from  Poland,  she  endeavoured 

*  loth  Feb.,  1575. 

t  Brantnnie,  vol.  vi.  p.  10. 

t  Davila,  liv.  6,  p.  13. 

i  Mem  de  la  Vie  de  J.  A.  de  Thou,  liv.  3. 
I  Mem.  de  la  Reine  Marguerite,  p.  183. 


to  place  his  brother  on  that  throne,  but 
the  diet  had  resolved  on  the  election  of 
another*  Alencon's  ambition  had  there- 
fore to  fix  upon  a  fresh  object. 

Navarre  possessed  the  king's  confi- 
dence and  esteem ;  but  Alencon  was 
suspected  on  account  of  the  numerous 
intrigues  he  had  been  concerned  in :  that 
prince  was  also  despised  by  the  whole 
court  for  his  known  bad  qualities.  His 
position  in  the  state  alone  preserved  his 
importance;  and  the  valour  of  his  friend 
and  confidant,  Bussy  d'Amboise,  protected 
him  from  many  insults  intended  for  him 
at  the  instigation  of  the  king,  who  could 
no  longer  endure  his  presence,  and  was 
resolved  to  have  him  despatched. 

Soon  after  the  king  was  dangerously 
ill,  and  the  disorder  principally  affected 
his  ear.  He  called  to  mind  the  prevailing 
opinion  upon  the  death  of  Francis  II.,  and 
considered  himself  poisoned  by  his  bro- 
ther's contrivance;  he  sent  immediately 
for  the  King  of  Navarre,  whom  he  in- 
formed of  his  suspicions,  declaring  that  he 
should  regret  leaving  his  crown  to  such  a 
detestable  successor,  and  ordered  him  to 
despatch  the  duke.  The  king's  favourites 
longed  for  an  opportunity  of  punishing  a 
prince  they  so  much  detested,  and  pre- 
pared to  assist  the  King  of  Navarre,  who 
attempted  to  calm  the  king's  mind  by 
showing  him  the  dreadful  consequences 
of  such  an  event.  Henry  became  more 
enraged,  and  ordered  it  to  be  done  directly, 
for  fear  it  should  not  take  place  when  he 
was  dead.  The  king  of  Navarre  at  last 
persuaded  him  to  ascertain  that  he  was 
really  poisoned  before  he  took  such  vio- 
lent measures,  and  observed,  that  it  was 
to  his  interest,  his  honour,  and  his  fame, 
to  protect  the  life  of  the  duke,  as  he  would 
be  open  to  much  suspicion  if  any  such 
thing  occurred,  on  account  of  his  then 
becoming  first  prince  of  the  blood  and 
heir  to  the  crown.f 

Henry's  recovery  convinced  him  how 
wrongfully  he  had  suspected  his  brother; 
and  it  was  to  have  been  expected  that 
his  angry  feelings  towards  him  would 
have  given  place  to  fraternal  affection  as 
the  proper  recompense  for  his  ill-treat- 
ment. The  king's  hatred,  however,  ap- 
peared to  increase;  as  he  took  every 


*  Davila,  liv.  vi.    The  diet  chose  Stephen  Battori,  a 
native  of  Huneary. 
t  Mathieu,  Perenxe,  P.  Daniel,  and  Mem.  do  Nevers. 


176 


ESCAPE  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  ALENCON. 


opportunity  of  showing  his  contempt,  by 
encouraging  his  minions  to  insult  the 
duke.  It  was  at  his  suggestion  that  a 
plan  was  laid  for  murdering  Bussy  d'Am- 
boise,  the  duke's  favourite.  As  he  was 
leaving  the  Louvre  one  evening,  that  per- 
son was  ntt  trfced  by  a  number  of  armed 
men,  who  fired  at  him  several  times :  by 
a  wonderful  chance  he  escaped.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  persons  were  sent 
to  inform  the  Duke  of  Aleneon  that  Bussy 
was  being  murdered,  and  that  if  he  had 
gone  to  help  him  he  was  to  have  been 
killed  also:  this  affair  made  a  great  noise 
at  the  court.* 

Another  circumstance  occurred  about 
the  same  time,  which  shows  that  Henry 
would  consent  to  any  atrocity,  in  order  to 
be  freed  from  those  whom  he  disliked. 
Marshal  Montmorency,  who  had  remained  j 
in  confinement  ever  since  the  attempt  on  i 
St.  Gef mains,  had  been  preserved  from 
destruction  by  the  influence  of  his  wife,  | 
of  whom  the  king  was  tenderly  fond,f: 
added  to  a  dread  of  his  brother's  resent- 
ment, if  any  harm  should  befall  him. 
As  there  appeared  no  chance  of  bringing 
him  to  trial,  notwithstanding  the  complete 
proofs  they  had  of  his  complicity  in  the  late 
affair,  those  who  had  contributed  to  the 
severity  of  his  confinement  felt  apprehen- 
sive that,  whenever  he  obtained  his  liberty, 
he  would  surely  take  some  sort  of  re- 
venge :  their  object  in  consequence  was 
to  destroy  him.  A  report  was  circulated 
that  Marshal  Damville  was  dead  :  all  fear 
ceasing  from  that  quarter,  the  king  was 
easily  persuaded  to  give  orders  for  strang- 
ling Montmorency  and  Cosse  in  prison. $ 
Their  lives  were  spared  by  the  postpone- 
ments contrived  by  Gilles  de  Souvre, 
who  was  intrusted  with  the  dreadful  com- 
mission. The  king  had  promised  to  make 
him  governor  of  Vincennes,  as  a  recom- 
pense ;  but  either  from  attachment  to 
Montmorency,  or  from  pure  motives  of 
humanity,  he  caused  repeated  delays,  and 
allowed  time  for  the  arrival  of  a  courier 
with  the  news  of  Damville's  recovery : 
the  plan  was  then  abandoned  altogether. 
Some  poison  had  recently  been  given  to 


*  Mem.  de  la  Kerne  Marguerite,  p.  211.  Perefixe, 
liv.  1. 

t  Madame  de  Montmorency  was  a  natural  daughter 
of  Henry  II.  She  was  subsequently  known  as  Diana, 
Duchess  d'Ancouleme.  She  went  to  Lyons  in  mourning 
on  the  kind's  arrival  to  intercede  for  her  husband.  De 
Thou,  liv.  5!».  Brantome,  Vie  de  Marichal  M. 
X  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  i.  p.  81. 


Marshal  Damville,  but  good  remedies  ap- 
plied with  promptitude  preserved  his  life: 
the  king,  however,  received  information 
that  it  had  killed  him,  a  fair  ground  for 
supposing  his  knowledge  of  its  being  ad- 
ministered.* 

The  friends  of  the  captive  marshals  took 
the  only  revenge  in  their  power :  which 
was  to  stir  up  the  discontented  feelings  of 
the  Duke  of  Alencon,  and  thus  increase 
the  importance  of  the  party.  That  prince 
was  very  indignant  at  being  refused  the 
post  of  lieutenant-general ;  and  besides, 
considered  the  recent  attack  upon  Bussy 
as  a  personal  injury  :  he  resolved  to  quit 
the  court.  His  fondness  for  Madame  de 
Sauve  prevented  him  from  keeping  secret 
his  intentions,  and  the  king  being  informed 
of  them,  he  found  it  difficult  to  execute  his 
purpose.  He  succeeded  by  going  one 
evening  to  the  faubourg  St.  Marcel,  to 
visit  a  lady  who  was  known  to  receive 
great  attention  from  him;  and  while  his 
gentleman  waited  for  him  in  the  street,  he 
slipped  out  by  a  private  door,  and  imme- 
diately proceeded  to  the  rendezvous  of  his 
confidential  friends.  Horses  were  ready, 
and  without  any  loss  of  time  they  set  out 
for  Dreux,  where  he  arrived  before  morn- 
ing.! The  next  day  he  published  a  mani- 
fest, explaining  his  reasons  for  quitting 
Paris.  He  enlarged  on  the  improper 
manner  in  which  he  and  many  noblemen 
had  been  held  in  unmerited  confinement; 
he  complained  of  the  advisers  about  the 
king,  who  would  effect  the  complete  ruin 
of  the  kingdom;  and  demanded  the  call- 
ing of  the  states-general  for  putting  an  end 
to  different  abuses,  and  the  assembling  of 
a  general  council  for  religious  affairs. 
This  proclamation  was  chielly  distri- 
buted in  those  parts  where  the  Huguenots 
were  numerous,  from  which  it  would  ap- 
pear that  the  prince  placed  his  hopes  of 
support  on  that  party. + 

Alencon's  escape  was  known  at  court  a 
few  hours  afterwards,  and  the  Duke  of 
Nevers  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  him ;  but  he 
was  too  far  a-head  to  be  overtaken. 
Henry's  anger  was  kindled  against  his 
brother;  he  paced  his  room  up  and  down, 
and  gave  vent  to  his  passion  in  the  most 


+  Bratctnine,  vol.  vii.  p  175.  De  Thou,  liv.  01.  Ma- 
thieu  anil  Mezeray. 

i  I5ih  September,  1575.  Davila,  liv  G.  16th  accord- 
ing to  IV  Thou,  liv.  til. 

t  Davila,  liv.  6.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  177.  Mem.de 
Neveis,  vol.  i.  p.  97. 


ALENCON  JOINS  THE  MALCONTENTS. 


177 


violent  threats ;  lie  ordered  every  one  to 
take  horse  immediately  and  bring  back 
the  duke  dead  or  alive.  Several  of  the 
courtiers  pretended  to  obey  the  order,  but 
others  observed  "  That  they  would  devote 
their  lives  for  the  king  in  any  way;  but 
to  go  against  Monsieur,  his  brother,  they 
were  sure  would  bring  his  displeasure 
upon  them  at  a  future  time."*  A  council 
was  held  the  next  day  to  consider  what 
measures  ought  to  be  adopted.  The 
queen-mother  was  of  opinion  that  the 
affair  should  be  accommodated  on  any 
terms  whatever:  as  no  price  was  too 
great  for  detaching  the  prince  from  the 
malcontents.  The  king  took  the  same 
view  of  the  subject,  and  the  two  marshals 
were  released  from  prison,  on  the  sole 
condition  of  contributing  their  aid  in 
bringing  about  a  reconciliation.!  Circular 
letters  were  also  addressed  to  all  the 
princes  of  various  houses  of  France,  call- 
ing for  their  co-operation.:): 

The  Duke  of  Alencon  was  soon  sur- 
rounded with  a  number  of  persons  of 
rank:  Turenneaad  La  Noue  were  among 
the  first  who  joined  him,    The  Prince  of 
Conde  was  advancing  to  meet  him  with 
his  foreign  levies:  he  knowing  Alengon's 
ambitious  disposition,  and  considering  the 
importance  of  his  name,  as  brother  of  the) 
king,  would  not  dispute  the  precedence;! 
and  being  sure  that  he  possessed  the  con-] 
fidence  of  the  Huguenots  and  foreigners, 
he   proclaimed  Alencon  commander-in- 
chief,  satisfied  with  the  real  exercise  of  the 
authority,  while  he  resigned  the  name  of1 
it.    He  made,  however,  one  stipulation : 
that  no  peace  should  be  concluded  with- 
oat  his  consent,  and  which  did  not  secure 
for  him  the  government  of  Metz,  Toul, 
and  Verdun.§ 

Thore,  a  younger  brother  of  the  Mar- 
shals  Montmorency  and  Damville,  had 
contributed  a  large  sum  towards  the ! 
equipment  of  the  foreign  troops;  and  was 
appointed  to  command  a  division,  which 


*  Mem  de  Mevers,  vol.  i.  p.  83. 
t  Davila,  liv.  6. 

J  A  copy  of  this  letter  is  inserted  at  length  in  the 
Mem.  de  Nevers.  vol.  i.  p  92;  but  it  is  dated  6lh  Sep- 
tember, and  -.peaks  of  the  duke's  flight  as  having  taken 
place  the  day  before:  if  the  Kith  be  meant,  it  agrees 
with  Davila,  but  if  we  lake  into  account  the  alteration 
of  the  calendar  (which  occurred  ten  years  after  this 
event,)  we  must  add  eleven  days,  which  makes  it  the  I 
]7th;  thereby  confirming  the  dale  given  by  De  Thou, — 
a  circumstance  the  more  probable,  as  there  is  another  J 
instruction  to  governors,  &x.  on  the  same  subject,  dated 
the  10th. 

§  Davila  and  Mezeray. 


was  to  precede  the  main  body  under 
Conde,  consisting  of  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  men.  Thore  considered  the 
confederates  were  in  need  of  help,  and 
proposed  traversing  Champagne  to  join 
them,  some  time  before  the  Prince  of 
Conde  could  come  up.* 

The  queen-mother  had  heard  of  the 
approach  of  this  army,  and,  immediately 
she  knew  of  Alencon's  flight,  wrote  to 
Thore,  saying,  "  That  if  he  advanced,  she 
would  send  him  the  heads  of  his  brother 
and  Marshal  Cosse."  He  sent  back  word 
in  reply,  "  That  if  she  did  as  she  threaten- 
ed, there  was  not  a  spot  in  France  where 
he  would  not  leave  traces  of  his  ven- 
geance."! He  continued  his  march,  and 
the  queen,  instead  of  displaying  her  angry 
feelings,  set  out  to  exert  her  persuasive 
talents  in  an  interview  with  her  son. 

Meanwhile  Thore,  passing  through 
Champagne,  endeavoured  to  avoid  an 
action  with  Guise,  who  was  pursuing  him: 
he  was  overtaken  at  Dormans,  and  com- 
pelled to  oppose  his  men,  fatigued  with 
long  and  continued  marchings,  to  the 
fresh  troops  of  the  Dukes  of  Guise  and 
Mayenne.  The  action  was  severe,  and 
the  loss  on  both  sides  was  great.  Thore's 
troops  were  completely  routed,  and  the 
cavalry  were  destroyed ;  the  infantry, 
however,  succeeded  in  effecting  a  very 
good  retreat. |  It  was  in  this  action  that 
Guise  received  the  wound  in'  his  face, 
which  obtained  for  him  the  surname  of 
the  Balafre. 

Alencon  had  proceeded  to  Berry ;  Ne- 
vers would  have  prevented  his  passing  the 
Loire,  but  Catherine  sent  him  an  order 
signed  by  herself  which  stopped  his  pur- 
suit. She  feared  lest  any  bodily  harm 
should  befall  her  son.  She  followed  him 
from  town  to  town,  accompanied  by  the 
two  marshals,  through  whose  assistance 
she  hoped  to  succeed  in  her  projected  ne- 
gotiation. She  did  not  fail  to  take  with 
her  a  numerous  train  of  damsels,  upon 
whose  co-operating  influence  she  placed 
great  expectations.  At  last,  in  the  month 
of  November,  she  overtook  the  duke  at 
Champigny  in  Poictou,  when  a  truce  for 
six  months  was  agreed  to.  Catherine  re- 
turned to  Paris  quite  satisfied  with  her 
success,  as,  before  the  expiration  of  the 

*  Davila,  liv.  6. 

t  Mathieu,  liv.  7.  p  423. 

%  Davila,  liv.  G.   Mem.  de  Bouillon,  p.  137. 


178 


ESCAPE  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE. 


term,  she  might  calculate  upon  the  dis- 
persion of  the  German  troops ;  and  from 
what  she  knew  of  her  son's  disposiiion, 
she  anticipated  his  consent  to  much  more 
favourable  terms* 

For  a  long  time  no  person  of  conse- 
quence of  the  Huguenot  party  had  been 
allowed  to  approach  the  King  of  Navarre: 
he  was  watched  and  guarded  by  bigoted 
Catholics,  the  greater  part  of  whom  had 
distinguished  themselves  at  the  massacre. 
He  was  besides  surrounded  with  spies  of 
both  sexes,  and  of  every  rank,  whose  ex- 
clusive object  was  to  prevent  his  escaping 
to  join  the  Duke  of  Alencon.  But  that 
was  not  his  intention :  he  had  too  indif- 
ferent an  opinion  of  that  prince  to  make 
common  cause  with  him  ;  and  it  had  been 
Catherine's  policy  to  keep  alive  a  mis- 
understanding between  them.  She  had 
soothed  Navarre  with  the  hopes  of  being 
lieutenant  general ;  and  as  his  competitor 
had  left  the  court  in  so  offensive  a  man- 
ner, he  made  sure  of  the  appointment. 
But  the  ladies  De  Sauve  and  Carnavalet, 
who  were  rather  attached  to  him,  put  an 
end  to  his  delusion,  by  showing  him  that 
if  Alencon  would  return,  the  post  would 
be  made  at  once  the  price  of  a  recon- 
ciliation. 

Three  faithful  attendants  however  were 
with  the  King  of  Navarre — D'Aubigne, 
Armagnac,  and  Jonqueres,  who  endea- 
voured Id  rouse  their  master  to  activity. 
Wearied  with  their  repeated  efforts,  which 
were  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  seduc- 
tive pleasures  with  which  Catherine  had 
surrounded  him,  they  were  on  the  point 
of  quitting  his  service,  in  order  to  join  the 
Huguenots;  but  one  night  they  overheard 
him  lament  the  absence  of  faithful  friends, 
as  he  repeated  a  verse  in  the  Psalms. 
D'Aubigne  took  the  opportunity  of  ad- 
dressing his  master  in  a  firm  and  serious, 
but  respectful  manner:  "You  sigh,  Sire, 
on  account  of  the  distance  of  your  faithful 
friends,  while  they  are  lamenting  your 
absence,  and  are  endeavouring  to  procure 
your  liberty.  But  you  have  only  tears 
in  your  eyes,  while  they  have  arms  in 
their  hands ;  they  fight  the  very  enemies 
that  you  are  servirg."  He  roused  his 
feelings  by  showing  that  his  proper  place 
was  filled  by  Alengon ;  and  concluded 
with  the  assurance,  that  so  far  from  there 

*  Davila,  liv,  C,  p.  41.  Arairault,  p.  177. 


being  any  probability  of  his  having  the 
post  of  lieutenant-general,  the  promise  had 
become  a  public  jest  at  court.  The  effect 
of  this  address  was  strengthened  by  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  who  reported  some 
|  violent  expressions  which  the  king  her 
brother  had  made  use  of  respecting  him; 
and  her  physician  declared  that  he  had 
been  ordered  to  poison  him.* 

It  was  at  last  decided,  afier  repeated 
consultations,  that  the  King  of  Navarre 
should  leave  the  court  in  February,  1576; 
and  that  Mans,  Chartres,  and  Cherbourg 
should  be  seized  by  persons  in  his  confi- 
dence. The  different  parties  took  a  so- 
lemn oath  that  nothing  should  make  them 
relinquish  the  enterprise,  and  vowed  eter- 
nal enmity  to  him  who  should  betray 
them.  To  facilitate  their  purpose,  the 
King  of  Navarre  was  to  appear  confident 
of  soon  obtaining  the  lieutenancy  of  the 
kingdom,  and  "to  have  his  liberty  of  hunt- 
ing extended  to  a  greater  distance.  To 
effect  this  he  went  into  Guise's  chamber 
before  lie  was  up,  and  got  into  the  bed  to 
him,  for  more  confidential  conversation. 
He  talked  of  his  approaching  preferment, 
and  so  completely  deceived  the  duke,  that 
he  went  immediately  after  he  was  dressed 
to  divert  the  king  with  Navarre's  cre- 
dulity. This  morning  visit  proved  ex- 
tremely useful,  for  the  court  had  resolved 
to  deprive  him  of  the  liberty  of  hunting  at 
a  distance;  but  thinking  him  so  willing  a 
captive  in  consequence  of  his  expecta- 
tions, they  made  no  infringement  on  his 
liberty.f 

The  King  of  Navarre  went  to  hunt  near 
Senlis,  without  any  idea  of  putting  the 
plan  into  execution  so  soon ;  but  a  cir- 
cumstance had  occurred  which  rendered 
decision  necessary.  Fervaques  had  on  a 
former  occasion  preserved  the  king's  per- 
son, by  informing  him  of  a  plot  on  the 
road  to  Rheims :  the  merit  of  this  action 
was  destroyed  by  his  afterwards  confess- 
ing that  he  thought  such  a  service  would 
have  secured  his  beinsi  made  a  marshal 
of  France.  A  similar  feeling  induced  him 
on  this  occasion  to  betray  the  King  of 
Navarre  and  his  friends.  D'Aubigne  ob- 
served the  king  and  Fervaques  whisper- 
ing together,  and  suspecting  the  nature 
of  their  conversation,  he  retired  without 
being  seen.    He  staid  near  the  gate  of 


*  D'Aubignfe,  vol.  ii.  pp.  183,  el  sea. 
t  Ibid.  p.  187. 


ESCAPE  OF  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE. 


179 


the  palace,  and  when  he  perceived  Fer- 
vaques  coming  out,  he  suddenly  laid  hold 
of  him,  saying,  "  Wretch  !  what  have  you 
been  doing?"  The  traitor,  taken  una- 
wares, confessed  that  his  obligations  to 
the  king  had  made  him  betray  Navarre; 
and  added,  "  Go,  and  save  your  master." 

D'Aubigne  went  immediately  to  Na- 
varre's stables  and  succeeded  in  getting 
out  of  the  town  with  the  horses  and 
equerries,  just  before  the  gates  were  shut 
by  the  king's  orders.  They  were  met 
near  Senlis  by  the  King  of  Navarre,  on 
his  return  from  the  chase,  who  inquired 
the  reason  of  his  horses  being  there. 
D'Aubigne  informed  him  of  the  treachery 
of  Fervaques,  and  recommended  him  to 
retire  to  Seden  or  Alencon.  The  King 
of  Navarre  was  quite  decided;  but  he 
had  two  spies  about  him,  and  to  be  freed 
from  them  required  address.  Fie  called 
one,  and  sent  him  to  court  with  a  mes- 
sage, slating  that  a  report  having  circu- 
lated to  his  prejudice,  that  he  was  about 
to  join  the  malcontents,  he  wished  to  know  j 
whether  it  was  his  majesty's  pleasure  for ! 
him  to  continue  hunting,  or  to  appear  to 
clear  himself.  He  dismissed  the  other  on 
a  pretence  of  having  forgotten  that  the 
king  was  to  go  into  the  country,  and  sent 
him  to  meet  his  majesty  in  another  direc-  j 
tion.  The  King  of  Navarre  then  set  out] 
with  a  few  gentlemen  on  whom  he  thought 
he  could  rely,  passed  the  Seine  at  Poissy,  J 
and  reached  Alencon  the  following  day.* 
Among  his  companions  was  La  Valette,  | 
afterwards  Duke  of  Espernon,  who  quitted 
him  soon  after,  entirely  on  account  of  his 
religion.  \ 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Alengon  he ' 
was  joined  by  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  gentlemen ;  and  among  others  by 
Fervaques,  who  found  it  safer  to  trust  to 1 
the  prince  he  had  betrayed  and  injured, : 
than  to  him  whom  he  intended  to  have ; 
served  ;  especially  as  Henry  III.  was  ex  -  j 
tremely  angry  with  him,  and  appears  to 
have  appreciated  his  real  motives:  hej 
swore  that  he  would  have  him  hanged,  and 
that  if  any  one  informed  the  traitor,  his  ; 
life  should  answer  for  it.    Crillon,  a  gen-| 
tleman  renowned  for  his  bravery,  ven- j 
tured  to  caution  his  friend,  who  imme- 
diately set  off  for  Alencon  to  join  the 


*  D'Aubigpe,  vol.  ii.  p.  188.   Sully,  liv.  1.  Mathieu, 
Girard,  Vie  de  Dut  d' Espernon ,  p.  8. 


liv. 


King  of  Navarre.  The  flight  of  Fervaques 
was  known  in  the  morning,  and  Henry  in 
a  rage  turned  over  in  his  thoughts  the 
names  of  those  who  heard  him  resolve  on 
punishing  him.  Crillon  entered  at  the 
moment,  and  the  king  with  fury  in  his 
countenance  thus  addressed  him:  "Fer- 
vaques has  escaped  from  my  vengeance, 
and  leaves  me  only  the  hope  of  exercising 
it  signally  on  him  who  has  placed  him  be- 
yond my  reach  :  do  you  know  who  itl's  ?" 
"  Yes,  sire  !"  said  Crillon.  "  Well,  then," 
answered  the  king  with  vehemence, 
"  name  him."  Crillon  acknowledged  that 
he  was  the  guilty  person,  and  Henry  was 
so  struck  with  his  candour  and  firmness, 
that  he  pardoned  him,  observing  that  as 
there  was  only  one  Crillon  in  the  world, 
his  clemency  towards  him  could  not  be 
brought  into  precedent.* 

When  Fervaques  came  to  the  King 
of  Navarre,  D'Aubigne  accused  him  of 
treachery;  he  pleaded,  as  his  defence,  that 
Madame  Carnavalet  had  previously  in- 
formed Henry  of  the  whole  affair,  and 
that  she  had  entreated  him  to  confirm  her 
account;  which  he  did, thinking  that, as  it 
was  known,  his  declaration  was  of  no 
consequence.  Navarre  accepted  his  ex- 
cuse :  either  from  attachment  to  him,  or 
through  a  consciousness  of  his  own  weak- 
ness, whenever  his  principles  and  his  pas- 
sions were  in  contact. 

From  Alencon  the  King  of  Navarre 
went  to  Tours,  where  he  renounced 
popery,  and  protested  against  his  abju- 
ration in  1572,  as  compulsory. t  This 
step  increased  the  boldness  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  their  troops  in  different  parts 
amounted  to  fifty  thousand  men.  But  so 
formidable  a  force  accomplished  nothing, 
for  the  queen  made  use  of  her  proposals 
and  intrigues;  and  the  Duke  of  Alencon 
finding  his  consideration  eclipsed,  became 
less  zealous  in  the  cause.  A  meeting  of 
the  coru^derate  chiefs  was  held  at  Moulins, 
early  in  March,  where  they  drew  up  the 
terms  which  they  required,  but  which 
were  such  as  the  government  was  not 
likely  to  accede  to.  The  Huguenots 
claimed  a  portion  of  the  tithes  for  the  sup- 
port of  their  ministers ;  Alencon  demanded 
an  extension  of  his  appanage  to  a  degree 
which  would  have  made  him  an  inde- 


*  Vie  de  Crillon,  vol.  i.  p.  249.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p. 
189.  " 
t  Sully,  liv.  1.  Cayet,  liv.  1. 


180 


RISE  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


pendent  prince;  Conde  desired  the  go- 
vernment of  Picardy,  with  the  absolute 
possession  of  Boulogne ;  and  Navarre 
claimed  the  government  of  Guyenne,  the 
free  sovereignty  of  his  paternal  dominions, 
the  payment  of  the  pensions  formerly  al- 
lowed to  his  family,  and  the  dowry  of  his 
wife.  These  demands,  if  granted,  would 
have  been  the  ruin  of  the  monarchy,  and 
they  were  therefore  rejected.* 

The  King  of  Navarre  made  a  sudden 
journey  into  Guyenne  and  Beam  ;  and  as 
the  people  of  those  provinces  were  uncer- 
tain whether  he  was  acting  for  or  against 
the  king,  he  was  able  to  get  possession  of 
several  important  places;  besides  which, 
he  was  immediately  joined  by  the  ancient 
adherents  of  his  family.  This  alarmed  the 
court,  and  Catherine  went  again  to  the 
camp  to  see  what  she  could  do  with  her 
son.  Alengon  was  easily  persuaded  to 
renounce  his  connexion  with  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  finding  that  his  influence  was 
reduced  to  nothing,  by  the  importance  of 
Navarre  and  Conde,  (one  of  whom  had  j 
the  full  confidence  of  the  Huguenots,  and  i 
the  other  of  the  Germans,)  he  was  ready  : 
to  consent  to  a  peace  on  easy  terms.  A 
treaty  was  concluded,  the  terms  of  which 
were  more  favourable  to  the  Protestants  i 
than  those  of  any  one  preceding,  although  j 
the  demands  made  by  the  meeting  at 
Moulins  were  considerably  modified.  The 
Protestants  were  allowed  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  with  a  number  of  towns; 
and  the  attainders  of  Coligny,  Briquemaut, 
Montgomery,  La  Mole,  and  others  were 
reversed ;  while,  for  the  security  of  the 
Huguenots  in  the  administration  of  justice, 
mixed  commissions  were  established,  com- 
posed of  persons  of  both  religions.  The 
edict  contained  sixty-three  articles,  one  of 
which  (the  thirty-second)  is  remarkable, 
as  it  declares  that  "  the  disorders  and  ex- 
cesses committed  on  the  24th  of  August 
and  following  days,  at  Paris  and  in  other 
towns  and  places  of  our  kingdom,  have 
occurred  to  our  very  great  regret  and  dis- 
pleasure."! 


*  D.ivila,  liv.  6. 

t  The  edict  dated  May,  1570.  is  given  at  lengtli  in  the 
Mem.  it  tfcocrs,  vol.  i.  pp.  117,  et  seq. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Rise  of  the  League— Estates  of  Blois— War  of  1576. 

The  treaty  which  concluded  the  fifth 
civil  war  was  attended  with  but  little 
benefit,  and  produced  an  armistice,  rather 
than  a  peace.  The  Protestants  had  ob- 
tained such  favourable  terms,  that  they 
could  object  to  none  of  its  conditions;  but 
every  one  entertained  doubts  of  their 
being  carried  into  execution.  They  knew, 
from  experience,  that  Catherine  was  never 
so  lavish  of  her  concessions  as  when  she 
was  planning  some  great  deception ;  and  it 
is  astonishing, that  with  so  much  knowledge 
of  her  perfidy,  they  could  ever  listen  to 
any  proposals,  while  she  was  at  the  head 
of  the  government. 

The  King  of  Navarre  retired  to  Ro- 
chelle,  where  he  was  received  with  great 
distinction  ;  the  inhabitants  however  would 
not  allow  him  to  be  accompanied  by  all 
his  officers  and  gentlemen.  They  objected 
in  particular  to  La  Valette,  and  every  one 
who  had  been  concerned  in  the  St.  Bar- 
tholomew :*  they  further  stipulated  that, 
notwithstanding  his  position  as  their  os- 
tensible head,  he  should  not  assume  the 
government  of  the  city,  neither  were  the 
keys  to  be  presented  to  him,  as  that  ho- 
mage was  limited  to  the  king  and  his  heir 
apparent.  Navarre  had  the  good  sense  to 
despise  matters  of  mere  parade,  and  wrote 
a  letter  which  completely  satisfied  the  ci- 
tizens.! 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  edict 
of  pacification  would  not  be  executed ; 
and  it  seemed  generally  understood,  that 
the  promises  had  been  made  exclusively 
for  detaching  the  king's  brother  from  the 
confederates.  The  articles  in  his  favour 
were  fulfilled,  but  no  qthers.J  He  assumed 
the  title  of  Duke  of  Anjou,  and  entered  on 
the  enjoyment  of  an  increased  appanage; 
but  the  queen  very  soon  convinced  Na- 
varre that  he  need  not  look  for  the  full  ex- 
ecution of  the  treaty :  she  even  denied 
having  promised  any  thing  to  the  Hugue- 
nots, who  perceived  that  they  must  before 
long  resume  their  arms.§ 

The  Catholic  party  expressed  great  in- 
dignation at  the  favourable  conditions 

*  Sully,  liv.  1.    Percfixe,  liv.  1. 
t  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p  19. 
j  Davila,  liv.  6. 
§  Sully,  liv.  1. 


RISE  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


181 


granted  to  the  Huguenots;  and  the  prin-j 
cipal  object  of  the  court  being  effected,  the 
king  took  measures  for  stopping  such 
complaints,  by  encouraging  the  attempts 
made  to  prevent  the  meetings  of  the  Pro- 
testants, and  by  delaying,  on  a  number  of 
frivolous  pretences,  the  establishment  of 
the  Chambres  mi-varlies,  or  mixed  com- 
missions ;  and  when  at  last  a  nomination 
took  place,  the  parliament  of  Paris  being 
aware  of  the  king's  feelings,  refused  to  ad- 
mit the  new  counsellor.* 

The  Huguenots  had  been  so  often  de- 
ceived, that  they  could  not  readily  believe 
the  king  sincere  in  signing  the  edict,  espe- 
cially as  the  parliament  of  Paris  was  con- 
sidered averse  to  the  measure.  Catherine 
perceived  the  necessity  of  removing  such 
suspicions,  and  wrote  to  La  Noue,  assu- 
ring him  that  the  report  was  false ;  invited 
him  to  court ;  and  not  only  guarantied  his 
own  safety,  but  promised  that  the  king 
would  be  delighted  to  see  him.  La  Noue 
indeed  possessed  the  confidence  of  all  par- 
ties, and  was  at  this  time  consulted  by  the 
court,  the  magistrates  of  Bourges,  and  the 
citizens  of  Montauban  and  Rochelle: 
while  on  one  side  he  was  the  adviser  o( 
Navarre  and  Conde,  he  was  on  the  other 
entreated  by  Villeroy  to  obtain  a  favour 
of  the  Duke  of  Anjou.  To  win  over  such 
a  man  was  worth  some  flattery  on  the 
part  of  Catherine  de  Medicis  :.but  La  Noue 
disregarded  her  promises  of  protection, 
and  his  biographer  observes,  that  it  was 
certain  the  court  had  no  intention  of  ob- 
serving the  edict  of  pacification,  nor  of  ful- 
filling its  stipulations;  and  that  was  soon 
evident.  The  king,  wary  and  dissembling 
as  he  was,  made  use  of  an  expression 
which  discovered  the  wish  of  his  heart. 
The  Protestants  of  Rouen  had  resumed  the 
exercise  of  their  worship;  and  the  Cardi- 
nal of  Bourbon,  accompanied  by  several 
counsellors,  went  to  their  plane  of  meeting 
to  prevent  the  service.  He  entered  with- 
out difficulty;  and  mounted  the  pulpit, 
either  to  .command  or  entreat  them  to  de- 
sist: but  the- Protestants  immediately  with- 
drew, and  left  him  alone.  The  king  was 
soon  after  informed,  that  the  cardinal  had 
dispersed  the  Huguenots  of  Rouen  with 
his  cross  and  banner :  on  which  he  ob- 
served, "  would  to  God  they  could  be  as 
easily  driven  from  the  other  towns,  were 


*  Davila,  liv.  6. 

16 


lit  even  necessary  to  add  the  holy  water 
basin  !"* 

The  Prince  of  Conde  was  the  first  who 
expressed  his  dissatisfaction  :  his  govern- 
ment of  Picardy  was  withheld,  and  he 
found  that  he  should  derive  none  of  the 
advantages  which  he  had  expected  from 
the  treaty.  He  wrote  in  consequence  to 
Prince  Casimir,  requesting  him  to  remain 
near  the  borders  of  Lorrain,  with  the 
Reitres  under  his  command,  until  the 
peace  was  firmly  established.!  This  step 
on  his  part  was  soon  justified  by  the  be- 
haviour of  the  Catholics,  who  were  not 
only  disgusted  with  the  treaty  itself,  but 
were  indignant  at  the  steadiness  which 
the  Protestants  displayed  in  their  resolu- 
tion to  maintain  it.  They  called  upon  the 
king  to  revoke  the  edict,  and  altogether 
exterminate  the  heretics ;  the  association 
formed  for  expressing  this  general  feeling 
produced  the  League. 

During  the  sittings  of  the  council  of 
Trent,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain  had  pro- 
jected a  similar  thing,  and  many  suppose 
thai  this  was  no  more  than  the  develop- 
ment of  his  plan.  He  had  proposed  that 
his  brother  should  be  the  chief;  and  the 
measure  met  with  the  unanimous  appro- 
bation of  the  council.  But  the  news  of 
Guise's  death  arrived  about  the  same  time, 
and  the  cardinal's  penetration  satisfied  him 
how  dangerous  it  would  be  for  his  family 
to  see  that  important  post  filled  by  any 
but  a  prince  of  that  house ;  the  design  was 
therefore  abandoned  for  a  time.} 

The  idea  was  renewed  in  1567,  when 
an  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  society 
for  the  defence  of  religion  and  the  state, 
under  the  name  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Hob/  Spirit !  The  king  ordered  Ta- 
vannes  to  enrol  all  good  Catholics,  and 
report  their  numbers  to  him;  but  the  war 
which  soon  after'  broke  out  appears  to 
have  put  an  end  to  it,  for  the  association 
is  not  subsequently  mentioned  in  the  ac- 
counts (public  or  private)  of  the  affairs  of 
France. 

The  endeavours  of  the  government  to 
suppress  the  public  exercise  of  thereformed 
religion,  rendered  such  associations  unne- 
cessary, till  the  peace  of  1573  gave  prooi 
that  the  Huguenots'  strength  increased 


*  Amiraiilt,  Vie  de  la  JVoue,  p  191. 
t  Hist,  des  Derjiiers  Troubles,  vol.  i.  p.  6. 
t  Maimbourg,  Hist  de  la  Liguc,  vol.  i.  p.  20.  Paris, 
16S3. 


182 


RISE   OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


with  their  persecutions;  and  that  the  St. 
Bartholomew  had  only  served  to  widen 
the  breach,  and  kindle  a  greater  spirit  of 
resistance  among  them.  Added  to  which, 
the  party  of  the  Malcontents  or  Politiques 
had  obtained  for  them  the  support  of  many 
Catholics,  and  there  was  a  great  prospect 
of  those  persons  ultimately  adopting  the 
religious,  as  well  as  the  political  views  of 
the  Huguenots.  The  Cardinal  ofLorrain 
again  exerted  himself  to  establish  a  league, 
as  the  only  barrier  against  the  alarming 
innovation  :  he  died  soon  after,  and  another 
postponement  took  place. 

When  the  peace  was  concluded  in  1576, 
two  circumstances  were  particularly  fa- 
vourable for  its  formation :  the  Duke  of 
Guise  was  able  to  take  bis  father's  place, 
and  the  kingly  authority  had  been  so  much 
disparaged  by  Henry's  behaviour,  that  in 
the  organization  of  such  a  union  there 
was  no  fear  of  control  from  the  court:  full 
scope  was  therefore  afforded  for  the  am- 
bition of  the  Lorrain  princes,  who  aiming 
at  the  outset  at  no  more  than  the  chief 
share  in  the  administration  of  affairs,  were 
ultimately  tempted  to  aspire  to  the  throne 
itself. 

Ever  since  his  return  from  Poland,  the 
king  hid  indulged  in  the  most  ridiculous 
practices  of  Romish  devotion.  The  jour- 
nal of  his  reign  mentions  a  number  of  his! 
achievements  of  this  description.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1 575,  he  ordered  a  general  and  so- 
lemn  procession,  in  which  he  had  the  re-j 
lies  of  the  holy  chapel  carried  ;  he  followed 
the  whole  of  the  way,  telling  his  beads; 
with  great  devotion.  The  true  cross  had 
been  stolen  from  the  chapel  of  the  palace, 
which  caused  a  great  sensation  among 
the  Catholics.*  Henry  contrived  to  sup- 
ply the  loss,  and  ordered  a  public  notice 
in  all  the  churches,  that  he  had  caused  a 
new  crucifix  to  be  made,  in  which  was  in- 
serted a  large  piece  of  the.  recti  cross,  and 
that  the  people  were  to  go  to  adore  it 
during  the  holy  week  of  1576.t 

In  the  month  of  August,  the  king  went 
on  foot  through  the  streets  of  Paris,  togain 
the  benefits  of  the  jubilee,  published  by 
Gregory  XIII. ;  he  was  accompanied  only 
by  two  or  three  persons,  and  held  a  large 
rosary  in  his  hands,  muttering  Pater- 

*  Great  exertions  were  made  by  the  authority  to  dis-| 
cover  this  relic,  but  in  vain.  It  was  generally  thought 
the  king  had  pledged  it  to  the  Venetians  tor  a  large  sum. 
Uulaure,  vol.  I.  p.  107. — Edit.  17e7. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  III. 


nosfers  as  he  walked  along.  The  queen- 
mother  had  recommended  him  to  do  so, 
with  a  view  of  showing  his  attachment  to 
the  Catholic  religion  :  but  it  failed  of  its 
effect;  and  the  people  losing  all  respect 
for  his  person,  made  upon  him  the  most 
insulting  lampoons :  they  parodied  his 
titles,  and  turned  into  derision  his  encou- 
ragements of  the  religious  orders.* 

The  king's  ill-judged  behaviour  con- 
vinced all  thinking  Catholics  that  his  pro- 
tection was  of  no  use  to  their  religion ; 
against  such  a  leader  the  Huguenots 
would  be  sure  to  succeed :  they  were  in- 
duced, in  consequence,  to  adopt  the  views 
of  the  league  from  principle.  Some  min- 
gled other  considerations  with  their  reli- 
gion, and  thought  the  national  welfare 
would  be  better  secured  if  intrusted  to  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  than  to  their  imbecile  and 
enervated  monarch,  who  knowing  that  a 
treaty  had  put  an  end  to  the  war,  gave 
himself  no  further  trouble  about  public 
affairs.  He  was  surrounded  by  a  num- 
ber of  young  nobles  of  no  reputation, 
whom  he  loaded  with  favours,  and  kept 
constantly  in  his  company.  The  princi- 
pal among  them  were  Quelus,  Maugiron, 
St.  Megrin,  Joyeuse,  and  La  Valette:  they 
had  been  chiefly  introduced  by  Villequier, 
a  man  of  detestable  character.  Their  ef- 
feminate practices  procured  them  the  epi- 
thet of  the  king's  minions;  and  their  scan- 
dalous intimacy  with  the  monarch  gave 
rise  to  imputations,  which  certainly  were 
justified  by  Henry's  general  conduct.! 
"  His  manners,"  says  Voltaire, J  "  were 
those  of  a  coquette:  he  wore  gloves  made 
of  a  peculiar  kind  of  skin,  in  which  he 
slept,  to  preserve  the  beauty  of  his  hands, 
which  in  fact  he  had  finer  than  any  lady 
of  his  court  :§  he  put  on  his  face  a  cosme- 
tic paste,  and  wore  a  sort  of  mask  over  it." 
His  conduct  had  completely  obliterated  the 
memory  of  his  previous  renown,  and  with 
the  proper  qualifications  of  a  king  and 
good  opportunities  for  displaying  them,  he 
became  the  burden  of  the  state  which  his 
arms  had  formerly  sustained,  while  he 
scandalized  the  religion  for  which  he  had 
so  much  exerted  himself. 


*  Journal  de  Henri  III. 

f  He  was  very  fond  of  masquerades,  where  he  was 
usually  dressed  in  female  apparel. — Journal  de  Henri  III 
p.  17. 

%  In  a  note  to  the  Iknriodc. 

§  Brantome.  after  praising  the  elegance  of  Pathe. 
ri ne's  hand,  adds,  "The  king  her  sui.  Henry  IN.,  in- 
herited a  great  deal  of  thai  beauty."— Vol.  i.  p  4'J. 


OBJECTS  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


183 


Guise  had  at  one  time  possessed  a  great 
share  of  Henry's  friendship.  The  minions 
had  succeeded  in  excluding  him  from  the 
king's  confidence,  and  then  insulted  him 
openly ;  a  desire  to  resent  such  treatment 
made  him  the  more  ready  to  avail  him- 
self of  so  favourable  a  combination  of  cir 
cumstances.  The  nation  was  weary  of 
being  a  prey  to  the  minions ;  the  princes 
of  the  blood  were  all  suspected  through 
their  connexion  with  the  Huguenots;  the 
king  was  universally  despised,  and  him 
self  as  generally  beloved:  he  had  moreover 
the  powerful  influence  of  Spain  and  Rome 
to  support  him,  and  a  host  of  stanch  and 
persevering  adherents  in  the  persons  of  the 
Catholic  clergy. 

A  form  was  drawn  up,  and  circulated 
secretly  by  his  emissaries:  it  was  pre- 
sented to  Catholics  of  known  zeal,  who 
signed  it,  and  took  a  corresponding  oath. 
The  forrtt  declared  the  different  objects  of 
the  association,  which  were  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  the 
preservation  of  the  king's  authority  con- 
formable to  the  conditions  which  might  be 
set  forth  at  a  meeting  of  the  states-gene- 
ral, and  the  restoration  of  ancient  liberties. 
The  parties  mutually  bound  themselves 
to  devote  their  lives  to  enforce  the  above 
declarations;  to  take  vengeance  on  any! 
who  should  molest  one  of  their  number, 
as  well  as  on  him  who,  having  once  joined 
them,  should  desire  to  separate  from  the 
association ;  ready  obedience  was  also  pro- 
mised to  the  chief  who  might  be  chosen.* 

At  first  there  were  but  few  persons  of 
respectability  who  would  sign  the  league; 
they  wanted  to  know  who  was  to  be  chief 
before  they  engaged  themselves.  The 
activity  of  the  magistracy  also  presented 
great  obstacles,  which  might  have  proved 
fatal  to  the  association  if  Guise  had  not 
been  assisted  by  Jacques  de  Humieres, 
governor  of  Peronne,  who  was  not  only 
attached  to  the  house  of  Lorrain,  but  was 
also  personally  interested  in  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  treaty  of  peace;  for  that  stated, 
among  other  articles,  that  Peronne  was  to 
be  surrendered  to  the  Prince  of  Conde. 
His  interest  being  so  deeply  concerned,  he 
published  a  manifest,  justifying  .the  nobles 
and  gentlemen  of  Peronne  in  refusing  to 
receive  the  prince,  and  declaring  it  was 

*  This  declaration  is  so  well  known,  and  is  given 
by  so  many  writers,  that  1  have  considered  its  inser- 
tion at  length  unnecessary. 


known  for  a  certainty  that  he  had  resolved 
on  abolishing  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
setting  up  Calvinism  throughout  Picardy.* 
This  was  however  decidedly  at  variance 
with  the'conduct  of  the  Protestants;  for  at 
Rochelle,  where  they  were  independent 
of  control,  they  permitted  the  free  exercise 
of  the  Romish  religion.  A  church  was 
fitted  up  for  that  purpose,  and  the  service 
celebrated  with  the  usual  pomp,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1576.f 

The  king  received  early  information  of 
great  importance,  which  if  properly  at- 
tended to  by  him  might  have  saved  France 
many  years  of  civil  war.  A  lawyer, 
named  David,  had  either  taken  upon  him- 
self, or  was  employed  by  Guise  to  go  to 
Rome  and  lay  before  the  pope  and  cardi- 
nals the  plan  of  the  league.t  He  died  on 
his  journey,  in  what  manner  is  unknown; 
but  on  examining  his  portmanteau  there 
was  found  a  parcel  of  papers,  which  de- 
scribed the  object  of  this  association.  The 
principal  document  commenced  by  de- 
claring that  the  papal  benediction,  espe- 
cially that  of  Stephen  II.,  which  was  given 
to  the  race  of  Charlemagne,  did  not  ex- 
tend to  the  family  of  Hugh  Capet,  usurper 
of  the  crown;  and  the  Princes  of  Lorrain, 
being  the  true  posterity  of  that  emperor, 
would  have  the  assistance  of  Heaven  in 
bringing  good  out  of  evil,  as  all  good 
Catholics  would  assist  in  restoring  them 
to  their  rights  from  the  extreme  horror 
they  felt  at  the  late  unfortunate  peace. 
After  a  glowing  description  of  the  excel- 
lence of  the  Guises,  the  statement  pro- 
ceeded, "from  the  time  that  the  children 
of  Hugh  Capet  have  seized  on  the  throne, 
to  the  prejudice  of  that  emperor's  descend- 
ants, the  curse  of  God  has  fallen  upon 
those  usurpers:  some  have  lost  their 
senses,  others  their  liberty,  or  have  been 
struck  with  the  thunder  of  the  Church. 
The  greater  part  of  them  without  health 
or  strength  have  died  in  the  flower  of 
their  age  childless.  During  these  unfor- 
tunate reigns,  the  kingdom  has  become 
the  prey  of  heretics,  such  as  the  Albigenses, 
and  the  paupers  of  Lyons.  The  last 
peace,  so  favourable  to  the  Calvinists, 
tends  also  to  estabjish  them  in  France,  if 
advantage  be  not  taken  of  this  opportunity 
to  restore  the  age  of  Charlemagne  to  his 

*  Maimbonrg,  llist.de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  38.   Vie  de 
Mornay-,  p  35. 
+  ArcSre,  vol.  ii.  p.  22. 
I  Cuyet,  liv.  1  p.  5.    De  Thou,  li v.  G3. 


1S4 


OBJECTS  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


posterity.  The  Catholics  united  in  the 
intention  of  supporting  the  faith  have 
therefore  agreed  together  respecting  what 
follows,  viz  ,  that  in  the  pulpit  and  the  con- 
fessional such  as  are  of  the  clergy  shall 
exert  themselves  in  opposing  the  privileges 
granted  to  the  Sectarians,  and  shall  excite 
the  people  to  prevent  their  enjoying  them. 
If  the  king  show  any  apprehension  lest  the 
infraction  of  the  peace  in  this  important 
point  should  plunge  him  again  into  fresh 
troubles,  they  shall  urge  him  to  throw  all 
the  blame  on  the  Duke  of  Guise ;  the 
danger  to  which  this  prince  will  expose 
himself  by  thus  braving  the  hatred  of  all 
the  Protestants,  will  render  him  clearer  to 
the  Catholics.  His  boldness  will  encou- 
rage the  timid  to  sign  the  league,  and 
thus  increase  the  party.  All  the  confede- 
rates shall  swear  to  acknowledge  him  for 
their  leader.  The  priests  of  the  towns  and 
villages  shall  keep  a  list  of  those  who  are 
in  a  state  to  bear  arms;  they  will  tell  them 
in  confession  what  they  will  have  to  do, 
as  they  shall  have  learned  from  the  supe- 
rior ecclesiastics,  themselves  receiving 
their  instructions  from  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
who  will  secretly  send  officers  to  form  the 
new  levies. 

"  The  Protestants  have  demanded  the 
assembling  of  the  states;  they  shall  be 
convoked  at  Blois,  a  town  quite  open. 
The  chief  of  the  party  will  take  care  to 
effect  the  election  of  deputies  inviolably 
attached  to  the  ancient  religion  and  to 
the  sovereign  pontiff.  At  the  same  time, 
captains  dispersed  through  the  kingdom, 
will  raise  a  certain  number  of  determined 
soldiers,  who  will  promise  upon  oath  to  do 
what  may  be  commanded  them,  at  any 
time  or  in  any  place.  It  will  also  be  ne- 
cessary to  engage,  by  mild  insinuations, 
the  Duke  of  Anjou,  the  King  of  Navarre, 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  every  noble  who 
may  be  suspicious,  to  go  to  the  states  with 
the  king.  The  Duke  of  Guise  will  not  be 
there,  both  to  avoid  suspicion,  and  to  be 
in  a  better  condition  to  give  his  orders. 

"  Should  any  one  oppose  the  resolutions 
which  will  be  taken  in  the  states,  if  a  prince 
of  the  blood,  he  shall  be  declared  incapable 
of  succeeding  to  the  crown;  if  of  any  other 
quality,  he  shall  be  punished  with  death ; 
or  if  he  cannot  be  laid  hold  of,  a  price 
shall  be  set  on  his  head.  The  states  will 
make  a  general  profession  of  faith  ;  order 


the  publication  of  the  council  of  Trent; 
place  France  under  the  immediate  autho- 
rity of  the  pope;  confirm  the  ordinances 
made  for  the  destruction  of  heresy,  and 
revoke  all  contrary  edicts.  The  king  will 
thus  be  disengaged  from  the  promises 
given  to  the  Calvinists.  A  time  will  be 
allowed  for  them  to  return  to  the  Church; 
and,  during  that  interval,  preparations  can 
be  made  for  destroying  the  -more  obsti- 
nate. The  states  will  represent  to  the 
king,  that  to  ensure  success  there  must 
in  future  be  only  one  person  charged  with 
the  enterprise ;  and  they  will  recommend 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  as  the  only  skilful 
general  who  has  had  no  connexion  with 
the  heretics. 

"  To  give  weight  to  this  proposal,  the 
soldiers  levied  privately  in  the  provinces 
will  appear  around  Blois  on  a  certain  day, 
strengthened  with  some  foreign  troops. 
They  will  carry  off  Monsieur,  and  put 
him  on  his  trial,  for  having  extorted  from 
the  king  his  brother  such  favourable  con- 
ditions for  the  heretic  rebels.  The  Duke 
of  Guise  will  pursue  the  insurgents;  make 
himself  master  of  the  principal  towns ;  put 
under  a  strong  guard  all  the  accomplices 
of  Monsieur,  whose  trial  he  will  finish ; 
and  finally,  by  the  pope's  advice,  he  will 
shut  up  the  king  in  a  monastery  for  the 
remainder  of  his  days,  as  Pepin  formerly 
served  Childeric." 

When  the  discovery  of  this  paper  was 
made  known,  it  was  thought  by  some  to 
be  an  invention  of  the  Huguenots,  in 
order  to  serve  their  cause  by  rendering 
the  league  odious  to  the  nation,  and  the 
king  himself  treated  it  as  a  chimera;  but, 
says  Maimbourg,  "It  is  certain  that  this 
lawyer,  "  who  mortally  hated  the  Hugue- 
nots, (by  whom  he  had  been  ill-treated, 
and  had,  in  consequence  devoted  himself 
entirely  to  the  league,)  undertook  this 
journey  to  Rome,  expressly  to  carry  these 
memoirs,  and  present  them  to  the  pope  in 

order  to  engage  him  in  the  cause  

Besides  the  Seigneur  John  de  Vivonne, 
the  king's  ambassador  in  Spain,  sent  a 
copy,  with  the  assurance  that  they  had 
been  shown  to  King  Philip.  Still  there  is 
great  appearance  that  these  memoirs  had 
no  other  origin  than  the  weak  and  trou- 
bled imagination  of  this  mad  lawyer,  who 
put  his  furious  reveries  and  chimerical 
dreams  on  paper,  which  no  one  can  read 


ESTATES  OF  BLOIS. 


185 


without  immediately  discovering  marks  to  unite  all  his  subjects  to  the  Roman  Ca- 
of  a  pitiable  aberration  of  intellect."*'         tholic  church,  by  the  best  means  he  could; 

The  object  of  David's  journey  being  to  prohibit  the  exercise  of  the  pretended 
admitted  by  such  authority,  it  will  appear  reformed  religion,  both  in  public  and  pri- 
very  astonishing  that  a  crackbrained  indi-  vate,  and  to  banish  all  the  Protestant 
vidual  could  have  laid  out,  so  distinctly,  ministers.* 

the  plan  which  the  Guises  afterwards  fol-  j  The  king  certainly  committed  a  great 
lowed.  The  journey  may  have  been  his  error  in  joining  the  league;  but  that  step 
own  spontaneous  idea ;  but  the  substance  completely  disconcerted  the  plans  of  the 
of  his  memoirs  must  have  been  suggested  Duke  of  Guise,  who,  directly  he  heard  of 
by  some  one  well  versed  in  the  movements  it,  hastened  to  Blois,  and  called  upon  him 
and  resolutions  of  the  party.  !to  fulfil  his  duty  as  a  member  of  the  holy 

The  states-general  were  held  at  Blois  union,  by  immediately  declaring  war 
towards  the  close  of  the  year.t  All  par-  against  the  heretics.  It  was,  however, 
ties  had  concurred  in  the  wish  that  they  desirable  that,  before  the  sword  was  again 
should  be  assembled.  The  king  imagined  resorted  to,  an  invitation  should  be  sent 
that  a  desire  of  preserving  the  peace  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of 
would  influence  every  deputy ;  the  Pro-  Conde,  the  Marshal  Damville,  calling 
testants  thought  the  junction  of  the  mal- 1  on  them  to  obey  the  king,  and  holding 
contents  had  ensured  their  success  for  them  responsible  for  the  war  if  they  re- 
ratifying  the  late  treaty ;  while  the  league,  fused.t  Each  of  them  received  a  deputa- 
conscious  of  the  number  of  its  members,  tion  from  the  three  orders:  there  was, 
calculated  with  certainty  on  revoking  it.  however,  but  little  success  to  be  expected, 
Henry  appeared  before  the  assembly  with  for  they  had  protested  against  the  assem- 
more  majesty  and  splendour  than  was  to  bly  as  a  cabal  of  their  enemies,  directly 
have  been  expected  from  the  general  im-  its  composition  was  known.  The  Protest- 
becility  which  had  for  a  long  time  rendered  ants  had  been  promised  that  the  Estates 
him  the  ridicule  of  his  people.  His  speech  1  should  be  called,  unfettered  by  any  influ- 
was  good,  both  in  substance  and  lan-jence;  but  when  they  did  meet  there  were 
guage;  and  his  delivery  of  it  is  reported;  ten  thousand  soldiers  around  Blois.}  The 


to  have  been  very  graceful.}  He  knew  of 
the  existence  of  the  league,  but  was  doubt- 
ful whether  he  should  give  any  sign  of 
that  knowledge  or  not ;  his  mother's 
policy  was  what  he  wished  to  adopt,  if 
possible;  he  hoped  to  secure  his  own 
authority  while  the  struggle  lasted  be- 
tween the  Protestants  and  the  league; 
and  it  was  not  till  he  found  it  out  of  his 
power  to  keep  aloof  that  he  declared  him- 
self chief  of  a  faction  of  his  own  dominions, 
bearing  the  title  of  the  Holy  Union. 

Espinac,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  was  the 
orator  for  the  clergy ;  the  Baron  de 
Senecy,  for  the  noblesse;  Versoris,  for  the 
commons.     The  clergy  and  the  nobles 


Archbishop  of  Vienne  addressed  the  King 
of  Navarre  in  so  pathetic  a  strain,  giving 
such  a  picture  of  the  horrors  of  civil  war, 
that  he  brought  tears  into  the  eyes  of  that 
prince,  inured  as  he  was  to  combats.  He 
replied,  that  he  was  not  obstinate  upon  the 
article  of  religion,  but,  believing  the  Pro- 
testant to  be  the  best,  he  would  not  pur- 
chase peace  at  the  expense  of  his  honour 
and  conscience :  the  war,  he  said,  with 
which  he  was  threatened,  was  not  the 
readiest  way  to  convince  him  of  his  error; 
and  he  could  pot  with  any  safety  quit  his 
party  at  a  time  when  an  edict  so  solemnly 
given  was  revoked.  With  a  frankness, 
for  which  he  was  remarkable,  he  declared, 


contended  that  one  religion  alone  should  |  "  That  if  God  opened  his  eyes  that  he 
be  allowed  in  the  kingdom ;  the  commons  I  might  see  his  error,  not  only  would  he 
admitted  the  good  effects  of  that  unifor-  immediately  abjure  it,  but  he  would  con- 
mity,  provided  it  could  be  effected  by  tribute  his  utmost  efforts  for  abolishing 
mild  means.  After  a  discussion  of  several  j  heresy  altogether."^    This  declaration  is 


days,  it  was  decided.}  by  a  majority  of 
votes,  that  the  king  should  be  entreated 

*  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  49. 
t  bth  Dec,  157(i,  Muni,  de  Nevers,  vol.  i.  p.  16G.  That 
nobleman  kept  a  journal  of  the  sittings, 
t  Hist.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  i.  pi  9. 
}  2bth  Dec,  I57b\ 


highly  characteristic  of  the  epoch.  He 


*  D'Aubigne,  vol  ii.  p.  257. 
t  De  Thou,  Le  Grain,  Perelixe. 

%  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  238.  Duplessis-Mornay  pub- 
lished a  strong  remonstrance  on  the  occasion. — Me 
moires,  vol.  i.  p.  18. 

Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  i.  p.  45G. 


16* 


186 


WAR  OF  1577. 


was  at  the  time  in  arms  for  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  yet  declared  his  readiness  to 
become  a  persecutor,  if  a  change  took 
place  in  his  opinions. 

The  deputies  to  Conde  and  Damville 
received  the  following  answer:  "  We  only 
ask  for  peace;  let  the  promises  given  us 
be  fulfilled  and  all  will  be  quiet ;  besides, 
we  do  not  acknowledge  your  states,  and 
we  protest  against  every  resolution  there  j 
made  to  our  prejudice."*  Other  deputa- 
tions were  sent  with  no  better  results. 
The  king  and  his  mother  held  several 
councils  to  devise  some  plan  for  averting 
the  war;  but  the  influence  of  the  league 
predominated,  and  nothing  short  of  a 
complete  revocation  of  the  edicts  favour-  j 
able  to  the  Protestants  could  be  admitted. 

The  original  declaration  of  the  holy 
union  contained  expressions  which  could 
not  be  justified  in  any  manner;  and  as 
the  king  had  joined  that  body,  those, 
terms  which  were  obviously  at  variance 
with  the  royal  authority  were  omitted  in 
the  new  declaration,  drawn  up  by  Hu- ; 
mieres,  who  was  chief  of  the  league  in  j 
Picardy.  The  new  form  was  much  less  j 
offensive:  it  preserved  all  the  spirit  of  the 
league,  but  appeared  to  act  entirely  by 
the  authority  and  for  the  service  of  the 
kmg.f  That  faction  had,  however,  re-j 
ceived  such  powerful  support,  that  it  was 
able,  not  merely  to  defy  the  government, 
but  to  control  its  measures,  and  render  its 
authority  subservient  to  the  union.  Gre- 
gory XIII.  secretly  encouraged  while  he 
refused  to  countenance  it  openly:  he  es- 
teemed it  a  very  efficient  check  to  the 
progress  of  Calvinism :  the  idea  most  ter- 
rible to  the  Vatican  was  the  holding  of  a 
national  council  in  France;  and  while  the 
league  existed  that  could  never  take  place. 
Philip  II.  gave  it  his  support  :  his  fears 
were  for  the  Netherlands,  and  he  was  cer- 
tain that  while  France  was  torn  with  in- 
ternal troubles,  the  Flemings  could  not 
expect  any  assistance  from  that  quarter. 

Henry,  being  unable  to  resist  the  league, 
consented  to  revoke  the  edict  of  pacifica- 
tion, and  ordered  two  armies  to  be  raised 
for  subduing  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the 
Prince  of  Conde.  They  in  the  mean  time 
had  made  preparations  for  carrying  on 
the  war,  by  increasing  their  forces  and 
taking   possession   of  different  towns, 

*  De  Thou,  liv.  G3. 

t  Maimbourg,  Bui  de  la  Ligne,vo\.  ii.  p.  464. 


whenever  they  could  do  so  without  an 
open  attack. 

The  King  of  Navarre,  being  desirous 
of  knowing  the  condition  and  feelings  of 
the  Huguenots  in  different  provinces,  or- 
dered D'Aubigne  to  make  a  circuit  and 
collect  information,  which  might  facilitate 
the  raising  an  army  if  circumstances  re- 
quired it. 

As  D'Aubigne  was  known  to  have  as- 
sisted Navarre  in  making  his  escape  from 
court,  the  enterprise  was  dangerous  for 
him,  especially  as  it  was  a  part  of  his  in- 
structions to  go  to  Blois,  while  the  states 
were  being  held,  to  speak  to  the  Duke  of 
Anjou  and  Marshal  Cosse.  Being  dis- 
guised, he  succeeded  in  speaking  to  the 
marshal,  who  recommended  him  to  aban- 
don the  idea  of  addressing  Anjou;  but  he 
persisted,  and,  finding  no  other  means  of 
approaching  him,  he  went  to  a  masked 
ball,  at  which  the  court  would  be  present. 
One  of  the  Queen's  maids  of  honour  not 
only  recognised  him  herself,  but  satisfied 
him  that  others  had  also,  and  pointed  out 
two  officers  who  were  ordered  to  arrest 
him.  He  succeeded  in  making  his  escape 
from  the  room,  and  passed  the  river  in  a 
boat,  after  having  changed  clothes  with 
his  footman.* 

On  retiring  from  Blois  to  Chastelliers, 
he  found  La  Noue  preparing  to  receive 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne.  D'Aubigne  suc- 
ceeded in  convincing  that  general  that  it 
was  unsafe  for  him  to  remain  where  he 
was;  and  persuaded  him  to  repair  with- 
out loss  of  time  to  Poictou.t  He  arrived 
at  Rochelle  in  January,  when  his  advice 
was  invaluable  to  the  Huguenot  chiefs.J 

The  war  was  renewed  at  the  end  of 
March,  1577:  Anjou  was  appointed  to 
command  one  armv,  which  marched  di- 
rect to  La  Oharite.  Guise  had  solicited 
the  lead  of  the  other;  but  the  king's  jea- 
lousy caused  it  to  be  given  to  his  brother 
Mayenne.  He  went  at  once  into  Poic- 
tou  and  Guyenne,  and  drove  the  Hugue- 
nots back  to  Rochelle;  he  then  mada  a 
short  truce  with  the  King  of  Navarre: 
after  its  expiration,  he  waited  in  Poictou 
for  further  orders.  Anjou  attacked  La 
Charite  at  the  commencement  of  April, 
with  a  very  strong  force:  the  town  having 
scarcely  any  garrison,  and  being  taken  by 
surprise,  so  that  no  assistance  could  ar- 

*  D'Anbignii.  vol.  ii.  p.  239.  t  Ibid, 

t  Arcere,  vol.  ii  p.  31. 


RESISTANCE  AND  MASSACRE  AT  ISSOIRE. 


187 


rive,  capitulated  after  sustaining  two  as- 
saults.* 

This  served  as  a  notice  for  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Issoire,  a  strong  and  well-fortified 
town;  and  the  royal  army  found  that  place 
a  more  difficult  conquest  than  LaCharite, 
for  the  garrison  made  a  most  obstinate 
defence.  After  sustaining  a  siege  till  the 
beginning  of  June,  they  were  obliged  to 
surrender  at  discretion,  having  suffered 
the  greatest  extremities  in  the  defence  of 
the  place.  The  inhabitants  were  all  put 
to  the  sword,  the  town  plundered,  and 
then  set  on  tire:  there  remained  nothing 
of  Issoire  but  a  heap  of  ruins.f 

The  affairs  of  the  Huguenots  were  in 
a  sad  condition.  The  King  of  Navarre 
had  wished  to  retain  in  his  little  court  all 
the  Catholics  of  his  old  party  :  innume- 
rable jealousies  and  cabals  were  the  con- 
sequence, in  addition  to  the  impediments 
which  their  operations  sustained  from  it. 
Mayenne  thought  such  a  time  favourable 
for  attempting  to  reduce  Rochelle;  most 
of  the  surrounding  towns  had  been  taken 
or  destroyed;  but  Brouage  having  a  port 
from  whence  assistance  might  be  sent, 
resolved  on  taking  that  first,  as  a  means 
of  ensuring  success  to  his  attack  on  the 
city. 

The  siege  was  commenced  in  June. 
Manducage,  a  gentleman  of  Picardy,  was 
intrusted  with  the  defence;  but  unfortu- 
nately his  stock  of  provisions  was  very 
slender,  and  the  blockade  so  strict,  that  no 
supply  could  arrive.J 

The  operations  on  this  occasion  were 
not  confined  to  the  land,  for  each  party 
had  a  fleet;  and  an  engagement  took 
place  in  the  channel,  where  the  Hugue- 
nots were  defeated.  The  land  operations 
were  equally  unfortunate  for  them,  and 
every  reinforcement  sent  from  Rochelle 
was  either  taken  or  repulsed.  The  King 
of  Navarre  was  detained  in  defending 
Nerac  and  Castel-Jaloux,  which  were  as- 
sailed by  Villars,  Admiral  of  France. 
Having  succeeded  in  repelling  that  com- 
mander, he  hastened  to  relieve  Brouage, 
and  ordered  Turenne  to  brine,  on  the  rest 
of  his  army;  before  he  could  arrive,  the 
town  had  surrendered.  The  besieged 
being  in  great  extremity,  received  intelli- 
gence of  the  fall  of  Issoire,  and  that  An- 


ion's army  was  coming  to  join  Mayenne. 
Fearing  a  treatment  similar  to  the  fate  of 
that  unfortunate  town,  they  immediately 
offered  to  capitulate:  while  Mayenne, 
fearful  that  the  hon&ur  of  the  achieve- 
ment would  be  claimed  by  the  Duke  of 
Anjou,  was  quite  willing  to  accede  to  very 
reasonable  terms.* 

These  events  damped  the  spirits  of  the 
Huguenots,  and  subdued  the  obstinacy 
of  their  ministers;  their  affairs  were  ne- 
ver in  so  bad  a  state  before,  Damville 
having  turned  against  them.t  If  they 
had  been  pushed  at  this  crisis,  the  plans 
of  the  league  might  have  been  completed, 
so  far  as  concerns  the  suppression  of  the 
Protestant  religion  in  France.  Damville 
was  besieging  Montpellier,  commanded 
by  Thore,  and  the  young  Count  de  Cha- 
tillon,  eldest  son  of  the  late  Admiral  Co- 
ligny:  the  place  was  reduced  to  great 
distress,  but  Chatillon  quitting  the  town, 
returned  in  a  few  days  with  a  considera- 
ble reinforcement,  and  was  on  the  point 
of  giving  battle  to  the  besiegers,  when  a 
courier  arrived  with  the  news  of  a  peace 
having  been  concluded  between  the 
Kings  of  France  and  Navarre.J  Dam- 
ville requested  the  king's  permission  to 
continue  the  siege  notwithstanding  the 
peace,  and  represented  the  importance 
of  the  place.  But  the  king  wished  for 
peace,  and  the  Protestants  insisted  upon 
the  possession  of  Montpellier  as  one  of 
the  conditions. § 


*  Hist,  des  Derniera  Trouble*.  Mizeray,  Jlbrtgt 
Chrcn. 

t  Davila.  liv.  6,  p.  ](M>.  Mem.  de  Ta\aunes,  p.  160. 
t  Arctic,  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Edict  of  Pnicticrs— Deaths  of  the  King's  minions — 
Treaty  of  Nerac— Attempt  on  LimogHs— The  Lovers 
war — Taking  of  La  Fere,  Montaign  and  C'ahois. 

The  treaty  concluded  at  Bergerac,  in 
Sept.,  1577, was  immediately  followed  by 
the  edict  of  Poictiers;  which  was  so  fa- 
vourable to  the  Protestants,  that,  consi- 
dering the  unfortunate  results  of  their 
attempts  during  the  campaign,  we  are 
astonished  at  the  liberality  of  the  terms,. 
The  edict  contained  sixty-four  articles, 
and  appears  to  have  been  drawn  up  with 
great  care,  and  a  desire  for  firmly  esta- 


*  Sully,  liv,  t,  Mizeray,  Mrigi  Chron.  Davila' 
liv.  G. 

t  Davila,  liv.  6. 

I  Mezeray  and  D'Auhigne. 

$  Marsollier,  Hist,  de  Due  <Ie  Bouillon,  liv.  2,  p.  24* 


188  EDICT  OF 

blishing  the  peace.*  The  Romish  reli- 
gion was  established  in  full  predomi- 
nance, but  the  Protestants  were  secured 
in  their  right  of  public  worship:  there 
were  a  few  places  where  this  liberty  was 
restrained;  but  as  a  compensation,  their 
privileges  in  general  were  so  well  defined, 
that  they  could  not  be  tricked  by  varied 
explanations  of  the  articles.  Several  sa- 
lutary clauses  were  inserted  respecting 
baptisms,  marriages,  and  burials;  one 
especially  gave  great  satisfaction  by  put- 
ting an  end  to  the  disputes  and  troubles 
occasioned  by  the, marriages  of  priests, 
friars  and,  nuns.  The  edict  protected  the 
parties  from  being  questioned  upon  that 
subject:  they  were  secured  from  moles- 
tation, but  they  were  not  allowed  to  claim 
any  succession,  direct  or  collateral;  and 
their  families  could  only  inherit  their  per- 
sonal property. 

This  edict  contains  a  repetition  of  the 
declaration  contained  in  that  of  1576,  re- 
specting the  massacre  of  the  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, as  also  the  articles  restoring  the 
reputation  of  the  admiral  and  others.  It 
likewise  attacked  the  league  in  a  spirited 
manner:  "  All  leagues,  associations,  ami 
brotherhoods,  made  and  to  be  made  un- 
der any  pretence  whatsoever,  to  the  pre- 
judice of  our  present  edict,  shall  be,  and 
are  annulled,  and  dissolved,  &c."f  Hen- 
ry thought  he  had  subdued  his  worst 
enemy,  and  spoke  with  exultation  of  Ma 
edict. 

The  edict  of  Poictiers  is  so  much  at 
variance  with  the  declared  object  of  the 
war  which  it  concluded,  that,  to  compre- 
hend it,  one  must  know  the  various  cir- 
cumstances which  combined  to  regulate 
its  composition,  and  which  operated  upon 
those  who  framed  it.  Three  events  ma- 
terially influenced  the  king  to  grant  such 
favourable  terms:  1.  The  formation  of 
the  league  in  France  had  caused  a  coun- 
ter-league to  be  projected;  and  Henry 
received  information  that  the  different 
Protestant  powers  had  consented  to  sup- 
port it:t  2.  The  fear  of  the  English 
having  possession  of  Roehelle;  for  when 
Brouage  was  pressed  by  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  the  Rochellese,  fearful  of  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  their  catholic  ene- 
mies, had  applied  to  Elizabeth  for  pro- 


*  Davila,  liv.  6,  p.  109.  Mem.  cle  Neve  re.  vol.  i.  p. 
200. 

t  Art.  56.  J  Journal  de  Henri  III. 


POICTIERS. 

tection;  and  lastly,  the  great  want  of  mo- 
ney under  which  he  laboured,  not  merely 
to  pay  his  own  troops,  but  the  different 
sums  due  to  Prince  Casimir,  who  threat- 
ened otherwise  to  march  his  Reitres  back 
into  France.*  Henry  had  no  troops  that 
he  could  depend  upon  to  send  against 
him,  for  a  general  spirit  of  insubordina- 
tion prevailed.  The  Protestants  hailed 
the  peace  joyfully,  and  the  Prince  of 
Conde  accompanied  its  announcement 
with  a  public  illumination.t 

In  February,  1578,  the  Protestants 
held  a  synod  at  St.  Foy,  in  Guyenne, 
when  the  King  of  Navarre  was  repre- 
sented by  Turenne.  It  was  there  "de- 
cided, that  four  ministers  should  be  de- 
puted from  the  reformed  churches  of 
France,  to  an  assembly  to  be  held  in 
August,  at  Frankfort.  The  Protestant 
princes  of  Germany,  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, and  every  state  in  which  the  refor- 
mation was  received,  were  to  send  accre- 
dited agents  to  the  meeting;  the  object  of 
which  was  to  establish  a  confession  of 
faith,  that  should  be  generally  adopted 
among  them:  the  attempt,  however, 
failed.} 

Henry  had  at  this  time  a  good  oppor- 
tunily  to  establish  his  authority  and  re- 
store prosperity  to  the  kingdom:  he  had 
shown  a  proper  spirit,  in  giving  the  edict 
of  Poictiers;  a  vigorous  execution  of 
which  would  have  been  a  blessing  to 
France.  His  behaviour,  however,  was 
unfortunately  the  reverse  of  what  it 
should  have  been;  and  the  league,  which 
escaped  being  crushed  solely  on  that  ac- 
count, recoiled  for  a  short  time,  ready  to 
assail  the  throne  with  greater  fury  when- 
ever a  proper  season  should  arrive.  He 
resigned  himself  to  luxury  and  the  so- 
ciety of  his  minions;  while  to  display 
his  orthodoxy  he  continued  to  bestow  his 
favours  on  the  religious  orders  and  to 
fulfil  all  the  processional  ceremonies  of 
popery. 

Still,  if  weakness  had  been  all  that 
was  objectionable  in  Henry's  conduct,  he 
might  have  escaped  a  considerable  part  of 
his  misfortunes;  his  minions,  by  their 
pride  and  insolence,  completed  the  alien- 
ation of  the  public  mind.  We  are  in- 
formed by  Le  Laboureur,  "  That  he  took 

*  Mezeray,  Abrigt  Chrtm. 

+  Davila,  liv.  0.  Hist,  ties  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  i. 
p.  12. 

J  Soulier,  Hist,  du  Calvunsmc,  p.  183. 


DEATH  OF  THE 

pleasure  in  having  several  favourites  to- 
gether: he  liked  them  to  be  brave,  pro- 
vided they  were  daring;  and  witty,  pro- 
vided they  were  vicious;  in  fact,  he  re- 
fused them  nothing,  so  long  as  they  were 
magnificent  and  prodigal,  and  he  was 
able  to  show  a  marked  spite  towards 
those  who  pretended  that  he  owed  some- 
thing to  their  birth  or  merit."*  His  at- 
tachment to  these  favourites  was  particu- 
larly manifested  on  an  occasion  when 
two  of  them  were  killed  Quelus,  the 
king's  chief  minion,  had  a  quarrel  with 
Antraguet,  Guise's  favourite:  they  agreed 
to  settle  the  dispute  with  the  sword,  and 
went  early  one  morning  to  an  appointed 
place,  near  the  gate  of  St.  Antoine,  each 
being  accompanied  by  two  friends. t 
They  fought  with  such  desperation,  that 
two  of  them  were  killed  on  the  spot: 
two  died  afterwards,  in  consequence  of 
their  wounds,  and  two  recovered.  Que- 
lus lingered  for  four  or  five  days.  The 
king  was  constantly  at  his  bed-side,  and 
promised  the  surgeon  a  recompense  of  a 
hundred  thousand  francs  if  he  recovered: 
he  died,  however,  says  the  journal  of  the 
time,  calling  on  the  king,  "  but  making 
no  mention  of  God  or  his  mother."! 
Maugiron  was  one  of  those  who  were 
killed  on  the  spot:  both  he  and  Quelus 
were  tenderly  beloved  by  Henry,  whose 
grief  was  like  that  of  a  lover  bereaved 
by  death  of  the  dear  object  of  his  affec- 
tion. He  paid  the  most  absurd  attention 
to  their  dead  bodies,  and  had  magnificent 
obsequies  performed  for  them. 

St.  Megrin,  another  favourite,  was  mur- 
dered a  short  time  after.§  The  Duke  of 
Guise  had  been  informed  of  his  too  great 
intimacy  with  the  duchess,  and  placed  a 
band  of  armed  men  to  kill  him,  as  he 
quitted  the  Louvre  in  the  evening.  The 
king  had  his  body  interred  by  the  side  of 
Quelus  and  Maugiron,  and  erected  a  very 
superb  monument  over  their  grave. 

The  removal  of  these  minions  prepared 
the  way  for  a  reconciliation  between  the 
king  and  the  duke  of  Anjou.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  conclusion  of  the  last  trea- 
ty, that  prince  had  directed  his  attention 
to  Flanders,  where  he  made  sure  of  being 
followed  by  a  considerable  number  of  the 


*  Le  Labnureur.  vol.  ii.p.  51. 
t  27th  April,  1578. 

t  Journal  d  Henri  III.  Brantome,  vol.  ij.  n.  117. 
§  21st  July,  1578.    Journal  de  Henri  III. 


king's  minions.  189 

Protestants,  who  would  cheerfully  go  to 
help  their  brethren.  Anjou  was  so  much 
insulted  by  those  insolent  courtiers,  that, 
with  his  mother's  approbation,  he  re- 
solved to  hasten  his  departure.*  Cathe- 
rine easily  persuaded  the  king  to  consent 
to  the  plan;  but  no  sooner  was  he  alone 
with  his  corrupt  advisers  than  they  filled • 
his  mind  with  imaginary  terrors,  and 
made  him  adopt  an  opinion  quite  contra- 
ry. The  difference  between  the  brothers 
was  serious  for  a  time;  but  when  Henry 
was  no  longer  incited  by  the  pernicious 
counsels  of  the  minions,  he  was  induced 
to  encourage  Anjou's  views.  In  the 
mean  time  the  effects  of  the  treaty  ex- 
tended to  but  a  very  small  portion  of 
France.  The  news  of  the  peace  had 
prevented  considerable  bloodshed  in  Lan- 
guedoc,  as  the  messenger  arrived  at  the 
instant  the  two  armies  were  about  to  en- 
gage; but  the  troops  there  assembled  re- 
mained under  arms.  Through  the  inex- 
plicable conduct  of  Marshal  Damville, 
hostile  operations  were  incessantly  car- 
ried on;  and  with  such  success  on  the 
part  of  the  Protestants,  that  Damville's 
army  was  considerably  reduced  by  their 
harassing  attacks.! 

The  queen-mother  anxiously  perceived 
the  ascendency  which  the  Guises  had  ob- 
tained :  finding  the  pulpits  resound  with 
animated  addresses  in  behalf  of  the 
League,  she  wished  to  win  over  the 
King  of  Navarre ;  and  her  late  success 
in  gaining  Damville  afforded  her  great 
encouragement.  She  resolved  on  a  jour- 
ney to  Guyenne  ;  and  as  Navarre  had 
sent  an  envoy  to  court  to  demand  his 
wife,  Catherine  availed  herself  of  the 
pretext  of  conducting  Margaret  to  her 
husband.  The  queen's  retinue  was  nu- 
merous, and  well  supplied  with  sirens, 
who  were  trained  by  Catherine  to  entice 
persons  of  consequence  from  their  party. 
The  court  was  at  Auch  for  some  months, 
during  which  time  persuasions  and  argu- 
ments, seductions  and  military  surprises, 
were  continually  and  simultaneously  pur- 
sued. Ussac,  an  elderly  personage,  go- 
vernor of  La  Reole,  having  fallen  in  love 
with  one  of  the  nymphs,  was  heartily 
laughed  at  by  the  King  of  Navarre  and 
his  companions  :  he  felt  so  piqued  at  their 


*  Davila,  liv.  G.    According  to  Do  Thou,  liv.  CU,  he 
lefi  the  courl  the  I5lli  February,  1578. 
t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii  p.  333. 


190 


CATHERINE  PROMOTES  DISSENSIONS. 


ridicule,  that  he  delivered  the  town  to  a 
governor  of  the  court  party.* 

The  King  of  Navarre  took  his  revenge 
by  seizing  on  another  town  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.  During  a  ball  given  at 
court,  he  ordered  several  confidential  per- 
sons to  join  him  secretly  at  an  appointed 
place,  with  their  arms  concealed  under 
their  clothes.  Catherine,  who  fully 
thought  that  Navarre  had  slept  quietly  at 
Auch,  was  surprised  to  learn  next  morn- 
ing that  he  had  marched  to  Fleuranoe, 
and  taken  it  by  surprise.  She  laughed 
very  heartily,  and  observed,  that  she  had 
got  the  best  bargain  ;  which,  indeed,  she 
had,  as  La  Reole  was  a  far  more  impor- 
tant place  than  Fleurance.t 

Catherine  endeavoured  to  promote  dis- 
sensions between  Navarre  and  Conde, 
and  amongst  the  different  captains  about 
them.  She  quitted  Auch  in  the  begin- 
ning of  February,  15"79,  to  be  present  at 
an  assembly  at  Montauban ;  where  a 
treaty  proposed  at  Nerac  was  to  be  con- 
sidered. As  her  voluptuous  snares  were 
not  likely  to  succeed  among  persons  of 
such  austere  morals,  she  adopted  another 
plan :  she  made  great  professions  of 
piety,  and  mingled  texts  of  Scripture  with 
her  conversation.  Although  she  was 
aided  by  the  eloquence  of  Pibrac,  the 
king's  attorney-general,  she  was  unable 
to  produce  any  impression  on  the  assem- 
bly.! She  then  returned  to  Nerac,  and 
renewed  the  conference  with  Navarre. 
After  concluding  a  treaty,  the  principal 
object  of  which  was  to  explain  and  mo- 
dify some  articles  in  the  edict  of  Poictiers, 
she  returned  to  Paris  at  the  end  of  Feb- 
ruary^ 

Catherine's  object  had  completely  fail- 
ed ;  and,  instead  of  beguiling  Navarre 
into  concessions  suitable  to  her  views,  she 
found  that  her  own  expedient  had  been 
turned  against  herself:  her  chief  counsel- 
lor, Pibrac,  became  enamoured  of  the 
Queen  Margaret,  who  persuaded  him  to 
consent  to  .terms  highly  favourable  for  the 
•Huguenots.il 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  72.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  jh  p.  335. 
t  Sully,  liv.  1.    D'Aubigne,  ut  supra.   Mem.  de  Bou 
illon,  p.  16,  (vol.  xlix.  of  the  collection  of  1788.} 
I  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  337. 

§  Bcnoit,  vol.  i.prtuees,  fives  the  articles  of  the  con- 
ference at  Nerac,  and  the  edict*  to  winch  it  gave  rise. 

|j  Mezeray,  Mrtgi  Chron.  Guy  deFaur.  gieurde  Pi- 
brac, paid  such  attention  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
that  his  abjuration  was  expected  by  many.  Duplessis 
Mornay  wrote  him  a  letter  on  the  occasion.  Mem.  de 
Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  108. 


Mean  while  the  peace  existed  but  in 
name.  The  numerous  instances  of  Ca- 
therine's perfidy,  and  the  known  weak- 
ness of  the  king,  prevented  any  confidence 
being  placed  in  his  promises  or  procla- 
mations. Navarre  not  only  refused  to 
go  to  court,  but  kept  his  army  on  foot, 
and  several  enterprises  were  carried  on, 
which  display  considerable  dexterity  and 
courage.  A  demand  from  the  govern- 
ment to  give  up  the  cautionary  towns, 
which  the  King  of  Navarre  prudently  re- 
fused to  accede  to,  made  both  parlies  ex- 
pect a  renewal  of  hostilities:  no  oppor- 
tunity, therefore,  which  presented  itself 
was  neglected. 

A  circumstance  which  occurred  at  Li- 
moges presents  features  peculiar  to  a 
state  of  society  torn  by  civil  wars,  and 
animated  by  religious  differences.  One 
Le  Mas  made  overtures  for  delivering  that 
town  to  the  Huguenots,  pretending  some 
injurious  treatment  that  he  had  received 
in  being  unjustly  condemned  to  banish- 
ment. D'Aubigne  was  the  person  he 
communicated  with,  and,  after  several 
preliminaries  were  adjusted,  a  meeting 
was  fixed  for  a  future  day,  to  decide  upon 
their  plan  of  action.  When  D'Aubigne 
went  into  the  town,  he  had  sufficient  rea- 
son to  see  that  the  proposal  to  deliver  up 
Limoges  was  only  a  stratagem  for  laying 
hold  of  some  Huguenots  of  distinction. 
He  observed  that  he  was  watched,  and, 
with  a  presence  of  mind  which  never 
failed  him,  he  took  out  his  pocket-book, 
and  pretended  to  draw  a  plan  of  the 
town;  he  then  returned  to  the  inn  where 
he  hnd  left  his  horse.  He  was  met  by 
Le  Mas,  who  entered  into  conversation 
with  him.  D'Aubigne,  without  display- 
ing, either  coolness  or  anxiety,  told  him, 
that  he  was  quite  satisfied  that  the  town 
might  be  taken  in  the  way  agreed  upon, 
and  concluded  his  remarks  by  saying 
that  the  Prince  of  Conde  would  be  of  the 
party.  Le  Mas,  believing  him  to  be 
completely  duped,  thought  it  would  be 
wronp;  to  lose  so  good  a  chance  of  having 
Conde  in  the  snare:  he  made  an  excuse 
for  leaving  the  room,  and  went  to  the 
soldiers  on  guard.  A  number  of  persons 
were  collected  at  the  gates,  with  the  pro- 
vost at  their  head  ;  but  Le  Mas,  inform- 
ing that  officer  of  what  had  passed,  and 
the  spy  confirming  the  account  of  D'Au- 
bigne's  having  drawn  a  plan  of  the  place, 


SUCCESSES  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


191 


they  retired,  and  suffered  him  to  escape. 
Notwithstanding  the  cogent  reasons 
which  D'Auhigne  gave  for  abandoning 
the  plan,  two  of  his  friends  persisted  in 
confiding  in  Le  Mas.  They  went  to  the 
same  inn  where  he  had  been:  persons, 
pretending  to  be  dealers,  came  to  them, 
as  they  had  previously  gone  to  D'Au- 
higne. Le  Mas,  in  the  mean  time,  having 
secured  their  swords,  they  were  seized, 
and  the  the  next  day  were  beheaded.* 

The  war  which  broke  out  towards  the 
close  of  the  year  1579  is  generally  called 
the  Lovers'  War.  It  certainly  was  kin- 
dled by  female  influence;  but  the  original 
cause  was  the  king's  suspicious  disposi- 
tion. The  Duke  of  Anjou  placed  great 
confidence  in  his  sister  Margaret,  and  she 
was  greatly  attached  to  him;  a  constant 
correspondence  was  maintained  between 
them,  during  Margaret's  stay  at  Pan  and 
Nerac.f  Henry  feared  the  revival  of  the 
party  of  the  Malcontents,  and  resolved  to 
embroil  Margaret  with  her  husband:  lie 
also  resumed  his  former  distrustful  be- 
haviour to  his  brother,  and  caused  the 
murder  of  Bussy,  by  procuring  some  let- 
ters he  had  received  from  Madame  de 
Montsoreau,  and  showing  them  to  the 
lady's  husband.j  The  protestants  in  the 
Low  Countries  had  formed  an  alliance  at 
Utrecht,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and 
every  thing  combined  to  promote  Anjou's 
enterprise  in  that  quarter;  a  deputation 
had  been  sent  to  offer  him  the  govern- 
ment^ He  pressed  the  king  to  aid  him 
in  the  attempt.  Henry  was  afraid  of 
offending  the  King  of  Spain,  and  opposed 
his  brother's  measures,  while  Anjou, 
supposing  that  a  war  would  bring  the 
king  to  any  terms  for  the  sake  of  restoring 
peace,  pressed  Navarre  to  recommence 
hostilities. 

Henry  wrote  to  the  King  of  Navarre, 
informing  him  of  the  scandalous  intimacy 
subsisting  between  Alargaret  and  the 
young  Turenne.  Navarre  informed  the 
accused  parties  of  the  communication  he 
had  received;  they  both  protested  their 
innocence,  rejecting  the  accusation  as  a 

*  D'Auhigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  339. 

t  Anjou  had  returned  [o court  Kith  March.  Do  Thou, 
liv.  08. 

t  There  are  several  vorsons  nf  this  affair,  which  took 
place  in  August,  1579.  The  Journal  de  Henri  /If.  slates 
tint  Anjou  consented  10  the  plan  for  entrapping  him  ; 
De  Thotl  says  that  the  kiu<:  wished  to  he  freed  from  I  lie 
bully,  and  made  use  of  tome  letters  that  were  in  his 
hroi Iht's  possession. 

§  Uavila,  liv  G. 


calumny  arising  out  of  the  king's  malice. 
Turenne  declared  that  it  was  only  a  pre- 
text for  withholding  Cahors  and  other 
places  of  Margaret's  dowry.  The  Queen 
of  Navarre  was  indignant  at  the  king's 
behaviour,  and  wished  to  re-kindle  the 
war.  She  copied  her  mother's  plans, 
and  influenced  a  young  girl  (Navarre's 
favourite  mistress)  to  exasperate  him 
against  the  king  and  the  Guises.  She 
took  similar  means  to  win  over  the  nobles 
of  importance;  and  her  views  were  pro- 
moted by  the  pressing  letters  of  the  Duke 
of  Anjou*  A  war  was  decided  upon 
chiefly  for  the  foregoing  reasons,  but 
likewise  in  consequence  of  the  overt  acts 
of  the  government,  whose  troops  had  sur- 
prised the  town  of  Figeac  in  Quercy,  and 
held  the  castle  besieged. t 

Arrangements  had  been  made  for  com- 
mencing operations  at  the  same  time 
throughout  France:  however,  out  of  more 
than  forty  expeditions  which  were  plan- 
ned, only  three  succeeded:  La  Fore  in 
Picardy,  Montaigu  in  Poictou,and  Cahors 
in  Guyenne.  Conde  seized  upon  La 
Fere  the  29th  of  November,  1579,  and 
having  put  it  in  a  posture  of  defence#  he 
went  to  Flanders,  England,  and  Germany, 
in  succession,  in  order  to  raise  fresh 
means  of  carrying  on  the  war.  As  he 
was  returning  into  France  through  Savoy, 
he  was  stopped  and  plundered  without 
being  recognised:  he  afterwards  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  Protestants  in  Lan- 
guedoc.J 

Montaigu  was  held  by  a  garrison  that 
was  little  better  than  a  band  of  highway- 
men. De  Pommieres,  a  Gascon,  had 
formed  an  intimacy  with  some  of  them, 
and  having  communicated  his  ideas  to  La 
Boulaye  and  D'Auhigne,  they  concerted 
a  plan  for  taking  the  castle.  De  Pom- 
mieres informed  his  friends  of  a  good 
prize,  and  thus  drew  a  considerable  num- 
ber, including  their  captain,  out  of  the 
castle:  they  were  suddenly  surrounded 
by  soldiers,  and  compelled  to  procure  the 
opening  of  a  postern  gate  for  La  Boulaye 
and  his  party.  The  castle  was  easily 
taken,  hut  the  town  would  have  given 
them  great  trouble,  if  the  inhabitants,  ig- 
norant of  the  numbers  of  their  assailants, 
had  not  fled  in  every  direction. 


•  D'  \ ii biffiie.  vol.  ii.  p.  3t5. 
t  Sully,  liv.  I. 

t  Ksprit  de  In  Lig*Ue,  vol.  ii.  p.  224. 


192 


ARRIVAL  OF  B1RON  IN  GUYENNE. 


Their  force  was  so  inconsiderable,  that, 
if  any  attempt  had  been  made  to  recover 
the  place,  they  were  too  feeble  to  resist; 
their  company  not  exceeding  thirty  men, 
formore  than  a  Fortnight.  Their  situa- 
tion became  dangerous,  for  the  Catholics 
in  the  neighbourhood  would  approach  the 
walls,  and  shake  halters,  to  indicate  their 
approaching  fate.  D'Aubigne  and  his 
friend  La  Valliere  had  wished  from  the 
first  to  take  measures  for  increasing  their 
numbers:  that  measure  now  became  ab- 
solutely necessary.  They  went  on  a 
market  day  to  Nantes  and  made  some 
additions  to  their  company.  Their  dif- 
ferent expeditions  were  successful,  and 
increased  their  reputation  so  much,  that 
they  were  soon  joined  by  sufficient  num- 
bers to  defy  an  attack;  and  within  ten 
days  they  had  a  force  of  fourteen  hundred 
men  * 

The  attack  on  Cahors  equals  any  ex- 
ploit in  ancient  or  modern  history.  The 
King  of  Navarre  left  Montauban  in  the 
spring  of  1580,  with  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred men.    The    town    itself  is  very 
strong,  being  surrounded  on  three  sides 
by  water:  it  was  commanded  by  Vezins, 
a  man  of  great  intrepidity ;t  and  the  gar- 
rison consisted  of  two  thousand  veterans,! 
a  hundred  horsemen,  and  a  numerous  j 
body  of  armed  citizens.    The  King  of 
Navarre  and  his  little  army  arrived  about! 
midnight,  within  a  quarter  of  a  league  of 
the  town.    "  We  halted,"  says  Sully, 
"in  a  grove  of  walnut  trees,  where  there 
was  a  fountain,  at  which  we  quenched  j 
our  thirst.    It  was  June,  and  thundered  a 
great  deal,  but  did  not  rain."J 

Every  arrangement  being  made,  the 
attack  on  the  town  commenced  by  the 
Viscount  de  Gourdon  advancing  with  ten 
men,  to  force  open  the  gates  by  means  of 
petards.  The  noise  which  this  caused 
soon  brought  a  body  of  men  to  oppose 
them:  and  the  tocsin  was  rung  to  alarm 
all  the  inhabitants.  The  people  were 
prepared  for  an  attack;  and  when  the 
Protestants  were  in  the  town,  they  were 
assailed  with  stones  from  the  tops  of  the 
houses,  in  addition  to  a  sharp  firing  from 
the  windows.  The  struggle  in  the  town 
lasted  five  days  and  nights,  every  part 


*  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  346. 

t  The  same  who  saved  Kesnier's  life  at  the  St.  Bar- 
tholomew. 

t  Sully,  liv.  I.  De  Thou,  however,  states  that  the 
attack  was  made  5lh  May,  I5c0:  liv.  72. 


being  barricadoed:  Navarre  fought  like  a 
private  soldier.  His  friends  entreated 
him  to  retire,  as  there  was  a  reinforce- 
ment coming  to  assist  the  garrison;  but 
he  paid  no  attention,  either  to  their  sug- 
gestions, or  his  own  wounds,  and  said — 
"  What  shall  become  of  me  on  this  occa- 
sion is  decreed  above.  Remember  that 
my  retreat  from  this  city  without  securing 
it  to  our  party  will  be  the  retreat  of  my 
soul  from  my  body.  My  honour  is  too 
much  interested  for  it  to  be  otherwise. 
Let  no  one  therefore  speak  to  me,  except 
of  victory  or  death."  The  example  of 
their  leader  reanimated  the  assailants, 
but  there  is  great  probability  that  they 
would  have  been  overwhelmed,  if  the 
captain  Chouppes  had  not  heard  of  Na- 
varre's perilous  situation,  and  hastened  to 
join  him  with  a  hundred  horsemen,  and 
five  hundred  musketeers:  this  arrival  of 
fresh  troops  enabled  him  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  town. 

Notwithstanding  the  obstinacy  of  the 
conflict,  the  King  of  Navarre  had  only 
seventy  of  his  men  killed,  but  a  great 
number  were  wounded.  The  inhabitants 
lost  considerably  more.  Vezins,  the  go- 
vernor, was  killed  in  his  shirt,  at  the  first 
attack  :  he  was  so  brave  a  man,  that,  if 
he  had  lived,  the  King  of  Navarre  would 
have  found  his  undertaking  much  more 
difficult,  if  not  impossible.* 

The  king  was  no  sooner  informed  of 
the  Huguenots  being  in  arms,  than  he 
ordered  three  armies  to  be  raised :  Matig- 
non  commanded  in  Picardy;  Biron  in 
Guyenne;  and  Mayenne  in  Dauphiny, 
Matignon  signalized  himself  by  re-taking 
La  Fere :  he  began  the  seige  on  the  22d 
of  June,  and  reduced  it  to  capitulate,  on 
the  31st  of  August,  1580.  The  sons  of 
Mouy  and  Montgomery  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  defence  of  the  place. 
Crillon,  and  La  Valette,  afterwards  Duke 
of  Epernon,  were  signalized  among  the  as- 
sailants.! 

The  arrival  of  Biron  in  Guyenne  with 
his  forces  prevented  the  king  of  Navarre 
from  pursuing  his  advantages,  and  indeed 
if  the  three  royal  armies  had  pressed  the 
Huguenots,  their  cause  would  have  been 
reduce^]  to  a  low  ebb.  Fortunately  how- 
ever for  them,  the  Duke  of  Anjou  returned 


*  Sully,  liv.  1.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  439.  Davila, 
liv.  0. 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  367,  et  scq. 


ILL-JUDGED  DEPORTMENT  OF  HENRY  III. 


193 


from  England  about  the  same  time 
that  La  Fere  surrendered.  That  prince 
was  desirous  to  set  out  for  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Netherlands,  and  tendered  his  me- 
diation with  the  King  of  Navarre.  The 
court  was  very  desirous  of  peace,  as  the 
Reitres  were  expected  every  day  to  en- 
ter France,  for  the  purpose  of  joining 
Conde;  and  consequently  the  terms  pro- 
posed were  very  liberal.  Anjou  imme- 
diately set  out  for  Guyenne,  whither  he 
was  followed  by  the  Duke  of  Montpensier 
and  Marshal  Cosse.  By  the  end  of  No- 
vember they  had  agreed  to  a  treaty, 
which  scarcely  differed  from  the  treaty 
of  Nerac :  the  Prince  of  Conde  willingly 
acceded  to  the  conditions,  and  peace  was 
restored  to  France  for  the  seventh  time.* 

In  order  to  prevent  this  accommoda- 
tion from  taking  place,  and,  by  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  war  in  France,  to  hinder 
the  Duke  of  Anjou  from  going  to  Flan- 
ders, Philip  II.  made  an  offer  of  assistance 
to  the  King  of  Navarre,  if  he  would 
break  the  peace  and  make  himself  master 
of  Guyenne.  Navarre,  to  show  his  sin- 
cere intention  of  observing  the  treaty,  in- 
formed the  king  of.  this  offer,  f 

The  excursions  made  by  the  garrison 
of  Montaigu  induced  the  Count  de  Lude 
to  besiege  it.  Ten  different  attempts  had 
been  made  to  surprise  it  since  the  pro- 
testants  had  been  in  possession.  The 
siege  lasted  four  months,  during  which 
time  D'Aubigne  had  commanded  in 
twenty-nine  sorties.  This  kind  of  war- 
fare harassed  the  besiegers,  and  both 
parties  agreed  to  abide  by  the  result  of  a 
combat  between  ten  men  of  each  side 
The  day  was  fixed  for  the  fight,  but  in 
the  mean  time  the  Count  de  Lude  re- 
ceived the  news  of  the  general  peace.} 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


Ill-judged  deportment  of  Henry  III.— Penth  nf  the  Dnke 
of  Anjou— Revival  of  the'  League— Notice  of  the 
Jesuits. 


France  had  undergone  so  many,  and 
such  violent  convulsions,  that  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  far  from  tranquillizing  the 
country.    The  lawless  habits  acquired 

*  Davita,  liv.  4.  p.  139. 

t  De  Bury,  Hist,  de  Henri  IV.  vol.  i.  p.  138. 

t  D'Aubiine,  vol.  ii.  p.  382. 

17 


during  the  civil  wars  had  created  a  dis- 
like to  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life, 
and  the  kingdom  was  never  free  from 
bands  of  armed  men,  who  were  ready 
alike  to  promote  the  private  views  of 
some  chieftains,  or  to  support  themselves 
by  robbery.  The  king's  forces,  however, 
were  too  numerous  to  suffer  any  thing 
which  could  be  called  a  revolt ;  and  Henry 
supposing  it  better  to  avoid  noticing  the 
existence  of  such  petty  feuds,  had  the 
benefit  of  more  than  four  years  of  peace, 
in  which  time  he  might  have  restored 
dignity  to  his  crown  and  happiness  to  his 
people.  But  he  neglected  to  do  what  his 
duty  and  his  interests  equally  demanded, 
and  the  melancholy  conclusion  of  his 
reign  was  insured  by  his  imprudent  con- 
duct at  this  period. 

His  brother's  expedition  into  Flanders 
offered  him  additional  facilities  for  re- 
storing order,  as  a  number  of  bold  and  ad- 
venturous spirits  had  quitted  France  to 
join  that  enterprise;  but  unhappily  for  his 
kingdom  and  for  himself,  he  occupied  the 
whole  of  his  time  in  loose,  trivial  pleasures 
with  his  minions,  or  in  acts  of  ridiculous 
superstition. 

He  erected  the  dukedoms  of  Joyeuse 
and  Epernon  into  peerages  for  his  two 
principal  favourites,  and  spared  no  cost 
to  gratify  their  wishes.  Joyeuse  married 
the  sister  of  the  queen  consort,  and  Eper- 
non received  a  large  sum  of  money,  to 
show  that  he  was  equally  beloved  by  the 
monarch  .* 

Notwithstanding  the  alliance  with  the 
Guises,  which  Joyeuse  had  formed  by 
marrying  one  of  their  family,  they  felt 
great  jealousy,  both  of  him  and  of  Eper- 
non. That  feeling  gave  way  to  indigna- 
tion when  they  found  the  first  dignities  of 
the  kingdom  were  bestowed  upon  them; 
particularly  that  of  Admiral  of  France, 
notwithstanding  it  had  been  promised  to 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne.  Epernon  wished 
Guise  to  resign  the  office  of  grand-master 
in  his  favour  ;  but  receiving  a  peremptory 
refusal,  the  king  made  him  colonel-gene- 
ral of  the  infantry,  a  post  which  the 
Count  de  Brissac  had  depended  upon 
having.  The  Guises  now  saw  that  they 
were  treated  precisely  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  their  family  had  treated  the 


*  Mezeray,  Ahrtgi  Chron. 


194 


IMBECILITY  AND  UNPOPULARITY  OF  THE  KING. 


Bourbons  and  Montmorencies  in  the  pre- 
ceding reigns.* 

The  king's  demeanour,  instead  of  allay- 
ing the  resentments  of  the  house  of  Lor- 
rain,  was  calculated  to  excite  them  to  ac- 
tivity :  it  even  held  out  encouragement  to 
their  ambition.  He  was  lowered  in  the 
public  opinion  by  his  conduct  in  the  pur- 
suit of  his  pleasures:  while  his  superstitious 
acts  destroyed  the  small  remains  of  re- 
spect which  had  been  entertained  for  him. 
He  made  solemn  processions  to  Chartres 
and  Lyons  to  propitiate  the  Virgin,  whose 
influence  he  thought  would  procure  him 
offspring.t  He  gave  great  encourage- 
ment to  the  monastic  orders,  and  often 
joined  in  their  processions.  He  esta- 
blished a  new  brotherhood  called  the 
Penitents,  and  walked  in  their  procession, 
covered  with  sackcloth. } 

For  some  time  the  king  was  in  great 
odour  of  sanctity  among  the  monks,  who 
extolled  his  fervent  piety.  Edmond  Au- 
ger, a  Jesuit,  whom  he  had  taken  for  his 
confessor,  declared  in  his  sermons  that 
France  had  not  for  a  long  time  had  so 
pious  a  prince.  All  accounts  agree  that 
he  lived  more  like  a  Capucin  than  a 
king.  § 

Wean  while  the  King  of  Navarre  re- 
mained in  his  government  of  Guyenne: 
he  employed  a  great  portion  of  his  time 
in  reading  and  serious  occupations  in 
general.  Plutarch  was  his  favourite  au- 
thor, and  contributed  considerably  to  his 
advantage,  by  displaying  to  his  view  the 
maxims  and  conduct  of  great  men.||  He 
had  sufficient  judgment  to  perceive  that 
the  League  would  never  rest  till  the  pro- 
testant  religion  was  abolished ;  and  was 
also  certain  that  Guise's  ambition  would 
impel  him  to  further  that  object,  as  a 
means  for  advancing  his  own  views.  It 
was  desirable  therefore  to  have  some  con- 
fidential person  at  the  court,  who  could 
inform  him  of  the  movements  of  the  fac- 
tion. Sully  was  the  agent  he  employed  : 
he  had  a  good  pretext  for  being  there,  as 
his  two  brothers  were  about  the  king's 
person  :  he  was  able  to  mix  in  the  best 
companies;  and  while  he  appeared  to  be 
occupied  with  the  gaiety  which  reigned 

*  Davila,  liv.  7. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  III.  J  Ibid. 

§  There  was  at  this  time  published  an  anagram  of 
the  king's  name — flenricus  Tertius — In  le  verus  Chris- 
tus.    1 J 1  st.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  i.  p.  13. 

.  De  bury,  Hist,  de  Henri  IV.  vol.  i.  p.  140. 


there,  he  was  careful  to  inform  the  King 
of  Navarre  of  all  that  passed.* 

Discontent  was  very  general:  Henry 
had  been  so  lavish  in  his  expenditure,  that 
repeated  edicts  for  raising  money  were 
required.  These  edicts  at  length  roused 
the  parliament  to  opposition,  and  the 
President  de  Thou  refused  to  verify  one 
of  them,  observing  that  according  to  the 
law  of  the  kingdom,  which  was  the  pub- 
lic safety,  it  could  not  be  done.t 

All  this  contributed  to  swell  the  ranks 
of  the  League.  The  people  were  weary 
of  the  heavy  contributions;  the  clergy 
were  disgusted  with  the  tolerance  of  the 
reformed  religion;  and  all  classes  were 
angry  with  Henry's  edicts,  particularly 
that  forbidding  females  to  wear  certain 
stuffs  and  ornaments. 

Henry  appears  to  have  taken  no  par- 
ticular pains  to  avoid  giving  offence  to 
the  King  of  Navarre.  Margaret  had 
passed  some  time  at  her  brother's  court, 
and  had  been  among  the  most  con- 
spicuous in  ridiculing  his  favourites,  and 
his  orders  respecting  women's  apparel 
and  ornaments :  she  employed  some  per- 
son to  seize  a  messenger  bearing  his  de- 
spatches  on  that  subject.  Her  intimacy 
with  Guise  had  long  caused  his  suspicion: 
this  step  on  her  part  excited  his  anger: 
he  reproached  her  with  a  detail  of  her 
infamy,  and  desired  her  to  quit  the 
court,  and  return  to  her  husband.}:  The 
King  of  Navarre  had  previously  de- 
manded her  return,  and  Henry  seemed  to 
yield  to  the  wishes  of  his  brother-in-law. 
She  had,  however,  made  but  little  pro- 
gress on  her  journey,  when  she  was 
overtaken  by  the  king's  guards,  who 
searched  her  litter,  unmasked  her  and  her 
attendants,  and  conducted  them  back  to 
Paris,  where  her  ladies  were  interrogated 
|  concerning  the  queen's  deportment. 
When  the  King  of  Navarre  was  informed 
of  ibis,  he  sent  Mornay  to  court,  to  learn 
what  his  wife  had  done  to  subject  her  to 
I  such  an  affront;  and  desiring  the  king  to 
punish  her  if  she  deserved,  it  otherwise 
to  efface  the  scandal. \  This  embassy 
procuring  no  satisfaction,  D'Aubigne  was 
sent  to  St.  Germains  with  a  remon- 
strance, which  the  king  received  with 


*  Sully,  liv.  2. 

t  Mezeray,  jibrcgi  Citron. 

t  Leltersde  Bubbec,  vol.  iii.  pp.  211,  230.  D'Aubigne, 
vol.  ii.  < 

$  Journal  de  Henri  III.    Vie  de  Mornay,  liv.  1.  p-  72. 


DEATH  OF  FRANCIS,  DUKE  OF  ANJOU. 


195 


marks    of     displeasure.  D'Aubigne 
perceiving  that  the  King  of  Navarre 
would  have  no  satisfaction,  he  renounced 
in  his  master's  name  the  king's  alliance 
and  friendship.    Henry  did  not  perceive 
the  consequences  which  would  probably 
follow  a  rupture  with  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, and  treated  the  affair  in  a  cavalier 
manner;  but  Catherine  immediately  made 
an  attempt  to  prevent  any  disagreement, ! 
and  had  an  interview  with  D'Aubigne  re- 
specting it.   Henry  had  resolved  to  punish  i 
D'Aubigne  for  his  temerity,  and  sent  a 
party  to  arrest  him  on  his  return:  but  his 
good  fortune  enabled  him  to  elude  them,: 
and  he  reached  his  master  in  safety.  A| 
reconciliation  between  the  kings  was  ef- 
fected by  a  subsequent  deputation.* 

An  assembly  of  Notables  was  held  in 
September,  1583,  at  St.  Germains.  The 
king  had  called  it  with  a  view  of  obtain- 
ing a  present  of  some  money  ;  but  pre- 
tended that  his  object  was  solely  to  re- 
dress any  grievances  which  might  be 
complained  of.  The  clergy  took  the  oc- 
casion to  demand  the  publication  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  t  Joyeuse  was  sent  to 
Rome  about  the  same  time  to  obtain  the 
Pope's  permission  to  sell  some  church 
lands,  and  brought  back  for  answer,  "  that 
no  farther  alienation  of  the  church  pro- 
perty could  be  granted,  because  the  king 
did  not  carry  on  a  war,  or  any  other  ex- 
pense for  the  church."];  Henry  was  thus 
compelled  to  continue  his  edicts  for  im- 
posing taxes,  which  added  to  the  public 
discontent,  and  which  the  parliament 
would  not  register  without  compulsion. 

Philip  II.,  fearing  the  loss  of  his  pos- 
sessions in  Flanders,  thought  that  his  best 
chance  of  success  lay  in  exciting  some 
trouble  in  France,  which  would  operate 
as  a  diversion.  On  the  supposition  that 
the  affront  offered  to  the  Queen  Marga- 
ret would  render  the  King  of  Navarre 
willing  to  adopt  his  proposal,  he  sent  an 
offer  of  men  and  money  to  help  him  in 
case  he  would  renew  the  war.  He  far- 
ther proposed  that  Navarre  should  be 
divorced  from  his  unworthy  wife,  and 
marry  the  Infanta  his  daughter;  and  that 
he  should  marry  Catherine,  the  King  of 
Navarre's  sister.  Duplessis-Momay,  who 


*  D'Aubigne,  Mem  p.  98,  and  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ii.  p. 
414. 

t  Mezeray,  Mregc  Chron. 
X  Journal  de  Henri  111. 


was  charged  to  receive  the  proposal?,  was 
decidedlv  opposed  to  such  a  sacrifice  of 
every  principle.  "  You  are  not  agree- 
able," said  the  Spaniards  to  him,  "and 
yet  you  do  not  know  what  you  are  doing 
when  you  reject  our  offers,  lor  the  agents 
of  the  Guises  only  wait  your  refusal  to 
accept  our  terms."*  D'Aubigne  and 
Segur  were  then  appointed  to  conduct 
this  negotiation.  The  Spaniards  offered 
to  pay  two  hundred  thousand  ducats  to  the 
king  of  Navarre,  on  his  promising  to  re- 
new the  war:  they  also  undertook  to  pay 
other  sums  at  future  periods:  but  while 
these  conferences  were  pending,  and  before 
any  thing  was  decided,  intelligence  of  the 
Duke  of  Anjou's  death  airived,  which 
put  quite  a  new  feature  on  the  affairs  of 
France. t 

Francis,  Duke  of  Anjou,  after  making  a 
successful  beginning  to  his  enterprise,  was 
compelled  to  retire:  he  went  over  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  lost  much  time  in  the  per- 
suasion that  he  should  obtain  the  hand  of 
Elizabeth.  After  failing  in  an  attempt  on 
Antwerp,  he  quitted  Flanders  in  June, 
1583.  He  was  at  court  for  a  short  time 
in  the  early  part  of  1584,  returned  to  Cha- 
teau-Thierry, and  languished  till  the  tenth 
of  June,  when  he  died.f  As  several  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  assassinate  him, 
a  report  was  circulated  that  he  had  been 
poisoned  at  the  instigation  of  Philip  II. 
This  charge  is  unsupported  by  proof :  but 
it  is  remarkable,  that  at  the  same  time  an 
attempt  was  made  to  murder  Queen  Eli- 
zabeth;  and  the  Prince  of  Orange  unfor- 
tunately fell  a  victim  to  the  fanaticism  of 
Balthazar  Gerard,  a  Spanish  emissary. 
The  enterprise  in  Flanders  opened  a  fine 
field  for  a  prince  of  any  character;  but 
Anjou  was  not  at  all  qualified  for  the  post 
he  filled.  The  King  of  Navarre,  speaking 
of  him  one  day,  is  reported  to  have  said 
"I  shall  be  deceived,  if  he  ever  fulfils  the 
expectations  formed  of  him :  he  has  so 
little  courage,  and  so  much  duplicity  and 
mischief  in  his  heart;  so  little  grace  in  his 
looks,  and  such  a  want  of  skill  in  every 
kind  of  exercise,  that  I  cannot  persuade 
myself  he  will  ever  do  any  great  thing."j 

His  death  was  of  great  importance,  as 


*  Vie  de  Mornav,  liv.  1,  p.  ?C. 

+  D'Aubigne*,  lli.it.  Univ  vol.  ii.  p.  422. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  7!*,  p  184,  mentions  Hint  when  his 
body  was  opened,  t lie  inside  was  found  in  a  corroded 
stalp,  and  bearing  symptoms  of  poison. 

J  Sully,  liv.  2. 


196 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  JESUITS  IN  FRANCE. 


the  King  of  Navarre  thereby  became  pre- 
sumptive heir  to  the  crown.  His  right 
was  incontestable,  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Salic  law;  and  in  spite  of  the 


vidual,  as  his  personal  character  has  had 
so  powerful  an  effect  on  his  companions 
and  followers.  He  was  born  in  1491,  at 
the  village  of  Loyola,  in  Guipuscoa.  His 


violent  character  of  the  age,  the  nation !  mother  was  of  such  an  enthusiastic  turn, 
was  accustomed  to  revere  the  decisions  that  she  was  delivered  in  a  stable,  in  ho- 


of the  parliament.  The  alarm  which  was 
created  by  the  prospect  of  a  Protestant 
wearing  the  crown  threw  many  Catholics 


nour  of  the  Virgin  Mary.*  Ignatius  passed 
the  early  part  of  his  life  at  court  and  in  the 
camp:  in  1521  he  was  severely  wounded 


into  the  party  of  the  League,  and  enabled  |  at  Pampeluna,  then  besieged  by  the 
that  faction  to  act  openly,  and  exhibit  that  French :  the  valour  which  he  had  displayed 
additional  power  that  it  had  gained  by  its  ( in  defending  the  place  was  remarkable, 
secret  operations;  for  the  Duke  of  Guise i  but  his  resolution  afterwards  was  truly 
knew  his  interest  too  well  to  stir  about  the  astonishing.  A  ball  had  broken  his  right 
succession  before  the  last  of  the  house  of  leg :  finding  that  it  had  been  unskilfully 
Yalois  was  on  the  throne.*  'set,  he  consented  to  a  new  fracture  that 

But  the  League  had  not  waited  for  An-  he  might  have  a  perfect  cure:  there  still 
jou's  death  to  take  measures  for  changing:  remained  a  bone  displaced  near  his  knee; 
the  succession.  Henry's  vicious  habits  he  had  it  cut  out  to  prevent  any  deformity.! 
had  completely  destroyed  his  constitution,!  In  the  interval  before  his  recovery  he 
and  the  leaders  of  the  party  were  woll  felt  the  necessity  of  occupation,  and  asked 
aware  of  the  improbability  of  either  of  the  for  some  romances  of  chivalry;  but  his 
brothers  having  any  issue.  The  Duke  of  father's  austerity  excluding  all  such  books 
Guise  also  took  advantage  of  the  existing1  from  his  collection,  he  was  accommodated 
discontent  to  enrol  a  number  of  partisans  [  with  one  of  a  different  character,  entitled 
among  the  lower  orders;  while  Epernon'sj  The  Flower  of  the  Saints.  Its  contents 
insolence  was  the  cause  of  his  being  joined  forcibly  struck  his  imagination,  and  he  re- 


by  many  persons  of  distinction, 

Nothing,  however,  contributed  so  essen- 


solved  to  consecrate  his  life  to  religion. 
Reflection  inflamed  his  zeal,  and  he  had 


tially  to  establish  the  league  as  the  co-ope-  no  rest  until  he  had  devoted  himself  to 
ration  of  the  Jesuits,  who,  though  but  re-  the  service  of  the  mother  of  Cod.  Having 
cently  organized,  had  become  a  numerous  in  common  with  the  young  men  of  his 
and  influential  body.  They  were  a  mon-  country  a  taste  for  chivalry,  he  passed  an 
grel  kind  of  clergy,  being  neither  secular  (entire  night  underarms  before  the  altar  of 
nor  regular:   when  they  attempted  to  St.  Mary ;  and,  like  a  true  knight  burning 


establish  themselves  in  France,  they  were 
asked  to  give  some  account  of  their  insti- 
tution and  object,  and  neither  the  parlia- 
ment nor  the  university  could  get  any 
other  answer  than  Tales  (juales  sumus.j 
Their  rules  comprised  every  monastic 
regulation  fitted  to  enslave  the  mind  and 
destroy  the  principles  of  liberty;  while 


with  a  desire  to  display  his  zeal,  he  sought 
an  early  occasion  to  evince  the  sincerity 
of  his  vow:  it  is  related  that  he  nearly 
killed  a  Moor  for  having  asserted  that  St. 
Mary  had  ceased  to  be  a  virgin  when  she 
became  a  mother.} 

Long  abstinence  and  violent  discipline, 
in  which  he  aimed  at  surpassing  St.  Do- 


they  discontinued  the  hospitality,  charity,  minic,  produced  a  great  effect  upon  him; 
and  other  practices  of  the  monks  and  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  residence 
friars,  which  made  them  the  friends  of  the  in  Spain  his  conduct  made  many  think 


poor  and  the  stranger.  Although  it  is 
well  known  that  the  society  was  founded 
by  Ignatius  Loyola,  it  may  not  be  super- 
fluous to  give  some  account  of  that  indi- 


*  Guise  was  recoih mended  to  make  a  movement  in 
France,  while  the  Duke  of  Anjou  was  in  Flanders:  he 
said  on  the  occasion,  11  No  tin.  I  w  ill  lake  care  to  do  no- 
thing openly,  so  Ion;;  as  the  kins  has  a  brother;  but  if  I 
ever  see  upon  the  throne  the  last  of  the  house  of  Valois,  I 
look  forward  to  go  to  work  so  securely,  that  if  I  do  not 
get  all  the  cake.  I  will  have  a  good  piece  of  it."  See 
Preface  to  Memoires  de  la  Lmuc.  written  in  1589 :  it  is 
to  be  found  in  vol.  ii.  of  thu  Edit,  of  Amsterdam,  1738. 

t  Pasquier,  vol.  i.  p  335. 


him  a  maniac.  His  purpose,  however, 
was  unchangeably  fixed ;  and  although 
sincerely  attached  to  a  lady,  who  felt  an 
equal  esteem  for  him,  he  renounced  every 
thing  in  favour  of  religion,  and  undertook 
a  voyage  to  the  Holy  Land. 

After  a  residence  of  six  years  in  France, 

*  Histoirc  Impartiale  des  Jesuites.  p.  8;  a  work  which 
has  been  recommended  by  the  Superior  of  Montrouge. 
lfmo  Paris,  1826. 

+  Ibid  p.  9. 

X  Montglave,  Hist,  des  Conspirations  des  Jesuites. 


LOYOLA.  CHOSEN  GENERAL  OF  THE  JESUITS. 


197 


during  which  time  he  had  followed  the 
study  of  theology,  he  collected  a  few 
friends  to  whom  he  imparted  the  project 
which  was  uppermost  in  his  ideas :  they 
went  to  a  subterraneous  chapel  in  the 
church  of  Montmartre,  and  established  the 
society,  by  making  a  solemn  vow  of  chas- 
tity and  poverty,  after  the  celebration  of 
the  mass.*  They  were  afterwards  joined 
by  three  others,  and  went  to  Rome  about 


and  to  the  pope  his  vicar,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Virgin  mother  and  the  celestial  host, 
that  he  would  observe  perpetual  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience."* 

Loyola  and  Lainez  immediately  occu- 
pied themselves  in  framing  statutes  for  the 
society.  The  result  of  their  labours  exhi- 
bits an  organization  so  complete,  that  the 
society  has  been  compared  to  a  sword 
with  its  hilt  at  Rome  and  its  point  every 


Easter,  1538.    At  a  meeting  then  held  by,  where. t    The  basis  of  these  regulations  is 


them,  Loyola,  in  a  forcible  speech,  showed 
his  brethren  that  their  efforts  in  the  cause 
they  had  undertaken  would  never  be  con- 
siderable, unless  they  so  organized  their 
society  as  to  be  able  to  increase  their  num- 
bers at  all  times  and  in  all  places:  he  pro- 


file vow  of  obedience  to  the  pope  and  their 
general :  that  is  a  fixed  principle  with  the 
society;  but,  with  that  exception,  their 
constitution  is  arbitrary,  and  depends  upon 
circumstances  of  time  and  plaee.j  And 
as  unqualified  obedience  is  required  from 


posed  also,  that  as  they  would  combat  the;  every  one  to  those  immediately  above  him 


world  under  Christ's  banner,  they  could 
take  no  more  appropriate  name  than  that 
of  their  Divine  Redeemer.  From  that 
time  they  assumed  the  title  of  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus.t 

The  year  following  Loyola  applied  to 
Paul  III.  for  his  sanction  of  the  new  society, 
which  the  pope  refused  to  grant :  the  peti- 
tion was  referred  to  a  commission  of  three 


in  the  scale,  the  government  is  an  absolute 
monarchy,  administered  with  unparalleled 
order  and  system. 

The  entire  world  is  divided  by  the  so- 
ciety into  a  certain  number  of  jirovinces, 
each  of  which  is  represented  at  Rome  by 
an  assistant,  who  is  the  medium  of  com- 
munication between  tl.e  general  and  the 
Jesuits  of  his  province.     The  different 


cardinals,  who  also  objected  to  the  insti-l  provinces  are  each  under  the  authority  of 


tution.  Loyola  was  indefatigable  in  his 
applications,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining 
permission  for  a  certain  number  of  his 
companions  to  be  employed  where  the 
church  had  need  of  their  labours.  Their 
utility  then  becoming  evident  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Reformation,!  the  pope  con- 
sented to  give  a  bull  for  their  establish- 
ment, but  not  without  great  caution,  for 
he  limited  their  number  to  sixty.§  They 
had,  however,  sufficient  influence  to  have 
that  restriction  removed  in  a  short  time. 

Loyola  was  chosen  general  of  the  order 
in  April,  1541  :||  he  then  made  a  public 
vow  in  that  capacity,  "promising  to  God, 


*  15th  Aiij.  15:14,  festival  of  the  Assumption  :  the 
Tjtrty  was  seven  in  number;  viz:  Loyola,  Lefevre,  P. 
Xnvier,  Rodrigues  d'Azevedo,  Lainez,  Salinernuii,  and 
Bobadilla. 

t  An  order  of  Monk',  called  Jesuits,  was  in  existence 
long  before,  having  force  founded  by  St.  John  Cnlonihn.nl 
in  the  1 1th  century.  Thai  order  was  abolished  by  Cle- 
ment IX.  in  Niliri. 

t  Nothing  can  exceed  the  hatred  of  the  Jesuits  to  the 
reformed  religion.  Kibedaneira,  in  his  work  de  Prin- 
cipe Ckriatiano,  says,  ■  The  Queen  of  Scots  has  been 
called  a  martyr;  nevertheless,  there  is  a  remarkable 
cireumitance  in  her  life,  which  has  very  much  the  ap 
pear  a  Dee  of  being  the  cause  of  her  miserable  end  :  she 
suffered  heresy  in  her  kingdom,  an  I  would  not  consent 
to  the  death  of  the  bastard  Stuart,  who  was  the  sup- 
porter of  it." 

§  The  hull  (Regimini  militaniis  ecclesi<e)  13  dated  27th 
Sep.  1540. 
i  He  died  at  Rome,  31st  July,  155G. 


a  provincial,  who  makes  frequent  reports 
to  the  general  of  what  occurs,  and  from 
time  to  time  travels  through  his  dominion 
for  purposes  of  inspection.  The  colleges 
are  governed  by  rectors,  who,  as  well  as 
the  provincials,  are  aided  by  a  secretary 
and  a  counsellor.^ 

The  members  of  the  society  are  divided 
into  three  classes,  according  to  the  vows 
they  may  have  made:  those  only  are  eli- 
gible to  any  office  who  have  made  the 
full  vow  of  obedience  to  the  general,  per 
omnia  ct  in  omnibus,  which  hinds  them 
to  further  the  objects  of  the  society  at  all 
hazards,  and  at  any  cost;  and,  according 
to  their  institutions,  every  Jesuit  must  be 
ready  to  shed  his  blood  for  the  general  or 
the  society,||  and  to  esteem  the  orders  of 
their  general  equal  to  the  commands  of 
God.^T    This  accounts  for  the  numerous 

*  Conspirations  des  Jesuites,  &c. 

t  Celte  epil  dont  la  poignee  est  d  Rome  et  la  painte  par- 
tout, :  this  expression  originated  with  a  Polish  writer, 
and  is  mentioned  in  I  Anti  Cotton,  p  169. 

*  Comptes  ilcs  Institutions,  &c. ;  rendus  au  Parlement 
de  Normandie,  1763,  p.  in. 

$  Lcs  Jesuites  Moderns,  par  M.  de  la  Roche  Arnand. 
Tins  account  perfectly  agrees  with  the  different  lists 
published  by  the  society,  and  containing  an  account  of 
the  provinces,  colleges,  &c.  There  are  several  of  them 
in  Jouvenci's  History. 
|l  Comptes  des  Institution!,  &c,  p.  113. 
1T  Statuatis  vobiscum  ipsi  quiequid  superior  prtrcipit 
ipsius  Dei  praceptum  esse.   Reg.  Sac.  Jesu,—  Lyons,  1607. 

17* 


193 


FATHER  CLAUDE  MATHIEU. 


plots  and  assassinations  with  which  the 
Jesuits  were  concerned  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century:  their  first  generals 
were  either  Spaniards,  or  owed  allegiance 
to  the  King  of  Spain;  and  consequently 
that  monarch  was  assisted  in  all  his  plans 
by  the  influence  of  the  society.  Indeed 
the  opinion  which  prevailed  in  France 
was,  that  the  order  was  established  solely 
for  the  advancement  of  Spanish  affairs, 
and  in  the  life  of  their  founder  it  is  de- 
clared to  be  their  duty  to  pray  earnestly 
for  the  King  of  Spain.* 

They  experienced  great  difficulties  be- 
fore they  could  gain  a  foaling  in  France, 
and  were  opposed  by  the  clergy,  the  par-| 
liaments,  and  the  university.  At  last  a 
decree  was  passed  in  their  favour  at  the 
conference  of  Poissy  in  1561,  which,! 
while  it  allowed  them  certain  privileges! 
in  common  with  other  orders,  enjoined 
them  to  assume  some  other  name  than 
that  of  the  society  of  Jesus,  which  it  was 
said  was  applicable  only  to  the  universal 
church. f  This  condition  was  never  ful- 
filled on  their  part,  but  all  the  efforts  to 
dislodge  them  were  ineffectual;  they  were 
the  champions  of  ultramontanism,  and  in 
consequence  obtained  the  full  benefit  of 
the  pope's  protection. 

At  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  1562,  Lai-  ; 
nez,  their  general,  spoke  with  great  am-  , 
mation  for  two  hours,  to  prove,  that  in 
every  thing  connected  with  the  clergy- 
there  was  not  a  spark  of  authority  but  I 
what  emanated  from  the  pope.  This  dis- 
course was  warmly  extolled  by  the  pope's 
dependents,  and  as  strongly  censured  by 
the  others.  The  Bishop  of  Paris  was 
confined  to  his  chambei  by  illness,  but 
addressed  some  prelates  who  called  upon 
him.  "This  new  doctrine,"  said  he, 
"changes  the  celestial  kingdom  into  a 
temporal  tyranny,  and  converts  the  bride 
of  Jesus  Christ  into  a  handmaid  prosti- 
tuted to  the  will  of  a  man.  To  declare 
one  bishop  of  divine  right,  and  distributor 
of  power  to  the  others,  was  to  say  there 
was  only  one  bishop,  and  that  the  others 
were  his  vicars,  who  could  be  dismissed 
by  him."  The  bishop  then  showed  how 
the  episcopal  authority  had  been  attacked 
by  the  institution  of  the  mendicant  orders 


*  Dies  noctetque  Deum  vostrum  placard  atque  fatigarl 
precibus  debemus,  ut  Philippum,  tip.  Vita  Ignatii,  p. 
11)9.    Antwerp.  1587. 

t  Comptes  des  Institutions,  &c,  p.  123.  Pasquier,  vol. 
j.  p.  342. 


in  the  twelfth  century,  and  that  the  new 
order,  which  seemed  constituted  for 
troubling  the  peace  of  the  church,  at- 
tempted to  abolish  the  episcopal  jurisdic- 
tion altogether.  The  legates,  finding  that 
this  discussion  had  kindled  a  violent  feel- 
ing, were  fearful  of  the  results  if  the  con- 
troversy should  be  taken  up  out  of  doors: 
they  therefore  ordered  Lainez  to  give  no 
copy  of  his  speech;  but  he  could  not  re- 
frain from  publishing  what  he  thought  did 
honour  to  the  pope,  and  was  calculated  to 
conciliate  the  infant  society.* 

When  war  became  necessary  to  the 
plans  of  Philip  II.  we  find  the  Jesuits 
the  most  active  agents  of  the  league;  and 
Henry  Samnier,  a  Jesuit,  was  sent,  in 
1581,  on  a  mission  to  several  Catholic 
princes,  to  observe  and  learn  their  feelings 
and  views.  He  traversed  Germany  and 
Italy,  to  excite  the  foreign  powers  against 
the  King  of  France,  whom  he  accused 
of  favouring  the  Huouenots.t  No  one 
could  be  better  qualified  than  he  was  for 
the  task:  he  would  appear  according  to 
circumstances  dressed  as  a  priest,  a  sol- 
dier, or  a  merchant,  and  could  assume 
the  language  and  manners  of  each  class, 
as  easily  as  their  garments.  Dice  and 
cards  were  as  familiar  to  him  as  his  bre- 
viary; and  he  maintained  there  was  no 
harm  in  his  doing  such  things,  as  it  was 
for  a  good  work.l 

Father  Claude  Mathieu,  also  a  Jesuit, 
was  another  very  active  agent  for  the 
league:  he  made  four  journeys  to  Rome 
on  behalf  of  the  faction.  The  curates 
were  able  to  effect  a  great  deal  in  recom- 
mending the  holy  union  from  the  pulpit 
and  the  confessional,  and  most  of  the  > 
French  clergy  became  outrageous  lea- 
guers: but  their  exertions  being  local,  they 
could  not  have  excited  such  a  general 
spirit  of  revolt  if  they  had  been  deprived 
of  the  omnipresent  influence  of  the  Je- 
suits; who  regulated  their  movements,  and  * 
formed  a  general  communication,  not  only 
between  the  party  and  their  chiefs,  but 
with  each  other. 

Two  letters  written  by  Claude  Mathieu 

*  F.  Paolo  Sarpi.  lii?t.  du  Ltmcile  de  Trente,  p.  597. 
I  Vf.llerojr  has  preserved  a  document  entitled.  Me- 
moire  du.  Consed  tenu  par  ceui:  de  la  l.igue.  Src.  It  em- 
braced a  general  plan  tor  creating  a  movement  through- 
out Europe,  and  finding  employment  for  such  princes  as 
they  expected  would  oppose  the  league;  among  other 
projpcls  was  this.  "Tacbez  par  le  moyen  des  Jesuites 
d'attireren  line  Ligue  le  Roi  d'Ecosse,  qui  se  pourroit 
aider  de  l'esperance  de  1'armee  d'Espagne,  &c."  Mem. 
dEtat,  vol.  iii.  pp.  112,  et  seq. 
t  Hist,  des  Conspirations,  &c,  p.  35. 


CARDINAL  OF  BOURBON  HEAD  OF  THE  LEAGUE. 


199 


to  the  Duke  of  Nevers  have  been  pre- 
served, and  substantiate  the  foregoing  re- 
marks. "  I  have  sent,"  says  he,  "  to  M. 
de  Guise,  one  of  our  fathers,  who  has 
accompanied  me  during  this  journey.  .  . 
The  pope  does  not  consider  it  right  that 
any  attempt  should  be  made  on  the  king's 
life,  for  that  cannot  be  done  in  good  con- 
science: but  if  his  person  could  be  se- 
cured, ahd  those  removed  from  about  him 
who  are*the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  the 
kingdom,  giving  him  servants  who  would 
give  good  advice  and  make  him  attend  to 
it,  he  should  approve  of  that."*  Nothing 
can  more  clearly  show  that  the  Jesuits 
were  actively  concerned  in  this  attempt  to 
dethrone  the  king. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  head  of  the  League— Treaty 
of  Philip  IT.  will)  the  League — Trealy  "f  Nemours— 
Excommunication  of  Navarre  anil  Conde  hy  Sixlus  V. 

"There's  such  divinity  doth  hedge  a 
king,"  that  in  spite  of  the  injury  which 
Henry  had  inflicted  on  his  dignity  by  his 
indiscreet  behaviour,  the  faction  that 
aimed  at  dethroning  him  was  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  libels  and  exaggerations, 
widely  circulated,  to  prepare  the  public 
mind  for  any  violent  measure  which  am- 
bition might  induce  the  Duke  of  Guise 
to  attempt. 

The  king  was  publicly  spoken  of  with 
the  greatest  contempt,  and  every  day  pro- 
duced the  most  insolent  attacks  upon  his 
person  and  court:  he  was  described  as  a 
Sardanapalus,  a  sluggard  meriting  the  fate 
of  Ghilderie,  who  was  put  into  a  monas- 
tery after  he  had  been  deprived  of  his 
crown.t  Henry's  device  was  three 
crowns,  with  the  motto  Manet  ultima 
ccelo,  for  which  was  substituted  Manet 
ultima  flauntrn ;  in  allusion  to  the  ton- 
sure, or  monachal  crown,  which  be  would 
receive  whenever  he  should  enter  a 
cloister.i 

The  journal  of  the  time  informs  us, 
that  in  November,  1584,  a  Huguenot 
gentleman,  named  Pierre  d'Esguain,  was 
seized  with  some  defamatory  verses  and 

*  Mem.  ;le  Nevers,  vol.  i.  p.  657. 
t  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  1.  p.  15. 
t  The  following  was  placed  one  night  on  the  door  of 
the  Louvre : 

Qui  dedit  antcduas.  unam  abstulit,  altera  nutat ; 

Tenia  tonsoris  estfacenda  manu. 


papers  in  his  possession:  he  confessed 
they  were  his  composition;  was  hanged 
at  the  Greve,  and  his  body  burned  with 
the  papers.*  This  shows  that  the  lea- 
guers were  not  the  authors  of  all  the 
libels  which  were  circulated  at  this  period; 
but  it  is  remarkable,  that  out  of  so  many 
persons  who  were  liable  to  punishment 
for  that  offence,  the  only  one  who  suffer- 
ed should  be  a  Huguenot.  The  magis- 
trates were  not  backward  in  doing  justice 
on  this  occasion,  but  the  League  was  in- 
debted to  some  powerful  influence  for 
protection.  The  queen-mother  had  long 
entertained  violent  hatred  for  the  King 
of  Navarre,  and  by  excluding  him  from 
the  succession,  there  was  a  prospect  of 
establishing  the  children  of  the  Duchess 
of  Lorrain,  her  daughter:  if  therefore  she 
gave  the  League  no  positive  assistance, 
her  views  would  prevent  her  from  join- 
ing in  opposing  it. 

"  The  queen,"  says  the  Duke  of  Ne- 
vers, in  his  memoirs,  "intended  that  the 
crown  should  descend  to  the  children  of 
her  daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Lorrain,  as 
the  King  of  Navarre  was  a  Huguenot, 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  old;  and 
Guise  was  employed  only  as  the  servant 
of  M.  de  Lorrain,  for  the  morsel  was 
never  intended  for  him."t 

The  Duke  of  Guise  performed  his  part 
with  great  address,  with  strong  assurances 
of  support  from  Spain;  he  saw  that  to 
obtain  the  crown  of  France  was  not  al- 
together chimerical;  but  he  did  not  blind 
himself  to  the  dangers  of  his  attempt, 
and  was  long  entreated  to  act  openly  be- 
fore he  would  acquiesce. 

He  won  over  the  queen-mother  by  pre- 
tending to  further  her  views:  the  clergy 
were  already  gained  by  the  hope  of  anni- 
hilating the  reformed  religion;  and  the 
promise  of  such  recompenses  as  success 
would  enable  him  to  grant,  had  secured 
a  considerable  number  of  the  nobility. 
Preachers  addressed  the  public,  to  inflame 
them  by  describing  the  horrors  which 
would  be  consequent  on  the  King  of  Na- 
varre's succeeding  to  the  crown.  It  was 
stated  among  other  things  that  above  ten 
thousand  Huguenots  and  Politiques  were 
ready  to  massacre  all  the  Catholics  in 
order  to  serve  the  King  of  Navarre.! 


*  Journal  de  Henri  III. 

t  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  I.  p.  ]B3. 

t  Proces-verbal  de  Nicolas  Poutuin.    This  document  is 


200 


TREATY  OF  PHILIP  II.  WITH  THE  LEAGUE. 


But  as  it  was  better  to  blind  his  real 
object  for  some  time,  Guise  announced 
that  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  was  the 
lawful  heir  to  the  crown,  his  nephew 
being  excluded  on  account  of  heresy; 
and  it  was  immediately  proposed  to  the 
cardinal  to  join  the  league.  He  being  a 
very  ignorant  and  bigoted  man,  was 
easily  persuaded  to  consent;  he  was  daz- 
zled with  the  hope  of  a  crown,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  nature,  lie  could 
never  expect  to  have;  for  he  was  more 
than  sixty  years  of  age,  while  the  reign- 
ing king  was  only  thirty-four.  Guise 
further  suggested  that  he  should  obtain  a 
dispensation  to  marry  the  Duchess  ofj 
Montpensier:  he  was  insensible  to  the  ri- 
dicule, and  consented  to  the  proposal.* 

Henry  could  not  long  remain  ignorant 
of  what  was  passing:  he  perceived  that 
the  best  thing  which  could  be  done  was 
to  draw  the  King  of  Navarre  to  court; 
and  as  he  acknowledged  him  to  be  the 
rightful  heir  to  his  throne,  their  interests 
evidently  required  a  sincere  reconcilia- 
tion. He  sent  the  Duke  of  Epernon  to 
persuade  him  to  return  to  the  Catholic 
church,  and  to  co-operate  with  him  in 
subduing  the  league.  Navarre  received 
the  messenger  with  great  affability;  and  a 
long  conference  ensued,  which  however 
produced  no  effect  on  the  Huguenots, 


his  Catholic  friends  were  not  without 
effect.  It  was  principally  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  M.  de  Segur  that  he  had 
been  influenced;  and  D'Aubigne,  whose 
zeal  for  the  Protestant  cause  was  un- 
bounded, considering  that  the  only  way 
to  prevent  the  king's  intended  journey 
was  to  alarm  his  advisers,  resolved  on  the 
following  expedient.  He  took  an  occa- 
sion when  he  passed  through  a' saloon, 
in  which  there  were  some  young  gentle- 
men of  the  court,  to  lead  Segur  aside  to 
a  window,  which  looked  upon  a  steep 
precipice:  he  then  told  him,  that  he  would 
be  compelled  to  take  that  leap  the  day  the 
King  of  Navarre  set  out  for  the  court  of 
Henry  III.  Segur,  astonished,  asked  — 
"But  who  will  dare  do  that?"  "  If  I 
cannot  do  it  alone,"  said  D'Aubigne, 
"  here  are  some  gentlemen  who  will 
assist  me."  The  young  men  perceiving 
they  were  alluded  to,  immediately  cocked 
their  hats,  and  assumed  a  determined  air, 
although  they  knew  nothing  of  what  was 
passing,  which  had  such  an  effect  on 
M.  de  Segur,  that  the  journey  was  aban- 
doned.* 

In  the  mean  time  the  Duke  of  Guise 
was  busily  occupied  in  negotiations  with 
the  King  of  Spain.  For  greater  conve- 
nience, he  had  retired  to  his  government 
of  Champagne,  and  at  the  close  of  the 


who  were  too  firmly  grounded  in  their  year  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the 
principles  to  be  flattered  into  a  desertion ! envoys  of  Philip  II.  and  the  Cardinal  of 
of  them.t  So  far  indeed  was  this  meet- 1 Bourbon,  who  had  assumed  the  title  of 
ing  from  producing  good,  that  the  leaguers  i  the  first  prince  of  the  blood  and  presump- 
tive heir  to  the  crown.  The  treaty  de- 
clared, that  to  preserve  the  Catholic  reli- 


made  use  of  it  as  an  argument  for  their 
cause;  they  announced  that  the  king's 
declaring  Navarre  his  successor  would 
confirm  him  in  his  heresy;  and  indeed 
the  account  of  the  conference  which  was 
drawn  up,  and  published  by  Duplessis- 
Momay,  represented  the  advantage  of  the 
discussion  to  have'  been  entirely  in  favour 


gion  in  France,  in  the  event  of  the  king's 
dying  without  children,  the  Cardinal  of 
Bourbon  should  succeed  him,  as  next  heir 
to  the  crown,  from  which  should  be  for 
ever  excluded  all  heretics,  and  encou- 
ragers  of  heretics;  that  the  cardinal,  being 


of  the  Huguenots,  and  that  the  King  of  king,  should  banish  all  heretics  from  the 
Navarre  was  more  than  ever  confirmed ikingdom,  and  cause  the  decrees  of  the 
in  his  sentiments. i  Council  of  Trent  to  be  observed;  the 

Notwithstanding,  the  King  of  Navarre  King  of  Spain  on  his  part  undertaking  to 
was  so  far  persuaded,  that  he  had  deter-  supply  the  league  with  money,  which 
mined  on  an  interview  with  the  King  of;  was  afterwards  to  be  repaid  to  him,  by 
France.  His  little  court  was  not  exclu- 1  aid  in  subduing  the  revolted  Flemings, 
sively  Huguenot,  and  the  entreaties  ofjand  by  the  cession  of  the  town  of  Cam- 

bray.t 

The  pope's  public  approbation  appear- 
ed indispensable  for  a  union,  the  object 


to  be  found  in  ttie  ltst.  vol.  of  tlie  Journal  de  Henri  III. 
Eilit  Cohgne. 
*  De  Thou,  liv.  81. 

t  There  is  an  account  of  this  conference  in  Villeroy, 
vol.  iii. 

J  Maitnbourg,  Hist,  de  laLigue,  vol.  i.  p.  7C. 


*  D'Auliiqiie,  Mem.  p.  101. 

t  Ue  Thou,  liv.  81.    Davila,  liv.  1 


FATHER  MATHIEU's  MISSION  TO  ROME. 


201 


of  which  was  the  advancement  of  the 
Romish  faith:  but  in  vain  did  father  Ma 
thieu  travel  from  Paris  to  Rome  to  claim 
the  protection  of  his  holiness;  for  although 
the  Cardinal  Pelleve  used  great  influence, 
.he  could  make  no  impression  on  Gregory 
XIII.  That. pope  could  not  clearly  com- 
prehend the  object  of  the  league,  nor 
would  he  openly  sanction  an  enterprise 
against  a  king  so  decidedly  Catholic,  and 
entertaining  so  much  veneration  for  the 
church  of  Rome  as  Henry  III.  He  took 
time  to  reflect  upon  it,  and  summoned 
several  experienced  cardinals  to  examine 
the  propositions  of  the  league:  their  an- 
swers were  far  from  removing  his  doubts, 
and  he  decided  upon  refusing  the  least 
thing  which  might  be  considered  an  ap- 
proval of  the  league;  but  in  dismissing 
Father  Mathieu,  he  recommended  the 
union  to  watch  incessantly  over  the  in- 
terests of  religion,  and  to  aim  at  the  ex- 
tirpation of  heresy.* 

Philip  II.  in  the  mean  time  became 
impatient  at  such  delays:  an  embassy  had 
arrived  in  Paris,  entreating  the  King  of 
France  to  become  the  protector  of  the 
new  states,  and  the  Spanish  agents  sent 
word  that  Henry  was  inclined  to  listen  to 
their  proposal.  Some  decisive  measure 
therefore  was  urgent:  he  called  upon 
Guise  to  act  openly,  and  informed  him 
that  he  would  otherwise  send  their  trea- 
ties to  the  King  of  France,  and  abandon 
the  league  to  his  resentment.t  Guise 
found  himself  compelled  to  continue  the 
course  into  which  he  had  entered,  and 
preparations  were  made  for  taking  the 
field.  The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  left 
Paris  for  his  diocess  of  Rouen,  whence 
he  passed  into  Picnrdy,  and  foreign  levies 
were  hastening  to  the  frontiers,  while 
experienced  captains  were  employed  in 
collecting  the  nobility  and  gentlemen  of 
the  party. t  The  Jesuits  proposed  a  plan 
to  get  possession  of  Boulogne  for  the 


*  As  these  communications  were  viva  voce,  it  ia  not 
surprising  that  there  should  he  variations  in  the  ac- 
counts of  them.  Legrain,  in  his  Decade.  says(liv.  3,  p 
141,)  "  Couriers  were  sent  to  Rome  to  obtain  the  pope's 
sanction  to  beparrain  of  the  league;  but  he  said  that 
he  did  not  know  the  mother  of  the  beast."  On  the 
other  hand,  De  Thou  (liv.  81,)  relates  a  conversation 
with  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  who  declared  thai  the  Jesuit 
Mathieu  had  received  the  pope's  promise  of  a  bull  in 
favourof  the  league  directly  Guise  was  able  to  act.— See 
also  Davila,  liv.  7.  Maimbourg,  Hist,  tlj  ta  Ligue,  liv. 
1.   Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii  p.  77. 

+  Mezeray,  Mrtgi  Chron. 

1  Davila,  liv.  7. 


convenience  of  receiving  supplies  from 
Spain.* 

The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  issued  a 
manifesto,!  declaring  the  object  of  the 
league;  and  very  soon  after  the  emissa- 
ries of  the  faction  seized  upon  towns  in 
different  parts  of  France.  Guise  fixed 
his  head-quarters  at  Chalons,  anxiously 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  reinforcements, 
but  tolerably  certain  that  the  king  would 
not  attack  him.  In  spite  of  the  exertions 
that  had  been  made,  his  army  amounted 
to  no  more  than  four  thousand  infantry, 
and  fifteen  hundred  horse;  a  force  that 
might  so  easily  have  been  dispersed,  that 
Nangis  meeting  Guise  at  Chalons,  asked 
him  how  he  should  act  if  the  king  sent 
any  troops  against  him.  Guise  answered, 
"  Retire  as  quick  as  possible  into  Ger- 
many, and  wait  a  more  favourable  oppor- 
tunity.! 

Henry  was  unable  to  decide  upon  the 
best  measures  to  be  taken  at  such  a  crisis; 
and,  unfortunately  for  him,  his  advisers 
were  by  no  means  unanimous.  Epernon, 
the  Chancellor  Chiverney,  D'O.  and  De 
Retz,  recommended  him  to  join  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  the  Huguenots,  who  would 
cheerfully  serve  under  him,  against  their 
avowed  enemies.  Joyeuse,  Villequier, 
Villeroy,  and  Bellievre  condemned  the 
idea  of  the  most  Christian  king  availing 
himself  of  the  services  of  the  Huguenots, 
whose  friendship  would  disgrace  him: 
they  urged  that  the  chiefs  of  the  league 
should  be  satisfied,  and  that  then  it 
was  to  be  hoped  the  party  would 
dwindle  away.§  The  best  plan  would 
have  been  to  send  an  army  at  once  against 
the  Duke  of  Guise:  Marshal  d'Aumont 
strongly  recommended  it,  and  prepared  to 
march  with  a  few  regiments  hastily  col- 
lected. ||  His  loyalty,  however,  was  frus- 
trated by  the  queen-mother's  representa- 
tions: she  was  on  good  terms  with  Guise, 
and  wished  also  to  remain  at  peace:  by 
her  advice  the  king  published  a  declara- 
tion]f  in  answer  to  the  manifesto  of  the 
league,  in  which  he  appears  to  justify 
himself,  rather  than  to  condemn  his  rebel- 
lious subjects:  to  make  use  of  the  lan- 


*  Proces-verbal  de  Nicolas  Poulain,  p.  139.  Davila' 
liv.  8. 

t  Dated  13th  March,  15P5 :  it  is  to  be  found  in  Davila, 
liv.  7,  and  De  Thou,  liv  81. 

t  Memoirs  de  Beauvais  Nangis.        }  Davila,  liv. 7. 
J  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  107. 
U  Given  at  length  by  Davila. 


202 


TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  KING  AND  THE  LEAGUE. 


guage  of  a  contemporary,  "  forgetting  the 
arms  which  nature  and  necessity  pre- 
sented to  him,  he  had  recourse  to  pen 
and  paper:  he  made  a  declaration,  hut  so 
tamely,  that  you  would  say  that  he  did 
not  dare  to  name  his  enemy,  and  that  he 
resembled  a  man  who  complains  without 
saying  who  has  beaten  him."* 

The  league  succeeded  in  surprising 
several  towns,  but  failed  at  Metz,  where 
Epernon  had  a  good  garrison:  at  Bor- 
deaux, where  Matignon,  by  his  activity, 
counteracted  a  plot  for  overthrowing  his 
authority;  and  at  Marseilles,  which  one 
Dariez,  a  person  in  authority,  had  under- 
taken, in  concert  with  a  man  named  Oha- 
bannes,  to  deliver  to  the  Duke  of  Nevers, 
the  intended  future  governor.  The  in- 
habitants were,  however,  persuaded  to 
take  arms,  and  they  succeeded  in  capturing 
Dariez  and  his  confederate:  they  were 
immediately  tried,  condemned,  and  hang- 
ed. The  king  was  much  pleased  at  this 
spirited  affair,  and  told  the  deputation 
sent  to  convey  the  news,  that  he  could 
never  sufficiently  reward  their  fidelity .+ 

When  fear  chills  the  heart  of  a  sove- 
reign, his  dignity  and  majesty  is  lost;  for 
the  audacity  of  revolt  increases  in  the 
proportion  of  its  impunity.  Could  Henry 
have  again  exhibited  the  conqueror  of 
Jarnac,  he  would  have  soon  settled  the 
affair;  but,  wishing  to  appease  the  revolt, 
rather  than  quell  it,  he  entreated  the  queen- 
mother  to  meet  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and, 
while  she  assured  him  of  the  king's 
friendship,  to  offer  him  the  full  extent  of 
his  wishes,  rather  than  disturb  the  peace 
of  the  kingdom.  Guise  presented  a  re- 
quest, signed  by  himself  and  the  Car- 
dinal of  Bourbon,  which  called  for  an 
edict  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  Huguenots  (by  force) 
from  their  cautionary  towns;  the  kins 
was  also  to  renounce  the  protection  of 
Geneva,  and  to  become  a  partisan  of  the 
league.J  Such  a  request  could  not  be 
granted  without  some  consideration;  and 
while  the  subject  was  under  discussion, 
the  King  of  Navarre  made  a  declaration, 
copies  of  which  were  sent  to  all  the 
powers  of  Europe. §  When  the  league 
had  shown  a  hostile  disposition,  the  Hu- 

*  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  i.  p.  20. 
+  Davila,  Mezeray,  and  Mathieu. 
t  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  1,  p.  22. 
$  Dated,  Berierac,  10th  June,  15d5.   It  was  written 
by  Duplessis  Mornay, 


guenots  were  pleased  to  witness  such  a 
division  in  the  camp  of  their  enemies: 
but  when  it  became  apparent  that  Henry 
was  in  danger  of  succumbing,  he  sent  an 
offer  of  his  services,  urging  him  to  lose 
no  time  in  preparing  for  the  storm  which 
was  ready  to  burst  over  him.  The  king 
wrote  in  reply  that  he  should  not  yet  take 
arms.  "  Let  the  Guises  strike  the  first 
blow,"  said  the  king,  "  in  order  that  you 
may  not  be  accused  of  breaking  the 
peace,  and  that  it  may  appear  that  they 
are  the  cause  of  the  war."* 

As  a  treaty  was  all  but  concluded  be- 
tween the  king  and  the  League,  the  King 
of  Navarre  foresaw  that  whatever  oc- 
curred would  he  to  the  injury  of  the 
Protestants:  he  therefore  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  answering  the  various  calum- 
nies against  him,  in  the  above-mentioned 
declaration,  which  may  bo  called  his  ap- 
peal to  the  world.  He  declared  that  he 
bore  no  ill-will  to  the  Catholics;  that, 
with  respect  to  his  changing  his  religion, 
he  had  been  compelled  at  the  St.  Bartho- 
lomew to  make  a  profession  of  Catholi- 
cism, but  that  he  could  not  renounce  the 
faith  in  which  he  was  educated,  unless  its 
errors  were  clearly  pointed  out,  and  that, 
in  his  case,  they  had  always  tried  to  de- 
stroy, rather  than  instruct  him.  He  con- 
tradicted several  assertions  which  had 
been  made  respecting  him,  and  concluded 
by  entreating  the  king  to  allow  him  and 
Guise  to  decide  the  quarrel  between  them 
in  single  combat,  or  with  two,  ten,  or 
twenty  combatants  on  each  side,  offering 
to  fight  in  any  place  which  his  majesty 
might  choose  in  France;  or,  if  the  Duke 
of  Guise  preferred,  he  would  meet  hiin 
out  of  the  kingdom. t 

This  declaration  produced  a  great  effect 
on  the  minds  of  the  nobility,  who  were 
equally  pleased  with  its  reasonableness, 
and  the  generous  wish  to  avoid  bloodshed. 
It  was  publicly  said  that  Guise  could 
not  refuse  such  a  challenge;  but  he  would 
not  suffer  the  cause  of  the  league  to  ap- 
pear connected  with  a  private  quarrel, 
and  sent  a  message  to  that  effect.} 

The  queen's  conference  with  Guise 
ended  in  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of 
Nemours. §     The  dishonourable  terms 

»  Esprit  frla  Lipue,  vol.  ii.  p.  270. 
+  Cayet,  liv.  I,  p.  8.    Mem.  de  Dnplessis,  vol.  i.  p  503. 
{  Davila,  liv.  7.    Perefixe,  p.  50    G.  Leti,  Vita  ui 
Sislo  V. 

§  Dated  7th  July,  J585.  Registered  in  parliament 
'I3tll. — Mem.  dc  Never3,  vol.  i.  pp.  C86— 692. 


WAR  DECLARED  AGAINST  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


203 


therein  extorted  from  the  king  were  worse 
than  any  war;  for  the  success  of  the  fac- 
tion on  this  occasion  encouraged  them  to 
still  greater  attempts,  and  was  the  cause 
of  many  persons  joining  the  party.  By 
the  treaty,  Henry  bound  himself  to  for- 
bid in  his  dominions  the  exercise  of  any 
other  religion  than  the  Romish,  under  pain 
of  death.  The  Calvinist  ministers  were  or- 
dered to  quit  the  kingdom  within  a  month, 
and  in  six  months  all  other  Calvinists 
who  would  not  abjure:  heretics  were  de- 
clared incapable  of  holding  any  office, 
and  the  mixed  commissions  were  to  be 
abolished.  The  king  agreed  to  pay  the 
sums  which  might  be  due  to  Guise's i 
foreign  levies,  and  to  give  a  number  of 
considerable  towns  as  places  of  secu- 
rity.* 

The  king  was  forced  to  declare  warj 
against  the  Huguenots;  and  measures 
were  discussed  for  attacking  them  imme- 
diately, in  all  parts  of  France.  The 
leaguers  persuaded  Henry  that  a  few  days 
would  settle  the  affair,  and  that  the  report 
of  the  first  enterprise  would  frighten  the 
Kino-  of  Navarre  into  submission. t  The 
Huguenots  assuredly  were  in  a  dreadful 
dilemma;  for  the  King  of  Navarre  had 
been  kept  inactive  by  Henry's  promises 
and  declarations,  and  Conde's  army  was 
very  much  diminished. 

The  King  of  Navarre  was  aware  of  the 
desperate  state  of  his  cause;  and,  speaking 
subsequently  of  the  king's  joining  the 
league,  he  declared  that  his  regret  was  so 
great,  and  his  apprehension  of  its  fatal  re- 
sults so  sensible,  that  the  news  of  it 
bleached  half  of  his  mustaehios.J  How- 
ever, his  energy  was  not  to  be  paralyzed 
bv  a  dread  of  danger,  and  he  took  mea- 
sures for  employing  what  resources  he 
had,  and  for  negotiating  for  assistance 
abroad.  It  was  some  consolation  for  him 
to  know,  that  the  additional  power  which 
the  Guises  had  acquired  would  be  the 
means  of  raising  friends  for  him,  particu 
larly  the  Montmorencies,  Biron,  and  Ma 
tignon. 

While  the  Huguenots  complained  of 
the  late  edict  as  a  cruel  persecution,  the 
Catholics  were  murmuring  at  the  king 
for  having  given  them  so  much  time  as 
six  months.    The  complaints  reaching 


*  Davila,  Pasquier,  an  l  Mathieu. 

t  Hiil.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p.  24. 

J  Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  501. 


the  king,  he  sent  one  morning*  for  the 
president  of  the  parliament,  the  provost  of 
the  trades,  and  the  dean  of  the  cathedral. 
Money  was  what  he  required,  and  there- 
fore he  called  upon  them  for  it,  as  other- 
wise he  could  not  accede  to  the  public 
wish,  by  declaring  war  against  the  Hu- 
guenots. He  told  them  that  he  was 
pleased  at  the  good  counsels  they  had 
given  him,  and  confidently  expected  a  fa- 
vourable result.  After  telling  them  that 
he  should  require  three  armies,  one  in 
Guyenne,  another  near  his  peison,  and  a 
third  to  protect  the  frontier,  and  prevent 
any  invasion  of  Reitres,  he  added,  "It  is 
against  my  own  opinion  that  I  have  un- 
dertaken this  war:  but  no  matter,  lam  re- 
solved to  spare  neither  care  nor  cost  for 
its  success;  and,  since  you  were  unwilling 
to  believe  me,  when  I  advised  you  not  to 
think  of  breaking  the  peace,  it  is  at  least 
fair  that  you  should  help  me  to  carry  on 
the  war:  for,  as  it  is  by  your  advice  alone 
that  I  have  undertaken  it,  I  cannot  think 
of  being  the  only  one  to  bear  the  burden. 
Mr.  Chief  President,  I  applaud  your  zeal, 
and  that  of  your  colleagues,  who  have  so 
highly  approved  of  the  revocation  of  the 
edict;t  hut  I  am  desirous  you  should  know 
that  war  is  not  to  be  carried  on  without 
money,  and  that,  so  long  as  this  lasts,  it 
will  be  in  vain  to  come  and  tease  me 
about  your  salaries  being  stopped.  You, 
Mr.  Provost,  must  be  persuaded  that  I 
shall  not  do  less  with  regard  to  the  annui- 
ties of  the  Hotel-de-Ville:  therefore  call 
together  the  inhabitants  of  my  good  city 
of  Paris,  and  tell  them  that,  since  the  re- 
vocation of  the  edict  has  given  them  so 
much  pleasure,  I  hope  they  will  not  be 
averse  to  furnishing  me  with  six  hundred 
thousand  livres,  which  will  be  requisite 
for  carrying  on  the  war."  Then,  turning 
to  the  Cardinal  of  Guise,  who  was  pre- 
sent, the  king  coolly  observed,  "  That  he 
hoped  for  the  first  month  to  be  able  to 
avoid  troubling  the  clergy,  for  he  would 
rather  empty  the  purses  of  the  other 
classes;  but  that  for  the  subsequent 
months,  so  long  as  the  war  lasted,  he  in- 
tended applying  to  the  church,  without 
waiting  for  the  pope's  consent:  for,  as  it 
was  a  religious  war,  he  ought,  in  con- 
science, to  make  use  of  the  church  reve- 


*  1 1  til  August,  15S5. 

t  That  (if  Poicliers,  which  was  favourable  to  the 
Protestants. 


204  ARROGANCE 

nues.  "  Tt  is,"  said  the  king,  "  especially 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  clergy  that  I  have 
burdened  myself  with  this  undertaking: 
it  is  a  holy  war,  and,  therefore,  the  clergy 
must  support  it." 

Henry  then  waited  to  hear  their  reply, 
and,  finding  they  were  for  remonstrating 
against  his  proposal,  he  cut  them  short,  by 
saying,  '•  you  ought,  then,  to  have  listened 
to  me,  and  kept  the  peace,  instead  of  de- 
ciding on  a  war  in  a  shop  or  a  church; 
and,  really,  I  apprehend,  that  while  we 
think  to  put  an  end  to  preaching,  we  may 
endanger  the  muss."*  The  king's  aver- 
sion to  the  war  was  thus  made  known: 
the  populace  were  taught  to  suspect  him 
of  duplicity,  and  when  the  news  arrived 
of  the  successes  which  the  King  of  Na- 
varre had  obtained  in  Guyenne,  Dauphiny, 
and  other  provinces,  they  declared  that  it 
was  owing  to  Henry's  treachery,  and 
charged  him  with  being  connected  with 
the  Huguenots  by  a  secret  treaty. 

The  insolence  of  the  league  received  an 
additional  stimulus  from  the  open  encou- 
ragement afforded  by  Sixtus  V.f  Thai 
pope  had  succeeded  Gregory  XIII.,  who 
died  in  April,  1585.  Having  been  bred 
up  a  Franciscan,  and  filled  the  office  of 
grand-inquisitor,  he  would  naturally  in- 
cline towards  a  persecuting  faction,  and 
we  find  that,  immediately  after  his  election, 
he  gave  the  league  the  benefit  of  his  influ- 
ence. Being  less  scrupulous  than  his  pre- 
decessor, lie  consented  to  give  a  bull,  de- 
claring the  Bourbon  princes  a  bastard  and 
detestable  race,  and  excommunicating  the 
King  of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde 
as  incorrigible  heretics,  who  had  forfeited 
all  right  to  every  thing  in  reversion,  as 
well  as  in  possession,  and  particularly  to 
the  succession  to  the  crown  of  France. t 

The  arrogance  of  this  act  of  pontifical 
authority  created  a  ferment  amongst  all 
classes  who  were  independent  of  the 
league;  and  when  published  in  Paris,  the 
parliament  made  a  strong  remonstrance 
against  it.§  One  of  the  counsellors  re- 
commended to  the  king  to  throw  it  into 


*  Hist,  dps  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2.  Davila,  liv.  7- 
Caypt,  liv.  1,  p.  rt.    lie  Thou,  liv.  81. 

+  Felix  Perelti,  well  known  as  Cardinal  Montalto. 

j  The  bull,  dated  9th  Sept.  1585,  treals  both  princes 
as  already  degraded.  Quondam  A'avarrte  regem,  et  olim 
principcm  Covdenscm.  A  spirited  work  was  published 
on  the  subject,  in  which  the  defects  of  popery  are 
cleverly  exposed.  It  is  entitled,  Brutum  fulmcn  Papa: 
Siiti  V.,  &c,  editio  4,  without  date  or  name:  attri- 
buted to  Hotmail. 

§  Le  Grain,  liv.  3,  p.  145. 


OF  SIXTUS  V. 

the  fire,  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled 
clergy,  and  to  order  the  attorney-general 
to  prosecute  those  who  had  brought  it 
from  Rome.*  It  was  easy  to  show  how 
the  king  was  interested  in  this  bull,  for  if 
the  pope  could  nominate  a  successor  to 
the  throne,  he  could  easily  extend  that 
power  to  the  dethronement  of  a  reigning 
king,  a  thing  which  Pope  Zachary  had 
done  to  Childeric  III.  But  Henry  had 
such  a  dread  of  the  league,  that  notwith- 
standing the  repeated  exhortations  he  re- 
ceived from  faithful  advisers,  he  never 
would  allow  proceedings  against  the  pub- 
lishers of  the  bull,  contenting  himself  with 
refusing  to  give  it  his  sanction.  The  in- 
sulted princes,  however,  would  not  so 
quietly  submit  to  the  pontifical  audacity; 
they  drew  up  a  protest  against  the  bull, 
appealing  to  the  peers  of  France,  and  the 
decision  of  a  future  council,  and  declaring 
Sixtus  soi-disant  pope  to  be  a  liar  and 
Anti-Christ.  This  was  publicly  put  up  in 
all  the  streets  of  Rome  and  the  houses  of 
the  cardinals,  and  even  on  the  doors  of 
the  Vatican.f 

The  league  in  the  mean  time  became 
clamorous  for  the  war,  and  Henry  was 
compelled  to  prepare  three  armies.  But 
before  that  was  ready  which  was  destined 
to  oppose  Navarre,  and  which  the  Duke 
of  Mayenne  was  to  command,  he  sent  a 
deputation  to  that  prince,  entreating  him 
to  return  to  the  Catholic  church,  or  at 
least  to  suspend  the  public  exercise  of 
Calvinism  for  a  few  months,  to  ^ive  time 
for  an  amicable  adjustment.  The  depu- 
ties were  Lenoneourt,  afterwards  cardinal, 
and  the  president  Brulart,  accompanied 
by  some  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  They 
were  unable  to  make  any  impression  on 
Navarre,  who  told  them  that  he  was  ready 
to  be  instructed  according  to  the  decisions 
of  a  council  freely  chosen,  and  not  with  a 
poniard  at  his  breast. f 

Every  attempt  at  persuasion  proving 
ineffectual,  the  King  expressed  his  concur- 
rence in  the  wish  of  the  league:  he  pub- 
lished an  edict  authorising  the  governors 
of  the  provinces  to  pursue  the  Huguenots, 
without  waiting  for  the  expiration  of  the 
six  months  fixed  in  the  treaty  of  Nemours. 
Navarre  forbade  the  edict  being  executed 
where  he  possessed  authority ;  treated  as 


*  Journal  do  Henri  III. 

+  Leti,  De  Thou,  Davila,  and  many  others. 

|  Davila,  liv.  7.    Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  liv.  1. 


THE  HUGUENOTS  SUCCESSFUL. 


205 


enemies  the  people  of  all  towns  that  ad- 
hered to  the  league ;  and  confiscated  their 
property  for  the  support  of  his  army.* 
The  flames  of  civil  war  were  once  more 
kindled  in  this  afflicted  kingdom. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  Duke  of  Mercosur  against 
the  Huguenots— Siege  of  Brouage — Enterprise  on 
Angers— Capture  ami  defence  of  Oliron— Confer- 
ences between  the  Queen-mntber  anil  the  King  of 
Navarre — Renewal  of  the  War — Bailie  of  Courtras. 


The  renewal  of  the  war  made  it  neces- 
sary for  the  King  of  Navarre  to  hold  a 
consultation  with  the  Prince  of  Co  fide 
and  Marshal  Montmorency.  They  de- 
cided upon  a  plan  of  action,  and  made 
exertions  to  supply  their  different  towns 
with  provisions  and  ammunition.  Their 
party  had  recently  been  joined  by  the 
Duke  of  Thouars,  of  the  family  of  Tre- 
mouille,  whose  sister  was  shortly  to  be 
married  to  the  Prince  of  Co  tide. 

The  Duke  of  Mercosur  began  the  cam- 
paign by  suddenly  quitting  his  govern- 
ment of  Brittany,  to  attack  the  Huguenots 
in  Poictou.t  With  only  two  thousand 
men,  he  expected  to  perform  some  great 
achievements,  relying  on  his  activity  to 
make  up  for  the  deficiency  of  his  num- 
bers. He  had  begun  to  lay  waste  that 
province,  when  the  news  of  his  arrival 
reached  Conde,  who  had  lately  quitted  St. 
Jean  d'Angely,  with  a  little  army  he  had 
collected.  He  lost  no  time  in  marching 
direct,  to  give  battle  to  the  Duke  of  Mer- 
cceur;  but  he,  being  sensible  that  the 
prince's  force  was  superior  to  his  own, 
resolved  on  retreating  to  Fontenay,  a  town 
held  by  the  Catholics,  and  there  await  the 
arrival  of  the  royal  army  under  Mayenne. 
But  the  inhabitants  of  that  town  being 
more  attached  to  the  king  than  to  the 
league,  refused  to  admit  him  within  their 
walls,  under  the  pretence  of  having  no 
orders  from  the  king  to  that  effect.  He 
was,  therefore,  compelled  to  take  his 
quarters  in  the  suburbs,  and  make  exer- 
tions to  procure  provisions,  as  the  inha- 
bitants refused  to  supply  him.  In  this 
condition,  he  was  attacked  by  the  Prince 
of  Conde.    The  battle  was  severely  con. 


tested,  the  Catholics  having  the  benefit 
of  position,  and  their  assailants  that  of 
numbers.  When  night  came,  Mercosur 
perceiving  that,  if  the  fight  should  be  re- 
newed the  following  day,  he  would  almost 
certainly  be  defeated,  resolved  on  de- 
camping as  secretly  as  possible,  which  he 
did  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  Conde 
followed  him  the  next  day,  and  so 
harassed  his  march,  that  his  men  had  no 
time  to  take  refreshment.  At  last  he  suc- 
ceeded in  crossing  the  Loire,  after  leaving 
behind,  not  only  the  plunder  acquired  at 
the  commencement  of  his  expedition,  but 

I  the  greater  part  of  his  own  baggage: 
several  parties  of  his  men  also  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Conde.* 

The  Huguenots  were  very  successful 

j  in  several  affairs  which  followed  this,  and 

[Conde  considered  himself  equal  to  the 

j  siege  of  Brouage,  then  held  by  St.  Luc, 
with  a  considerable  garrison.  The  people 
of  Rochelle  were  desirous  of  retaking 
Brouage  from  the  Catholics,  and  contri- 
buted their  assistance  to  the  enterprise. 
The  town  was  invested  completely  at  the 

'  beginning  of  October,  1585,  and  being 
attacked  by  sea,  as  well  as  by  land,  its 
fall  was  confidently  expected,  when  a 
circumstance  oeeuned  which  called  off 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  caused  such  a 
change  of  affairs,  that  Marshal  Matignon 
had  time  to  raise  the  siege.  The  citadel 
of  Angers  had  been  seized  upon  by  three 
captains  in  a  treacherous  manner:  they 
were  of  different  parties,  but  had  acted  in 
concert  on  this  occasion.  Their  names 
were  Du  Halot,  a  royalist;  Frosne,  an 
enemy  of  Brissac,  the  governor  of  An- 
gers; and  Roe-hemorte,  a  friend  of  the 
King  of  Navarre.  They  entered  the 
town  on  a  friendly  pretence,  and  while 
Frosne  was  at  dinner  with  the  officer  left 

1  in  charge  of  the  place,  his  companions 
murdered  '.he  soldiers,  who  were  not  of 
their  faction.  The  commanding  officer 
was  killed  soon  after,  and  the  castle  was 
in  the  power  of  the  confederates.  But 
instead  of  retiring  into  the  castle,  Dti 
Halot  went  into  the  town  and  declared 

I  that  he  had  acted  in  the  name  and  on  the 
behalf  of  the  king:  that,  however,  had  no 
effect  on  the  people,  who  arrested,  and 
soon  after  hanged  him.  The  inhabitants 
immediately  attacked  the  castle,  which 


*  Hist  <les  Derniers  Troubles,  p  27.  *  Davila  liv.  8.  Le  Grain,  liv.  4,  p.  147.  D'Aubigne\ 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  10.    Mem.  de  la  l.igue,  vol.  ii.  p.  2.   vol.  li.  p.  435. 
18 


206 


CONDE  ATTACKS  THE  FAUBOURGS. 


ihe  confederates  perceiving,  drew  up  the 
bridge  before  Frosne  could  enter;  lie  tried 
to  climb  by  the  chain,  but  was  wounded 
by  the  assailants,  and  falling  into  the 
moat,  was  killed  by  a  stag  that  was  kept 
there.  Rochemorte,  alone  remaining, 
was  demanded  for  whom  he  held  the 
castle?  He  answered  "For  the  King  of 
Navarre."  Preparations  were  then  made 
for  a  regular  attack,  whenever  the  Duke 
of  Mayenne  should  arrive.  A  few  days 
after,  Roehemort  himself  was  killed  by 
two  musket  balls  striking  him  while  at 
one  of  the  windows.  There  then  re- 
mained sixteen  persons  in  the  castle,  but 
as  they  had  lost  their  leaders,  they  pro- 
posed to  capitulate.* 

Conde  had  been  informed  of  the  sur- 
prise of  the  castle;  and  learning  at  the 
same  time  that  the  place  required  assist- 
ance, he  despatched  D'Aubigne  with 
eleven  hundred  men  to  secure  the  town 
to  his  party.  D'Aubigne,  aware  of  the 
importance  of  the  place,  lost  no  time  in 
executing  his  commission;  but  unfortu- 
nately he  was  countermanded.  Some 
persons  had  persuaded  the  prince  that 
such  an  undertaking  was  worthy  of  him- 
self: eleven  days  were  lost  in  preparing 
for  his  departure:  he  relinquished  the 
siege  of  Brouage,  which  was  on  the  eve 
of  completion,  leaving  only  a  small  portion 
of  his  army  to  mask  the  town,  and  when 
he  arrived  at  Angers,  on  the  twenty-first 
of  October,  he  found  that  place  occupied 
by  six  thousand  of  the  enemy. f 

Conde  advanced  to  attack  the  faubourgs, 
but  soon  discovered  that  the  castle  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The 
object  of  his  journey  was  thus  completely 
foiled;  great  confusion  ensued  in  his 
army,  and  he  experienced  such  difficulty 
in  making  his  escape  that  this  expedition 
nearly  caused  his  ruin.  An  army  was 
ready  to  cut  off  his  retreat  in  every  direc- 
tion :  Mayenne,  Epernon,  Joyeuse.  and 
Biron  were  each  at  the  head  of  armies 
opposed  to  him;  and  La  Chastre  had 
undertaken  to  prevent  his  crossing  the 
Loire,  every  bridge  and  ford  of  which 
was  occupied.  His  numbers  in  the  mean 
time  constantly  diminished,  as  the  alarm 
made  many  seek  their  safety  by  flying 
separately.     The  Duke  of  Rohan  per- 


*  D.ivila,  I ■  v.  8.    Mem.  de  la  Lijue,  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 
3ully.  Iiv.  2.   Cayet,  liv.  1.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  p.  440. 
((  D'Aubigne,  vol.  ii.  pp.  442-0.   Davila,  liv.  8. 


suaded  Conde  to  retire  privately  from  the 
army,  and  escape  by  passing  through  un- 
frequented routes:  he  followed  this  ad- 
vice, and  went  through  Brittany  into 
Guernsey,  whence  he  passed  over  to 
England.  After  the  prince  had  quitted 
the  army,  his  followers  divided  into  small 
parties,  and  succeeded  in  making  their 
escape  by  sacrificing  their  baggage:  some 
of  them,  however,  were  so  unfortunate  as 
to  be  discovered,  and  were  put  to  death 
by  the  Catholics.* 

Doubts  were  entertained  for  some  time 
of  Conde's  safety,  and  the  Protestant 
party  was  depressed  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  the  league  was  encouraged  by 
the  rumour.  The  king  was  loudly  called 
upon  to  annihilate  the  party;  the  Catholic 
generals  placed  garrisons  in  all  the  towns 
around  Rochelle  and  St.  Jean  d'Angely 
to  prevent  assistance  reaching  them,  and 
reinforcements  were  sent  to  the  army  in 
Guyenne  to  ensure  the  defeat  of  Navarre, 
and,  if  possible,  to  make  him  a  prisoner.! 

At  the  commencement  of  the  following 
year  the  King  of  Navarre  published  seve- 
ral declarations,  in  which  he  laments  the 
miseries  which  a  war  inevitably  inflicts 
upon  a  country,  and  shows  that  he  is  not 
to  be  blamed  for  the  present  struggle. 
Addressing  the  clergy,  he  says,  "If  war 
delights  you  so  much;  if  you  prefer  a 
battle  to  an  argument,  and  a  conspiracy  to 
a  council,  I  wash  my  hands  of  it,  and  the 
blood  which  may  be  shed  shall  be  on  your 
heads."]; 

At  this  time  the  King  of  Navarre's 
forces  were  far  inferior  to  those  opposed 
to  him,  and  he  considered  it  necessary  to 
prolong  the  contest  and  avoid  a  general 
engagement.  He  selected  the  flower  of 
his  army  to  make  a  flying  camp  of  two 
thousand  musketeers,  three  hundred  ca- 
valry, and  a  few  of  the  nobility:  the  rest 
he  placed  in  different  towns,  and  by  his 
activity  and  courage  he  effected  such 
operations  that  the  Catholic  army  was 
paralyzed.  Navarre  being  well  acquainted 
with  the  country,  surprised  detachments, 
intercepted  convoys,  and  kept  his  adver- 
saries in  continual  alarm.  Mayenne  in 
the  mean  time  found  his  army  thinning 


*  Davila,  liv.  8.  Sully,  liv.  2.  De  Thou,  liv  SB. 
Muni  <le  Bouillon,  p.  73.  Hist,  dps  Derniers  Troubles, 
hv. '2,  p.  29.    Maihieu,  liv  8,  p.  5U7. 

t  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  31 

t  Mom.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p  580.  Dated  Montau- 
ban,  1st  January,  1580 


CAPTURE  AND  DEFENCE  OF  OLERON. 


207 


by  sickness  and  desertion;  and  the  siege 
of  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  which  he  had  re- 
solved upon,  was  obliged  to  be  aban- 
doned.* 

The  Prince  of  Conde  returned  to  Ro- 
chelle  in  February,  158G,  and  the  affairs 
ofthe  Huguenots  resumed  a  smiiingaspect. 
Several  places  in  that  quarter  were  taken 
by  Conde's  captains;  among  others  the 
Isle  of  Oleron,  in  which  D'Aubigne  distin- 
guished himself.  But  the  glory  he  ob- 
tained in  taking  the  island  was  very  soon 
eclipsed  by  the  brave  defence  which  was 
directed  by  him.  In  the  beginning  of 
April,  St.  Luc,  governor  of  Brouage, 
attacked  him  with  five  thousand  men, 
assisted  by  some  ships  of  war:  a  most 
obstinate  struggle  was  maintained  for 
twenty-four  hours,  in  which  the  assailants 
were  driven  out  of  the  town  after  they  had 
succeeded  in  effecting  a  lodgement.  St. 
Luc  was  at  last  obliged  to  retire  with  the 
loss  of  four  hundred  men  and  a  great  part 
of  his  baggage. t 

St.  Luc's  forces  being  divided  on  ac- 


his  making  use  of  it,  that  he  was  obliged 
to  have  recourse  to  bursal  edicts.* 

A  fresh  difficulty  was  impending  over 
Henry;  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany 
were  preparing  to  send  relief  to  their 
brethren  in  France.  Navarre  had  sent 
agents  to  entreat  the  different  princes  to 
take  into  consideration  the  persecuted 
condition  of  the  Huguenots;  and  their 
extreme  danger  at  the  close  of  1585  had 
aroused  the  zeal  of  Beza,  who,  although 
advanced  in  years,  traversed  Germany, 
and  with  powerful  eloquence  addressed 
all  classes  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  Cal- 
vinists.  His  preaching  excited  great 
feelings,  and  a  sort  of  crusade  was  pre- 
pared.f 

But  the  German  princes  being  on  terms 
of  friendship  with  the  King  of  France, 
considered  it  necessary,  before  they 
marched  any  troops  into  his  dominions, 
to  send  an  embassy  to  make  complaints 
of,  and  claim  satisfaction  for,  the  breach 
of  promises  made  in  favour  of  the  pro- 
testants;  and  to  entreat  his  majesty  to 


count  of  this  expedition,  the  Prince  of |  restore  tranquillity  to  that  persecuted  peo- 
Conde  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  pie.  Great  preparations  were  made  to 
to  attack  one  division,  commanded  by  a  add  splendour  to  their  mission  ;  but  when 
gentleman  named  Tiercelin.  Conde  fell  they  arrived  in  Paris  they  had  the  morti- 
in  with  him  near  Saintes.}  and  an  engage-  fication  of  rinding  that  the  king  had  gone 
ment  ensued,  which  ended  in  favour  of  10  'he  south  of  France.|  It  is  thought 
the  Huguenots.  But  their  victory  was  'bat  his  sole  object  in  going  from  the 
dearly  purchased,  many  of  their  captains  capital  at  such  a  time  was  to  avoid  re- 
being  wounded,  and  two  of  them  mortally,  ceiving  these  ambassadors;  nor  could  he 
the  sons  of  the  late  Andelot:  another  son  fix  any  time  for  his  certain  return,  as  he 
had  lately  died  at  St.  Jean  D'Angely,  and  had  engaged  bis  mother  to  confer  with 
their  elder  brother,  the  Count  de  Laval,  'be  King  of  Navarre  upon  a  plan  which 
was  so  afflicted,  that  he  died  of  grief  appeared  to   his  refined  and  scheming 


within  eight  days. J 


policy  to  offer  a  sure  way  to  save  the 


The  king  in  the  mean  time  was  anxious  government  and  crush  the  league.  This 
that  the  war  should  be  finished.  lie  was  plan  consisted  in  forming  a  private  treatv 
unable  to  prosecute  it  for  want  of  means;  w''h  Navarre,  who  should  renounce  his 
and  it  was  out  of  his  power  to  stem  the  religion,  be  divorced  from  his  wife,  and 
torrent  of  faction  which  had  forced  him  marry  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Lor- 
into  hostilities.  The  clergy,  encouraged  rai":  his  title  as  presumptive  heir  to  the 
by  the  pope's  nuncio,  had  importuned  crown  was  then  to  be  publicly  recognised; 
him  to  publish  the  decrees  of  the  Council  and  the  nation  being  biassed  in  favour  of 
of  Trent;  but  having  obtained  a  bull  from  'he  direct  succession,  would  be  easily 
the  pope  to  sell  some  church  property  drawn  away  from  the  league  to  full  obe- 
(most  probably  granted  in  the  hope  of  dience.§*  Catherine  undertook  the  corn- 
gaining  his  consent  to  the  other  measure,)  mission,  relying  upon  her  usual  method 
they  raised  such  a  violent  opposition  to '.  °f  intriguing.    The  weight  of  years  did 

not  prevent  her  from  making  so  long  a 
journey,  but  no  sooner  was  her  departure 


*  Davila,  liv.  8. 

t  dvsDdruiers  Troubles,  liv. 2.  D'Aubiane,  vol 
in.  p.  IS. 

t  7th  April,  158C. 

<?  Mem,  de  la  Ugue,  vol.  ij.  p.  173.    Hist,  rles  Ucr 

fliers  Troubles,  liv.  -Z.  Davila,  liv.  8.  D'Aubirjne,  vol 
in.  p.  10. 


*  Journal  lie  Henri  III. 
t  Davila,  liv.  8.    Leti,  Vila  ili  Sistt  V. 
I  Caret,  liv.  1,  p.  2a.  Davila,  liv.  8,  p.  380. 
§  Davila,  liv.  8. 


208 


THE  KING  RETURNS  TO  PARIS. 


known  than  Henry  was  beset  by  the 
league  upon  the  subject  of  her  mission. 
He  assured  them  that  the  negotiation  was 
only  a  manoeuvre  to  delay  the  arrival  of 
the  Germans,  and  that  it  would  in  the 
end  prove  beneficial  to  the  holy  union.* 
This  declaration  being  made  public,  and 
the  Huguenots  knowing  that  his  dissimu- 
lation was  unbounded,  they  encouraged 
suspicions  and  apprehensions  in  each 
other's  minds,  and  the  King  of  Navarre 
was  thus  rendered  less  likely  to  accede 
to  his  proposal. 

The  military  operations  of  this  interval 
presented  nothing  of  importance:  a  de- 
sire to  signalize  himself  beyond  what  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne  had  been  able  to  do, 
made  Biron  resolve  on  besieging  Marans, 
a  town  very  essential  to  the  possession  of 
Rochelle.  This  movement  brought  Na- 
varre from  Guvenne  to  reinforce  that 
place  and  strengthen  the  fortifications,  in 
doing  which  he  personally  joined  in  the 
work,  to  encourage  his  followers.  Biron 
was  roughly  handled  when  he  commenced 
his  attack,  and  was  wounded  by  a  musket 
ball,  which  carried  off  one  of  his  fingers: 
lie  afterwards  found  that  the  place  was 
likely  to  offer  a  long  defence,  and  carried 
on  his  plan  of  attack  with  more  coolness. 
Before  the  siege  could  be  concluded,  the 
Abbe  Gadagni  arrived  from  the  court 
with  orders  to  suspend  hostilities  pre- 
paratory to  the  conference  between  the 
queen-mother  and  the  King  of  Navarre. 
Biron  agreed  to  withdraw  his  troops  be- 
yond the  Charente, and  Navarre  promised 
to  meet  her  majesty  as  soon  as  he  had 
settled  affairs  in  Rochelle. t 

The  ambassadors  were  indignant  at 
being  detained  so  long,  and  two  of  them 
quitted  Paris.  Couriers  were  continually 
sent  to  the  king,  entreating  him  to  return 
and  give  them  an  audience;  but  he  de- 
layed as  long  as  possible,  in  hopes  of  re- 
ceiving a  favourable  account  of  his  mo- 
ther's conference  with  Navarre.  At  last 
he  was  induced  to  come  back  by  the  in- 
telligence that  the  whole  body  had  re- 
solved on  following  the  example  of  their 
companions:  he  arrived  at  St.  Germains 
in  the  beginning  of  September,  and  gave 
the  long-expected  audience.  Henry's 

*  Davila,  liv.  8. 

t  Davila,  liv.  8.  Cayet,  liv.  1.  p.  31.  D'Aubigne,  vnl 
iii.p.  20.  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii  p.  53.  The  siege 
of  Marans  lasted  from  the  1st  June  to  4tli  August, 
158(1. 


manner  of  receiving  the  deputation  suf- 
ficiently evinced  his  displeasure  with 
their  mission.  He  expressed  his  surprise 
at  such  interference  with  his  government, 
and  told  them  they  need  wait  no  longer, 
for  he  should  give  them  no  other  answer.* 
This  insult  offered  to  their  deputies  ex- 
cited the  indignation  of  the  German 
princes. t 

The  king  returned  to  Paris  the  following 
day :  his  cool  reception  of  the  ambassa- 
dors was  generally  known,  as  well  as  his 
continued  preparations  for  carrying  on 
the  war:  still  he  had  the  mortification  to 
find  the  popular  feeling  more  furious  than 
ever  against  him.  The  pulpits  resounded 
with  abuse;  and  the  leaguers  had  circu- 
lated a  report  that  he  favoured  Navarre 
and  the  Huguenots.  It  was  said  that  he 
endeavoured,  in  secret,  to  secure  the  suc- 
cession to  the  crown  for  one,  and  full 
liberty  of  worship  for  the  other.l  An  ad- 
ditional cause  of  discontent  was  to  be 
traced  to  the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  who 
having  failed  to  answer  the  great  expec- 
tations which  had  been  entertained  of  him 
and  his  army,  was  desirous  of  saving  his 
reputation  in  any  way.  He  loudly  com- 
plained of  having  been  deserted,  betrayed, 
and  prevented  from  destroying  the  Hu- 
guenots of  Guyenne;  which  he  declared 
he  should  certainly  have  done,  if  he  had 
been  properly  seconded,  and  supplied 
with  provisions  and  ammunition.  The 
leaguers  repeated  these  complaints,  and 
called  upon  the  king  to  dismiss.  Biron, 
who  was  not  sufficiently  zealous  in  the 
cause. 

A  new  faction  arose  in  the  midst  of 
these  complaints :  it  was  called  the  League 
of  the  Sixteen,  and  while  it  fully  co-ope- 
rated in  all  the  plans  of  the  original  league, 
it  pushed  its  audacity  in  Paris  to  an  in- 
conceivable point.  It  was  composed  of 
the  most  violent  leaguers  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes,  and  originated  with 
a  shopkeeper  named  Rocheblond,  who, 
being  carried  away  by  a  blind  zeal  for 
religion,  proposed  to  form  an  association 
in  Paris,  to  prevent  the  King  of  Navarre 
from  succeeding  to  the  crown.  Upon 
communicating  his  plan  to  some  eccle- 
siastics, he  was.  soon  joined  by  Prevost, 
curate  of  St.  Severin,  and  Boucher,  curate 


*  Davila,  liv.  8. 

t  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  38. 
J  Ibid.  p.  322. 


AN  ORIGINAL  LETTER  OF  HENRY  III. 


209 


of  St.  Benedict ;  the  latter  of  whom  be- 
came the  most  conspicuous  and  furious 
of  all  the  leaguers.  They  then  added  to 
their  numbers  several  attorneys,  and  per- 
sons of  intelligence  and  activity ;  the  most 
celebrated  of  whom  was  Bussy-le-Clerc, 
who  distinguished  himself  afterwards  as 
governor  of  the  Bastille.  They  were 
called  the  Sixteen,  on  account  of  their 
confederacy  being  managed  by  that  num- 
ber of  persons,  one  of  whom  superintended 
each  of  the  sixteen  divisions  of  Paris* 
The  faction  had  worked  undeclared  for 
some  time,  having  been  established  at  the 
beginning  of  1585;  and  when  it  was 
organized,  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  were  apprized  of  the 
powerful  auxiliary  which  had  arisen  for 
them.  But  the  king  was  informed  of  the 
movements  of  the  Sixteen :  one  Nicolas 
Poulain'  had  been  introduced  to  their 
meetings,  and  revealed  every  thing  to  the 
Chancellor  Chiverny,  who  communicated 
the  intelligence  to  the  monarch.  He 
contented  himself,  however,  with  placing 
troops  in  the  arsenal,  the  Bastille,  and 
other  places ;  and  suffered  the  conspirators 
to  continue  their  meetings  without  making 
any  attempt  to  arrest  the  leaders,  although 
he  was  aware  that  they  had  more  than 
once  deliberated  upon  an  attempt  to  as- 
sassinate him.f  Henry's  conduct  is  inex- 
plicable ;  and  he  appears  to  have  wanted 
firmness  on  every  occasion,  except  when 
he  displayed  a  hatred  of  the  Protestants : 
then,  and  then  only,  he  was  decided  and 
vigorous.- 

An  original  letter,  in  the  hand-writing 
of  Henry  III.,  has  been  preserved :  it  is 
addressed  to  Hillier,  governor  of  Bayonne, 
and  proves  that  the  king  was  by  no 
means  inattentive  to  public  afifairs.t  After 
adverting  to  other  matters,  he  says,  "I 


decease,  representing  to  them  the  doubt- 
ful condition  of  the  state,  &c.  &c.  ..... 

And  as  such  discourses  cannot  but  appear 
suspicious  to  me,  not  knowing  by  whom 
the  said  Bishop  of  Bayonne  is  so  prompt- 
ed, I  beg  you  to  ascertain  of  him  if  he  has 
held  such  language;  for  such  curiosities 
are  of  a  dangerous  and  pernicious  conse- 
quence ;  and  I  find  it  very  strange  that 
this  conduct  of  the  bishop  has  been  com- 
municated to  me  by  another  than  your- 
self." We  have  not  the  contents  of  Hil- 
lier's  reply,  but  Poulain's  notice,  combined 
with  the  information  which  had  reached 
him  from  Bayonne,  was  quite  sufficient  to 
have  roused  the  king  to  activity ;  yet  he 
contented  himself  with  preparing  against 
a  surprise,  when  he  should  have  displayed 
his  authority,  and  crushed  the  spirit  of  re- 
bellion. 

Still  the  placing  of  the  troops  in  the 
places  intended  to  be  the  first  objects  of 
their  operations  confounded  the  conspira- 
tors, and  prevented  them  from  taking  any 
measures  at  that  time.  Mayenne,  who 
was  to  have  superintended  their  opera- 
tions, was  anxious  to  retire  from  Paris; 
and  Henry  permitted  him  to  have  an 
audience  previous  to  his  departure,  when 
he  rallied  him  in  a  manner  that  showed 
he  was  fully  aware  of  his  connexion  with 
the  conspirators:  Mayenne  notwithstand- 
ing assured  them  of  his  resolution  to  sup- 
port them.* 

It  is  probable  that  if  Catherine  had  been 
at  Paris  at  this  juncture,  she  would  have 
recommended  some  measure  which  would 
have  awed  the  league;  but  she  was  oc- 
cupied during  the  remainder  of  the  year 
in  arranging  conferences  with  the  King  of 
Navarre,  and  using  all  her  influence  to 
bring  him  back  to  the  church  of  Rome. 
A  considerable  time  was  taken  up  in  de- 


have  heard  that  the  bishop  of  my  town  of  ciding  where  they  should  meet,  and  how 
Bayonne  has  recently  procured  a  list  of  j  each  party  should  be  attended.    The  cas- 


all  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  by  means 
of  the  priests  whom  he  has  chosen  for  the 
Easter  confessions,  and  has  particularly 
inquired  of  those  of  the  new  opinions, 
what  they  thought  of  the  success  of  the 
affairs  of  my  kingdom  in  the  event  of  my 


*  Cayet.liv.  l,  p.  12. 

t    I'rocesverbal  of    Nicolas  Poulain,  and  Davila, 
Jiv.  8. 

t  The  tetter,  dated  23d  May.  158>i,  is  in  possession  of 
Prince  Polignac,  a  descendant  of  llillier's.  I  aril  not 
aware  that  it  has  ever  been  p  inted  ;  and  am  obliged 
to  the  Marquis  de  Portia  for  the  use  of  a  MS.  copy  of 
it. 

18* 


tie  of  St.  Bris,  near  Cognac,  was  at  last 
agreed  upon  :  Catherine  went  there,  at- 
tended by  Montpensier.  Nevers,  and  Biron,- 
Navarre  was  accompanied  by  Conde, 
Turenne,  and  several  chiefs  of  his  party.| 
The  queen-mother  soon  discovered  that 
her  influence  was  no  longer  so  irresistible,, 
and  in  vain  had  she  taken  with  her  a  train 
of  lovely  young  women  :f  the  princes  had 


*  Esprit  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  310. 
t  14th  Oecember,  1586. 

X  Cuthetine,  tired  of  importuning  the  King  of 


210 


•Catherine's  cruelty  and  treachery. 


been  so  often  deceived,  that  they  stood 
firm  to  their  proposal  of  a  national  coun- 
cil; and  the  recollection  of  the  deceptions 
practised  prior  to  the  St.  Bartholomew, 
made  them  constantly  on  their  guard,  not 
only  as  to  any  treaty  they  might  con- 
clude, but  also  for  their  personal  safety. 
Cayet  informs  us  "  that  they  would  never 
all  three  enter  the  queen's  apartment  at 
once:  when  Navarre  was  there,  the 
prince  and  Turenne  kept  guard  at  the 
door."*  Turenne  is  also  stated  to  have 
said  to  her — "It  is  no  longer  possible, 
madam,  for  us  to  be  satisfied  with  your 
bare  promise,  when  your  most  solemn 
edicts  have  been  violated."! 

Catherine,  without  consulting  the  King 
of  Navarre,  had  published  a  truce :  he 
considered  it  a  scheme  for  stopping  the 
march  of  the  Germans  who  were  coming 
to  join  him,  and  insisted  on  the  publica- 
tion being  revoked,  as  an  indispensable 
condition  of  continuing  the  conference. 
The  queen's  advisers  were  at  a  loss  what 
to  recommend,  and  appeared  astonished  ; 
but  she  being  always  ready  to  consenf  to 
any  barbarity  in  furtherance  of  her  plans, 
told  them  to  send  some  musketeers  from 
Niort,  to  attack  and  destroy  two  Hugue- 
not regiments  at  Maillozais.  "Go,  and 
cut  them  in  pieces,*'  said  she,  "  and  the 
truce  is  at  an  end  without  further  trouble." 
Her  cruel  orders  were  instantly  obeyed  : 
many  of  the  Huguenots  perished,  and  the 
rest  were  made  prisoners.! 

At  length  the  conference  commenced: 
the  queen  declared  her  regret  at  Na- 
varre's obstinacy  in  refusing  to  change 
his  religion,  and  absenting  himself  from 
court,  by  which  he  compelled  the  king  to 
wage  war  against  him.  The  King  of 
Navarre  complained,  that  notwithstand- 
ing he  fully  obeyed  the  king's  orders, 
and  scrupulously  attended  to  the  edicts, 
the  king  had  broken  the'  peace  out  of 
compliance  to  tlve  Guises,  and  other  ene- 
mies of  the  public  tranquillity.  He  com- 
plained of  the  king's  bad  faith  towards 
him,  in  ordering  liim  to  remain  quiet, 
■while  he  suffered  the  league  to  make  ad- 


vances; showing  that  he  had  hazarded 
his  life  by  not  taking  arms  sooner,  and 
that  in  order  to  satisfy  those  who  wished 
to  reduce  him  to  extremities,  he  had  ne- 
glected to  look  after  his  own  preserva- 
tion. "Madam,"  said  he  to  the  queen, 
with  emphasis,  "  you  can  only  accuse  me 
of  too  much  fidelity."*  The  proposal 
for  a  divorce  from  Margaret,  and  a  mar- 
riage with  the  Duke  of  Lorrain's  daugh- 
ter, was  developed  in  a  second  confer- 
ence. But  an  'offer  of  marriage  from 
Catherine  de  Medicis  was  ominous  for 
the  Huguenot  prince.  He  requested  two 
days  to  consider  of  it,  and  his  reflections 
only  made  him  more  resolved  to  refuse 
the  offer.  He  felt,  besides,  a  great  re- 
luctance to  have  the  appearance  of  fre- 
quently changing  his  religious  opinions, 
and  could  not  have  deserted  the  Protest- 
ants at  such  a  time  without  disgrace.f 

The  conference  was    afterwards  re- 
newed at  Fontenay,  when  Catherine  de- 
clared that  the  king  would  make  no  peace 
nor  treaty  with  him,  unless  he  became 
a  Catholic.    Navarre  made  his  invariable 
reply,  that  he  would  submit  to  the  deci- 
sion of  a  council  freely  chosen.  The 
queen    argued  that  the  change  would 
make  his  condition  more  secure,  more 
free,  and  more  suitable  to  his  rank;  as  he 
would    then   enjoy  the  king's  favour, 
which  would  be  better  than  staving  at 
Roehelle,  where  he  could  not  do  as  he 
wished.    To  which  he  answered  that  no 
private  gratification,  nor  even  the  pos- 
j  session  of  thirty  crowns,  should  make 
i  him  disgracefully  renounce    a  religion 
{  which  he  had  followed  thirty  years:  and 
!  that  as  to  Roehelle,  he  could  do  what  he 
would  there,  because  he  desired  nothing 
but  what  was  right.!     Their  conversa- 
tion  was  very   protracted;    the  queen 
would  not  consent  to  a  treaty  of  peace 
unless  Navarre  promised  his  abjuration; 
]  the  King  of  Navarre  wished  for  an  ar- 
rangement which  would  ensure  the  set- 
I  dement  of  the  affair  by  a  council.  She 
i  would  not  consent  even  to  a  truce,  unless 
he  countermanded  the  approach  of  the 
Germans;  while  he  would  not  yield  that 


varre,  said  to  him,  "  What  is  it  that  vnu  would  liave?" 
He  looked  round  on  the  young  ladies,  and  said,  '•No- 
thin?,  madam,  that  I  t*e  iieie.  —  i\u:ii.\e. 
*  Uayet,  liv  1  p  32. 

t  Leti re  <fun  Oenlilhomme  Frmicois,d  tin  sien  ami  a 
ficme,  contenant  le  discours  da  voyage  de  la  /trine,  Merc 
du  Roi.  This  piece  is  insetted  in  \ol.  ii.  of  Mem.  de  la 
Ligue. 

\  Branlome,  vol.  i.  p.  66.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.p.  24. 


*  D'Aubigneyvol.  iii.  p  23.  Davila,  liv.  8.  Hist,  des 
Derniivs  Troubles,  li*.  2.  p.  33.  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol. 
ii.  p.  *-0. 

j     +  Davila.  liv.  8. 

%  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p.  34.  D'Au- 
bigne, vol.  iii.  p.  23.    Le  Grain,  liv.  4,  p.  149.  Mem. 
'  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  it.  p.  81. 


CONFERENCE  HELD. 


21L 


point,  unless  he  were  sure  that  the  truce  tulated  in  November;  and  the  town  of 
would  produce  a  peace.*  The  queen  at  Tarase'on  declared  for  the  king  without 
last  lost  all  patience,  and  said  with  an  sustaining  any  attack.* 


imperious  tone,  that  no  further  delibera- 
tion was  necessary;  for  the  king,  who 
wished  to  be  absolute  master  in  his  king- 
dom, was  also  determined   that  there 


Bellievre  was  sent  to  London  in  De- 
cember, 1586,  avowedly  to  intercede  in 
the  king's  name  for  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots;  but  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambas- 


should  be  only  one  religion  in  France.  ]  sador,  informed  the  Duke  of  Parma  that 
Upon  this  Turenne  said  with  a  smile  of  i  the  real  object  of  the  mission  was  to  ob- 
contempt — "Well,  madam,  we  are  quite  tain  Elizabeth's  influence  with  Navarre 
agreeable,  provided  it  be  ours;  otherwise  !  and  Conde  towards  the  conclusion  of  a 
we  will  fight  hard  for  it."    And  without  j  peace. t 

waiting  any  reply,  he  made  a  profound  The  court  passed  away  the  winter  in 
bow  and  retired.f  balls,  routs  and  masquerades,  in  which 

The  conference  had  been  kept  open  on  the  king  cheerfully  participated;  his  time 
account  of  the  uncertainty  and  indecision  |  being  divided  between  such  amusements 
of  the  queen-mother:  she  would  not  land  the  ceremonials  of  the  different  mo- 
make  a  concession  unnecessarily,  for  fear  S  nastic  orders  under  his  protection.  It 
of  offending  the  league;  and  therefore  i  was  with  regret  he  found  himself  forced, 
wished  to  appear  forced  to  accept  the  j  as  the  spring  advanced,  to  prepare  for 
terms  under  discussion.  The  intelli- 1  carrying  on  the  war  with  vigour.  The 
gence  which  she  received  was  besides  J  Germans  were  about  to  join  the  King  of 
very  contradictory;  and  she  was  alter-  Navarre,  and  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
nately  alarmed  by  the  success  of  the  Hu-  that  something  should  be  done  to  prevent 
guenot  party,  and  cheered  by  accounts  of  such  an  occurrence, 
their  desperate  situation.  Her  wishes  ]  The  league  in  the  mean  time  had  en- 
inclined  her  to  place  more  reliance  on  the  deavoured  to  persuade  the  king  that  his 
latter  version,  and  she  encouraged  the;  honour  and  welfare  depended  on  his 
hope  of  concluding  a  peace  which  would  heartily  joining  that  party  as  the  only 
satisfy  the  king.i  !  means  of  suppressing  the  Huguenot  fac- 

Catherine  then  made  haste  back  to  tion,  and  saving  his  kingdom  from  being 
Paris,  where  her  son  had  great  need  of!  a  prey  to  foreigners.  The  queen's  let- 
her  assistance;  for  in  addition  to  the  con- 


spiracy which  had  lately  been  brought  to 
light,  Cardinal  Pelleve  was  discovered  to 
have  so  much  injured  the  king,  by  his 
representations  to  the  pope,  that  Henry 
confiscated  all  his  property;§  but  not- 
withstanding the  distressed  state  of  his 
treasury,  he  is  said  to  have  given  the 
value  to  the  poor,  instead  of  applying  it 
to  carrying  on  the  war, — a  proof  alike  of 
the  sincerity  of  his  devotion,  and  of  his 
complete  unfitness  to  govern  a  nation. 

While  the  negotiations  had  been  carried 
on  between  the  queen-mother  and  the 
King  of  Navarre,  the  Duke  of  Epernon, 
assisted  by  Crillon,  had  been  engaged  in 
subduing  the  Huguenots  of  Provence, 
under  Lesdiguieres.  Seyne,  a  town, 
placed  in  an  almost  inaccessible  situation 
on  the  frontier  of  Dauphiny,  was  taken 
in  September,  1586;  the  garrison  of  La 
Reole  offered  a  long  resistance,  and  capi- 

,    *  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p.  Zl. 
t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p  32. 
%  Mem.  de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii.  pp.  82,  etseq. 
t>  Journal  de  Henri  III. 


ters  in  December,  which  announced  Na- 
varre's obstinacy,  had  raised  his  angry 
feelings;  and  on  the  first  d.ay  of  the  new 
year,  in  an  assembly  of  the  knights  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  he  publicly  made  a  so- 
lemn oath  that  he  would  never  suffer  in 
his  dominions  any  other  religion  than  the 
Roman 4  But  all  this  fervour  of  bigotry 
availed  him  nothing:  his  oaths  and  pro- 
mises had  been  so  prostituted,  that  the 
Catholics  placed  no  reliance  on  him; 
while  the  Huguenots  were  only  the  more 
convinced  that  their  case  would  be  des- 
perate, unless  they  were  successful  in  the 
field. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1587,  Guise 
met  the  king  at  Meaux,  when  he  made  a 
long  complaint  of  the  infractions  of  the 
treaty  of  Nemours.  He  said  that  the  re- 
solution to  make  war  against  the  heretics 
had  been  so  feebly  acted  upon,  that  it  was 
not  at  all  surprising  the  result  should  be- 


*  Vie  de  Crillon,  vol.  i.  p.  306— 321. 

t  Slrada,  de  Bella  Belg.  liv  8. 

X  Davila,  liv.  8.   Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  35j 


'212 


MURDER  OF  THE  GARRISON  OF  LA  MOTTE. 


fatal  to  France:  in  spite  of  the  edict,  the 
heretics  had  been  allowed  to  remain  in 
their  houses,  and  enjoy  their  property  in 
quietness;  and  instead  of  confiscating 
their  goods,  those  of  Cardinal  Pelleve 
had  been  seized,  for  having  virtuously 
defended  in  the  consistory  the  justice  of 
the  catholics  taking  arms  against  the  he- 
retics.* 

Henry  answered  these  complaints  by 
observations  which  seem  to  indicate  a 
better  understanding  than  he  has  the  re- 
putation of  having  possessed,  and  by 
showing  the  numerous  cases  in  which 
the  leaguers  had  violated  the  tre'aty  to 
their  advantage.    This  unfortunate  king- 
was  in  a  great  dilemma;  nothing  could 
reconcile  Navarre  and  Guise:  if  he  grant- 
ed suitable  terms  to  the  Huguenots,  he 
feared  the  resentment  and  violence  of  the 
league;  and  if  he  made  war  against  the 
King  of  Navarre,  he  dreaded  the  inva-j 
sion  of  fifty  thousand  foreigners.  He 
entreated  Guise  to  think  of  peace,  and  to! 
join  in  preserving  the  country  from  a 
common  enemy.    Guise,  however,  was: 
decided  upon  a  war,  and  boldly  told  the 
king  that  he  would  not  consent  to  a  peace 
before  the  Catholic  religion  was  secured 
from  danger.t     His  real    motives  are; 
clearly  represented  in  an  intercepted  let- 1 
ter  from  the  Duchess  of  Lorrain:  "Goi 
on,"  says  she,  "for  there  never  was  a 
finer  opportunity  for  your  placing  the 
crown  on  your  own  head/'J 

Finding  he  could  not  avoid  carrying  on 
the  war,  the  king  resolved  to  take  mea- 
sures for  assailing  the  league  as  well  as 
the  Protestants.  He  therefore  sent  a 
strong  army  into  Poictou,  under  Joyeuse. 
who  would  be  able  by  that  means  to  bear 
down  all  before  him;  a  second  army  was 
sent  under  Guise  against  the  Germans, 
which  being  composed  of  inexperienced 
troops,  would  probably  suffer  a  defeat 
and  allow  them  to  advance:  the  third,  as 
a  reserve,  he  proposed  to  keep  near  him- 
self, to  be  able  to  oppose  the  Germans, 
who  would  endeavour  to  join  Navarre 
after  having  defeated  the  Duke  of  Guise. 
This  scheme  w,as  calculated  to  give  him 
such  an  advantage  over  both  parties,  that 
he  expected  to  be  able  to  dictate  his  own 
terms.     His  plan  was  frustrated  by  the 

*  Cayet.  liv.  1,  p.  36. 

t  Hist,  lies  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p  37.  D'Au- 
bigne,  vol.  ii,  p.  61. 
I  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol  ii.  p.  213. 


valour  of  Navarre  and  Guise  respective- 
ly, and  the  war  of  the  three  Henries  pro- 
duced results  very  different  from  what 
had  been  expected. 

Joyeuse  began  his  expedition  by  taking 
La  Motte,*  the  garrison  of  which  place 
was  too  weak  to  defend  it;  but  by  an  ex- 
traordinary display  of  bravery,  they  main- 
tained the  town  much  longer  than  could 
have  been  expected.  At  last,  under  the 
pressure  of  famine,  they  were  induced  to 
rely  on  the  promises  of  the  duke,  who 
had  the  barbarity  to  murder  the  whole  of 
them  in  cold  blood.  What  renders  this 
cruelty  more  revolting  is,  that  when 
D'Aubigne  was  employed  to  convey 
some  communication  to  Joyeuse,  he 
asked  what  inducement  the  Catholics 
could  have  had  to  act  so  inhumanly? 
The  answer  he  received  was,  "  That  it 
was  the  only  way  to  gain  applause  from 
the  pulpits  of  Paris. "t 

The  King  of  Navarre  recommenced 
the  campaign  early,  and  was  tolerably 
successful  in  his  enterprises.  The  sum- 
mer passed  away  without  any  event  of 
importance;  news  arrived  in  September 
of  the  Germans  having  entered  France 
by  Lorrain.  The  King  of  Navarre 
marched  in  that  direction  to  meet  them; 
and  Joyeuse,  determined  to  arrest  his 
passage,  attacked  him  at  Courtras,  in 
Perigord,  on  the  twentieth  of  October.t 

The  two  armies  exhibited  a  remarka- 
ble contrast:  that  of  Joyeuse  consisted' 
of  many  young  nobility,  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  volunteers:  their  accou- 
trements, all  new,  were  elegantly  orna- 
mented with  plumes  and  gold;  and  their 
horses  were  of  the  finest  kind,  and  in 
good  condition:  they  were  armed  more- 
over with  the  strength  of  the  king's 
name  and  authority,  but  although  ani- 
mated with  great  spirit,  they  were  very 
much  in  want  of  experience.  Navarre's 
army,  on  the  contrary,  was  clad  in  plain- 
armour  which  had  grown  rusty  in  re- 
peated campaigns;  his  men,  however, 
were  the  veterans  who  had  fought  at 
Montcontour  and  Jamac.§  The  Catholic- 
force  consisted  of  five  thousand-  infantry, 
and  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  ca- 
valry: the  Huguenots  had  about  four 
thousand  infantry,  and  between  twelve- 

*  La  Motte  Achard,  in  Poictou.  (Vendee.) 

f  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p,  44. 

X  Mem.  de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii  p.  239. 

§  Perefixe,  p.  61.   Davila,  liv.  b. 


BATTLE  OF  COURTRAS. 


213 


and  thirteen  hundred  horsemen.  This 
difference  of  numbers  was  trifling  com- 
pared with  all  the  previous  battles  inj 
these  wars:  but  if  Joyeuse  had  consented 
to  delay  the  battle  till  Marshal  Matig- 
non's  arrival  with  his  army,  it  would 
have  been  scarcely  possible  for  the  King| 
of  Navarre  to  have  escaped  destruction. 
The  marshal  had  sent  word  to  Joyeuse, 
requesting  him  to  post  himself  at  Cour-; 
tras  and  wait  his  arrival.*  The  King  of. 
Navarre,  however,  had  already  taken  that 
position,  and  the  two  armies  were  so  si- 
tuated, that  a  battle  could  not  well  be 
avoided. 

Joyeuse,  however,  could  not  be  re- 
strained from  attacking  the  Huguenots. 
He  had  learned  that  he  was  declining  ra- 
pidly in  his  master's  favour,  and  wished 
to  do  something  which  would  preserve 
him  from  disgrace.  Henry  had  told  him 
publicly  that  he  was  considered  a  coward 
by  the  court,  and  that  he  would  have 
some  difficulty  in  removing  that  impres- 
sion, t  No  wonder,  then,  that  he  should 
wish  so  ardently  for  battle;  and  he  in- 
formed the  king  that  he  should  soon  pre- 
sent his  majesty  with  the  heads  of  Navarre 
and  Conde.  His  sanguine  disposition 
made  him  feel  certain  of  a  victory,  and 
when  he  found  the  King  of  Navarre  was 
posted  between  the  rivers  He  and  Drogne, 
he  said  to  his  officers — "  We  hold  the 
enemy  so  shut  in  by  these  rivers,  that  it 
is  impossible  for  him  to  escape  us:  let 
every  thing  then  be  ready  for  attacking 
him  to-morrow  at  break  of  day. "J  He 
gave  orders  that  no  quarter  should  be 
given  to  the  enemy,  and  that  death  should 
be  the  punishment  for  saving  the  life  of 
a  Huguenot,  even  if  it  should  be  the 
King  of  Navarre.§ 

Navarre  prepared  to  receive  him  ;  for 
although  it  was  hazardous  to  fight  where 
a  retreat  was  impracticable  in  case  of  de- 
feat, it  was  still  more  so  to  give  time  for 
Matignon's  arrival.  He  arranged  the 
divisions  of  his  army;  and  after  commu- 
nicating his  plan  to  Conde,  Turenne,  and 
the  Count  de  Soissons,  he  addressed  all 
around  him  upon  the  calamities  insepa- 
rable from  civil  war.  After  recapitulating 
fofa  various  endeavours  to  preserve  peace, 
he  exclaimed  with  an  animated  voice — 


»  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  J68. 

t  Davila,  liv.  8. 

§  D'AubignC,  vol.  iii.  p.  48. 


|  Davila,  liv.  8. 


"  Perish  the  authors  of  this  war,  and  may 
the  blood  which  is  going  to  be  shed  be 
upon  their  heads  !"  He  then  called  upon 
Conde  and  Soissons,  his  cousins,  to  show 
themselves  worthy  of  their  relationship 
to  him.* 

When  the  King  of  Navarre  had  finished 
his  address,  Duplessis-Mornay  stepped 
forward,  and  in  a  solemn  manner  re- 
minded that  prince  of  the  great  injury  he 
had  done  to  the  Protestant  religion  by 
his  flagrant  incontinence;  and  particu- 
larly to  the  family  which  he  had  afflicted, 
by  the  seduction  of  a  young  lady  of  Ro- 
chelle.  Mornay  advised  him  to  make 
public  reparation  for  that  misconduct, 
lest  his  army  should  be  defeated  as  a 
judgment  upon  him.f  Henry  may  have 
felt  influenced  by  religious  apprehen- 
sions, which  the  appeal  of  Mornay  had 
excited;  but  it  is  probable  that  he  con- 
sidered the  ardour  of  his  soldiers  would 
be  still  more  animated,  if  their  minds 
were  freed  from  any  stigma  on  their 
cause:  he  consented  to  make  a  public 
avowal  of  his  fault  in  the  church  of  Pons, 
and  to  do  the  same  the  first  time  he 
should  be  at  Rochelle.  Henry  after- 
wards knelt  down  beside  the  minister 
Clandieus,  who  offered  a  prayer  for  di- 
vine help;  and  the  whole  army  imme- 
diately did  the  same.  This  spectacle, 
instead  of  raising  suitable  feelings  in  the 
mind  of  Joyeuse,  only  added  to  his  con- 
fidence: he  exultingly  called  out — "  See 
how  they  tremble  !  The  day  is  ours!" 
Laverdin,  his  lieutenant,  observed  to  him 
that  he  was  mistaken  in  the  men,  who 
always  went  to  prayer  when  they  had 
made  up  their  minds  to  conquer  or  to 
die.J 

The  battle  began  about  nine  o'clock 
with  a  cannonading  on  both  sides.  Na- 
varre's artillery  created  great  confusion 
among  his  opponents:  while  theirs,  be- 
ing badly  directed,  had  hardly  any  effect. 
Laverdin  perceived  that  no  time  was  to 
be  lost  in  coming  to  close  quarters,  as  the 
only  means  of  avoiding  the  effects  of 
the  inferiority  of  their  gunners.  He  im- 
mediately gave  the  signal  for  advancing 
to  the  charge.  The  shock  was  very 
violent,  but  the  victory  was  soon  decided; 
and  in  less  than  an  hour  the  brilliant 


*  Perefixe  and  Matliieu. 
f  Vie  de  Duplessis-Mornay,  liv.  1.  p.  108. 
X  Journal  de  Henri  III.   Matliieu,  P.  Daniel,  and 
D'Aubigne. 


214 


TUMULT  AT  ST.  SEVERIN. 


army  of  the  Catholics  was  completely 
routed.  Joyeuse  himself  was  killed; 
not  in  the  fight,  but  after  he  was  taken 
prisoner:  the  person  who  shot  him  de- 
clared that  it  was  done  to  revenge 
his  cruelty  at  La  Motte.  The  Ca- 
tholics lost  three  thousand  men,  in- 
cluding many  persons  of  distinction:  the 
loss  of  the  Huguenots  was  trifling,  not 
more  than  two  hundred  of  them  being 
killed,  and  very  few  wounded.*  The 
cannon,  baggage,  &c.  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  such  a  rout,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  is  admitted 
by  writers  of  every  party  to  have  added 
splendour  to  his  victory  by  his  clemency 
to  the  vanquished.  He  set  at  liberty 
nearly  all  his  prisoners,  and  returned  to 
several  their  arms  and  standards.!  But 
his  moderation  had  no  effect  upon  his 
enemies,  who  at  first  treated  the  affair  as 
an  insignificant  skirmish;  and  when  the 
truth  was  made  known,  the  court,  dis- 
appointed in  the  hope  of  crushing  the 
King  of  Navarre,  looked  forward  to  re- 
trieve the  misfortune  by  successful  ope- 
rations in  other  parts. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Tumult  at  St.  Severin— Defeat  of  the  Germans  at  Vi- 
mory  and  Aunean — Increased  insolence  of  the 
Keagoe — Meeting  at  Nancy— Death  of  Conde— The 
Barricades. 

The  only  result  of  the  battle  of  Cour- 
tras  was  the  preservation  of  the  Hugue- 
not party  from  destruction,  by  placing 
the  Bourbon  family  in  safety.  Different 
reasons  have  been  assigned  for  Navarre's 
measures  after  the  battle:  he  had  a  choice 
of  two  plans;  to  march  at  once  to  meet 
the  Germans,  or  to  make  himself  master 
of  Poictou  and  Saintonge.  He  adopted 
the  latter  line  of  action,  and  then  set  out 
for  Beam,  with  a  small  body  of  cavalry, 
leaving  Turenne  with  the  command  of 
his  forces.  Some  writers  accuse  Na- 
varre of  omitting  to  pursue  his  advan- 
tage, through  his  desire  to  visit  his  mis- 
tress, the  Countess  of  Guiche;}  another 
opinion  is,  that  he  wished  to  avoid  an 
irremediable  rupture  with  Henry  III. 
being  desirous  of  keeping  open  a  chance 
of  his  return  to  court,  which  was  so  es- 


*  Davila,  liv.  8.   Cayet,  vol.  i.  p.  38     Pasquier,  vol 
ii.  p  303.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii  pp.  56  57. 
r  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  '243. 
Vie  de  Mornay,  p.  111.   D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  58. 


sential  to  his  ultimately  succeeding  to  the 
crown:*  while  a  third,  and  perhaps  the 
real  reason  is,  that  the  Huguenot  army 
was  considerably  diminished  after  the 
battle  by  a  great  number  of  persons  re- 
turning to  their  houses.  Navarre  ob- 
tained their  promise  to  meet  him  again 
on  the  20th  of  November,  to  join  the 
Germans:  but  circumstances  occurred  in 
the  interval  which  disappointed  his  hopes 
in  that  quarter. t 

The  German  army  consisting  of  near- 
ly forty  thousand  men,  with  twenty 
thousand  pieces  of  artillery,  had  en- 
tered Lorrain  under  the  command  of 
the  Baron  Donau  ord'Othna,  a  Prussian: 
he  was  aided  by  the  Duke  of  Bouillon, 
his  brother  the  Count  de  la  Mark,  and 
the  Count  de  Chatillon.i  The  Duke  of 
Guise  had  not  received  the  reinforce- 
ments which  the  king  had  promised 
him  when  at  Meaux,  but  still  he  hovered 
about  the  enemy,  and  was  so  unwearied 
in  his  attacks  upon  their  flanks,  that  his 
operations  caused  great  astonishment. 

Great  dissatisfaction  soon  pervaded  the 
foreign  army:  they  had  calculated  on  be- 
ing met  on  their  arrival  by  the  King  of 
Navarre,  or  the  Prince  of  Conde;  they 
were  only  joined  from  time  to  time  by 
small  parties  of  Huguenots,  who  added 
to  their  dissatisfaction  by  relating  the 
difficulties  they  had  overcome  in  reach- 
ing them;  while  hunger,  forced  marches, 
and  the  continual  loss  of  some  of  their 
baggage,  made  their  situation  very  dis- 
tressing. 

Henry's  plan  had  been  to  remain  quiet 
till  the  Reitres  should  have  advanced  to 
a  certain  point;  but  the  clamours  of  the 
league  compelled  him  to  march  to 
Guise's  help.  The  clergy  carried  their 
insolence  beyond  all  bounds;  and,  on  one 
occasion,  a  sermon  preached  at  the 
church  of  St.  Severin  contained  such 
abuse  of  the  king,  that  the  preacher  was 
sent  for  to  the  Louvre.  Immediately  a 
report  was  spread  that  all  the  preachers 

*  Peretixe. 

|  Sully,  in  the  3d  book  of  his  Memoirs,  accuses  the 
Count  de  Soissons  of  fanning  Henry's  passion  for  his 
mistress  with  the  intention  of  keeping  him  back  from 
pursuing  his  advaniage.  Me  treacherously  aimed  at 
supplanting  the  King  of  Navarre  in  his  possessions,  by 
marrying  the  princess  his  sister:  the  league  then  ap- 
tieared  certain  of  succeeding;  and  from  their  haired  of 
Navarre,  the  count  imagined  he  could  easily  effect  his 
object.  Sully  also  charges  Conde  with  a  design  of  dis- 
membering France,  and  establishing  an  independent 
sovereignty. 
X  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 


THE  LEAGUERS  AIM  AT  THE  POSSESSION  OF  PARIS.  215 


were  to  be  arrested,  and  Bussy-le-Clerc 
armed  a  company  of  leaguers,  and 
placed  them  in  ambuscade  near  the 
church,  to  prevent  the  individual  from 
beins  taken*    When  the  authorities  ar-j 


Guise  was  at  dinner,  with  the  different 
princes  of  his  family,  when  he  received 
information  that  some  of  the  Germans 
were  at  Vimory.  He  mused  for  a  few 
minutes,  then  gave  orders  to  sound  to 


rived  they  were  not  allowed  to  enter,  arms,  and  desired  that  the  troops  should 
and  the  civil  officer  sent  for  help  to  force  ,  be  ready  to  march  within  an  hour.*  The 
his  way  in.  The  whole  quarter  was  in  a  Duke  of  Mayenne  asking  for  what  ob- 
tumult,  and  the  officers  were  unable  to  ject  he  gave  those  orders,  Guise  answered, 
execute  their  orders.  The  Duke  of  Eper-  «  To  attack  the  enemy."  But  as  the  dis- 
non  and  the  chancellor  recommended  the  proportion  between  his  force  and  theirs 
king  to  send  a  strong  force,  and  make  was  so  great,  he  could  scarcely  believe 
Le-Clerc  and  his  party  prisoners ;  but  his  brother  was  serious.  They  arrived 
others  dissuaded  him  from  doing  so;  and  at  Vimory  at  midnight,  when  Guise  en- 
Villequier  having  given  Le-Clerc  informa-  tered  the  town  secretly  with  a  select 
tion  of  what  had  been  proposed,  he  and  corps,  the  other  chiefs  remaining  around, 
his  friends  concealed  themselves  for  a  to  make  prisoners  of  those  who  should 
time:  but  though  their  plans  were  carried  attempt  to  escape.  Every  thing  being 
on  in  secret,  they  never  lost  sight  of  the  ready,  they  set  fire  to  several  houses, 
objects  which  had  been  proposed  by  the  and  shot  all  who  came  out  on  hearing  the 


Sixteen.f 

After  a  painful  march,  the  Germans  ar- 


noise.  Scarcely  any  of  the  Germans 
could  escape.    The  Baron  Donau,  their 


rived  before  La  Charite  on  the  15th  of  commander,  being  at  the  opposite  end  of 
October.  The  fruits  of  France,  in  which  the  town,  took  horse  with  a  hundred  fol- 
they  had  indulged,  had  introduced  dis-  lowers,  and  got  into  the  adjoining  plain. 


eases  among  them,  and,  to  complete  their 
disasters,  they  found  the  king  had  come 
in  person  to  oppose  them  with  a  strong 
force.  They  were  unable  to  take  La 
Charite,  and  returned  towards  Montargis, 
taking  up  their  quarters  at  Vimory.  It 
was  the  king's  army  evidently  that  pre- 
vented the  progress  of  the  foreigners ;  and 
Guise,  by  allowing  them  to  pass  the  fron- 
tier, had  committed  an  unpardonable 
error:  but  the  league  could  see  no  fault 
in  their  champion;  they  not  only  became 
more  insolent  than  ever  to  their  sovereign, 
but  were  actually  taking  measures  for 
seizing  his  person  in  the  camp. 

The  leaguers  consulted  upon  taking 
possession  of  Paris  during  the  king's  ab- 
sence; and  Guise  had  informed  them,  that 
he  would  seize  the  king  himself  in  the 
country.  Those  in  Paris  waited  to  as- 
certain the  result  of  Guise's  attempt,  and 
sent  several  couriers  to  Estampes,  where 
he  then  lodged,  to  ascertain  if  it  had  suc- 
ceeded. But  Guise  did  not  consider  the 
undertaking  safe,  on  account  of  the  strong 
force  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  he  put 
off  the  design,  to  the  great  regret  of  the 
Sixteen.! 


*  3d  Sept.  1567.  De  Tliou,  hv.  B7.  Mem.  de  la  Ligue, 
vol.  li.  p.  210. 

t  Proces- verbal  de  Nicolas  Poulain,  p.  152.  Cayet 
liv.  l.p.  43. 
t  Proces  verbal,  &c,  p.  152. 


Mayenne  was  there,  and  prepared  to 
charge  upon  him.  Donau  received  the 
charge  with  firmness,  and,  springing  for- 
ward, he  attacked  Mayenne  himself:  he 
discharged  a  pistol  in  his  face,  which 
stunned  him ;  but  the  strength  of  May- 
enne's  vizor  protected  him  from  harm. 
The  Baron  Donau  continued  the  fight 
some  time;  but  his  followers  being  nearly 
all  killed,  he  availed  himself  of  the  dark- 
ness to  cut  his  way  through  the  opposing 
squadron,  accompanied  by  no  more  than 
fourteen  companions.  The  slaughter  in 
the  town  was  dreadful ;  and  the  Catho- 
lics returned  loaded  with  plunder;  but  the 
Reitres  fought  so  well,  that  above  two 
hundred  of  their  assailants  were  killed, 
above  forty  of  whom  were  gentlemen  of 
distinction.! 

This  event  threw  the  Germans  into 
great  dismay,  and  their  Swiss  com- 
panions sent  an  offer  of  submission  to  the 
king;  but  about  the  same  time  the  Prince 
of  Conty  arrived  with  news  of  the  vic- 
tory at  Courtras4  and,  by  his  exhorta- 
tions and  entreaties,  they  were  persuaded 

*  26th  Oct.,  1517. 

t  Davjla,  liv.  8.  Mem  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  21'J. 
Hist,  ries  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p  42. 

!  This  is  Davila's  version  ;  but  in  the  Memoire.s  de  la 
Liitue  it  is  said  that  the  news  was  brought  by  a  messen- 
ger who  had  been  sent  on  purpose  by  the  Count  de 
Chanllon  ;  and  also  that  the  Prince  of  Oonty  arrived  at 
the  camp  on  the  20th  of  November.  Vol.  ii.  p.  225. 


216 


THE  KING'S  RETURN  TO  PARIS. 


to  wait  for  intelligence  from  the  King  of 
Navarre,  before  they  made  any  agree- 
ment with  the  King  of  France.  The 
Prince  of  Conty's  arrival  made  them  for- 
get their  past  difficulties;  they  took  up 
their  head-quarters  at  Auneau,  in  the 
Orleannais,  and  indulged  themselves  in 
the  good  cheer  which  that  province  af- 
forded.* The  object  of  the  chiefs  of  this 
army  was  to  pass  beyond  the  Loire,  and 
several  of  them  wished  to  proceed  at 
once,  but  unfortunately,  their  departure 
was  put  off  till  the  24th  of  November, 
and  they  experienced  a  second  disaster 
in  consequence.    This  event  was  the 


and,  finding  themselves  at  a  distance  from 
the  King  of  Navarre,  ill-treated  by  their 
French  companions,  deserted  by  the  Swiss, 
beaten  by  the  league,  and  pursued  by  the 
king,  they  met  in  December  at  Marsigni, 
and  accepted  the  king's  terms,  which  had 
been  communicated  by  the  Duke  of  Eper- 
non.*  - 

The  French  chiefs  made  great  efforts 
to  prevent  their  German  friends  from  ac- 
cepting these  terms,  and  undertook  to 
conduct  them  to  the  King  of  Navarre's 
army.  Finding,  however,  that,  instead 
of  listening  to  them,  the  foreigners  had  an 
intention  of  arresting  them,  to  ensure  the 


more  vexatious,  as  the  Duke  of  Guise  payment  of  what  they  had  promised,  they 
came  up  with  them  on  that  very  day,  by  [separated  secretly,  and  took  different 
means  of  a  forced  march. t  He  attacked  routes  to  make  their  escape.  The  Prince 
Auneau  in  the  same  manner  as  Vimory :  of  Conty  went  into  Maine  with  four- 
but,  on  this  occasion,  he  publicly  per-  teen  horsemen ;  the  Duke  of  Bouillon, 


formed  his  devotions,  and  left  instructions 
for  prayers  to  be  said  for  the  success  of 
his  enterprise.  He  was,  indeed,  so  deter- 
mined not  to  fail  for  want  of  a  sufficiency 
of  religious  exercise,  that  he  ordered  three 
masses  to  be  performed  during  the  night: 
"A  thing,"  says  Maimbourg,  "  which  is 
contrary  to  the  regulations  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  except  on  Christmas-eve;  but 
the  good  priests,  who  were  not  then  so 
well  informed  as  they  are  now,  devoutly 
obeyed  him  without  any  scruple."} 

The  town,  surprised  in  the  night,  fell 
an  easy  prey,  and  the  assailants  committed 
great  havoc,  with  scarcely  the  loss  of  a 
man.  Excepting  the  Baron  Donau,  and 
about  ten  others,  none  that  were  in  the 
town  escaped.  The  other  divisions  of 
the  army  that  were  placed  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood rallied  at  the  distance  of  a 
league.  Donau  urged  the  chiefs  to  re- 
turn to  Auneau,  and  attack  the  Catholics, 
who,  being  intent  upon  their  plunder, 
would  be  an  easy  prey.  But  his  exhor- 
tations were  in  vain;  the  Swiss  separated 


with  only  five  hundred  horsemen,  passed 
through  the  Lyonnais  to  Geneva,  where 
he  soon  after  died.  Chatillon,  de- 
claring that  he  would  surrender  his 
standard  to  none  but  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, set  out  with  one  hundred  and 
twenty  horsemen,  and,  with  great  resolu- 
tion, made  his  way  to  Languedoc.  Man- 
delot,  governor  of  the  Lyonnais,  and  the 
Count  de  Tournon,  both  opposed  his  pas- 
sage with  their  armies,  and  the  tocsin  re- 
sounded in  the  different  towns;  but  he 
cleared  every  difficulty,  and  safely  reached 
the  Vivarais,  of  which  he  was  governor.! 

The  unfortunate  Germans,  however, 
found  that  the  pursuit  of  the  royal  forces 
was  not  their  only  misfortune;  for,  after 
submitting  to  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  they 
were  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  pea- 
santry, who  slew  many  of  them  as  they 
took  their  road  homewards.  Guise  com- 
plained of  the  terms  which  had  been 
granted  them  ;  and  on  the  ground  of  Eper- 
non's  having  acted  solely  out  of  enmity 
and  spite  to  him,  he  refused  to  observe 


from  the  Germans,  and,  having  accepted] the  conditions:  he  followed  the  main  body 
the  terms  offered  by  the  king,  they  set' to  the  frontiers,  making  a  terrible  carnage 
out  for  their  own  country.  The  rest  of  among  them.  The  Swiss  shared  no 
the  army  was  with  difficulty  kept  from  better  fate :  marching  southward,  towards 
disbanding.  Conty,  Bouillon,  and  C ha-  Sarry,  they  were  attacked  near  the  Isere 
tillon  undertook  to  guaranty  the  payment  by  La  Valette,  Epernon's  brother.  This 
of  their  arrears,  and  conducted  them  to j  made  them  resolve  on  an  effort  to  join 


the  forest  of  Orleans.  But  the  season  of 
the  year  exposed  them  to  great  sufferings; 


*  Davila,  liv.  8. 

t  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  227. 
I  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  i.  p.  2'J5. 


Lesdiguieres,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 

*  Davila,  liv.  8.    Mathieu  and  D'Aubigne.  in  loc. 

t  Mem.de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii.  p.  230-  D'Aubigne,  vol. 
iii.  p.  (17.  Brantome,  Discours  sur  ies  belles  Rctraitcs. 
Davila,  liv.  8.  Hist,  des  Demiers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p. 
43. 


THE  KING'S  RETURN  TO  PARIS. 


217 


Huguenots  in  that  part :  they  sustained  a 
total  defeat  in  Dauphiny,  and,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  all  perished.  Lesdiguieres 
himself  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the 
mountainous  part  soon  after* 

The  king  returned  to  Paris  the  23d  of 
December,  and  made  a  public  entry, 
dressed  in  full  armour,  as  if  he  had  de- 
feated the  enemy  in  person.  The  people 
ridiculed  his  pretensions  to  military  re- 
nown, and  saluted  him  with  shouts  of, 
"  Saul  has  slain  his  thousands,  but  David 
his  ten  thousands. "t  A  pamphlet  was 
also  circulated  at  the  time,  which,  though 
publicly  directed  against  the  Duke  of 
Epernon,  was  known  to  be  levelled 
against  the  king  himself.  It  was  entitled 
"The  Achievements  of  the  Duke  of  Eper- 
non against  the  Heretics;"  but  the  title- 
page  was  the  whole  of  the  work,  all  the 
other  leaves  being  blank.}  Henry  found 
that  the  spirit  of  sedition  had  very  much 
increased  during  his  short  absence  from  his 
capital.  The  clergy  threw  off  all  restraint, 
and  publicly  announced  that  the  kins  him- 
self had  invited  the  foreigners  to  help  him 
to  suppress  the  league.^  The  doctors  of 
the  Sorbonne  had  recently  holden  a  meet- 
ing, when  they  passed  a  decree  to  sanc- 
tion the  dethronement  of  all  princes  who 
did  not  govern  properly,  on  the  same 
principle  that  authority  might  be  taken 
from  a  suspected  guardian. ||  But,  instead 
of  resenting  such  behaviour  in  a  proper 
manner,  by  punishing  the  authors  of  such 
a  doctrine,  he  merely  sent  for  Boucher, 
the  leader  among  the  doctors  of  the  Sor- 
bonne, and  remonstrated  with  him  upon 
the  impropriety  of  his  conduct  in  calum- 
niating his  lawful  sovereign  against  the 
precepts  of  Scripture.  He  added,  that  he 
should  be  justified  in  following  the  ex- 
ample of  Pope  Sixtus  V.,  who  had  sent 
some  monks  to  the  galleys  for  having 
made  allusions  to  him  in  their  sermons ; 
but  that  though  he  refrained  from  such 
severity  on  this  occasion,  he  would  surely 
punish  in  an  exemplary  manner  any  re- 
petition of  such  seditious  and  wicked  con- 
ducts 

Such  a  line  of  policy  only  tended  to 
encourage  the  insolence  of  the  league ; 


*  Davila.  liv.  8,  p.  41ti.    Cayet,  liv.  1.  p.  42. 
t  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  3UG.    Hisl.  des  Dermers  Trou- 
bles, liv.  a,  p.  43. 
t  Branloine.vol.  x.  p.  320. 
I)  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  37. 
If  16lh  Dec  ,  1587.   Journal  de  Henri  lit. 
U  Journal  de  Henri  III.   Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  liv.  2. 
19 


and,  from  being  accustomed  to  discuss  the 
propriety  of  dethroning  their  king,  they 
at  last  grew  impatient  for  an  opportunity. 
Guise's  resentment  was  kindled  at  being 
excluded  from  a  share  in  the  appointments 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Joyeuse.  He 
demanded  the  post  of  admiral  for  Brissac; 
and  was  the  more  vexed  at  being  refused, 
as  his  hated  rival  Epernon  was  invested 
with  that  office,  as  well  as  with  the 
governments  of  Normandy,  Angouleme, 
and  Saintonge.*  Soon  after,  Guise  and 
five  others  went  in  disguise  to  Rome, 
where  he  made  himself  known  to  no  one 
but  Cardinal  Pelleve,  with  whom  he  was 
in  communication  a  whole  day  and  night: 
after  staying  there  three  days  he  returned. 
The  nature  of  his  business  at  Rome  may 
be  inferred  from  the  circumstance  of  the 
pope's  sending  him  a  sword,  with  flames 
represented  upon  it.  This  sword,  and 
some  other  arms,  were  sent  by  the  hands 
of  the  Duke  of  Parma,  who  announced 
that  Henry  of  Lorrain  alone  was  entitled 
to  bear  arms  for,  and  to  be  the  defender 
of  the  church.f 

Henry  soon  after  learned  that  the  Lor- 
rain princes  had  convoked  a  meeting  at 
Nancy  at  the  end  of  January,  1588,  when 
it  was  resolved  to  call  upon  the  king  to 
join  the  league  more  decidedly  and  openly; 
to  dismiss  all  obnoxious  persons  from  his 
service;  to  publish  the  council  of  Trent, 
and  establish  the  holy  inquisition,  with 
several  other  clauses  in  unison  with  them.+ 
He  then  felt  pleased  that  the  King  of  Na- 
varre had  gained  the  victory  at  Courtras; 
and  regretted  that  he  had  contributed  to 
drive  away  the  Germans,  who  would 
faithfully  have  served  him  against  a  fac- 
tion that  now  avowed  an  intention  of  de- 
throning him.  And  besides  being  now 
more  interested  in  Navarre's  preservation, 
from  the  demonstration  that  he  had  no 
other  barrier  to  oppose  to  the  league,  he 
was  charmed  with  the  moderation  of  the 
Huguenot  prince,  who  being  asked  what 
terms  he  would  require  after  gaining  such 
a  battle,  answered — "The  same  I  should 
ask  after  losing  one, — a  confirmation  of 
the  edict  of  Poictiers,  for  as  I  took  arms 
only  upon  the  breach  of  that  treaty,  I  shall 
lay  them  aside  when  it  is  renewed."^ 

*  D'Aubigne,  M<J/.eray,  and  others, 
t  Journal  de  Henri  lit.    Leti  Vitadi  Sisto  F. 
%  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  pp.209,  ct  scq.    De  Tliou, 
liv.  90.   Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  44. 
§  D'Aubignii,  vol.  iii.  p.  57. 


218 


ATTEMPT  TO  SEIZE  THE  KING. 


Navarre  had  retired  to  Rochelle  when 
he  heard  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Ger- 
mans: he  soon  after  received  the  news 
of  another  event  which  was  highly  dis- 
couraging to  his  party.  The  Prince  of 
Conde  died  on  the  fifth  of  March  at  St. 
Jean  d'Angely,  under  the  strongest  suspi- 
cion of  having  been  poisoned  ;*  his  wife 
was  brought  to  trial  for  being  accessory 
to  the  crime,  and  would  have  been  con- 
demned to  death,  if  she  had  not  been 
pregnant.  Being  afterwards  delivered  of 
a  son,  who  succeeded  to  his  father's  title, 
the  proceedings  were  dropped,  and  the 
King  of  Navarre,  after  his  entry  into  Paris, 
ordered  all  the  papers  respecting  it  to  be 
burned.t  When  he  heard  of  the  prince's 
death,  he  declared  that  he  had  lost  his 
right  hand.|  The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon, 
on  bearing  the  news  to  the  king,  and 
being  either  so  far  plunged  in  the  depths 
of  superstition  and  ignorance,  as  to  enter- 
tain such  thoughts,  or  thinking  the  mo- 
narch sufficiently  weak  to  be  affected  by 
his  exhortation,  he  said,  "  See,  Sire,  the 
effects  of  being  excommunicated  :  for  my 
part,  I  think  his  death  is  to  be  attributed 
to  nothing  but  the  thunderbolt  of  excom- 
munication which  has  fallen  upon  him."§ 
It  is  highly  probable  the  more  crafty 
leaguers  thought  that,  by  operating  on 
the  monarch's  fears,  they  should  make 
him  more  subservient  to  the  church. 
They  found,  however,  by  his  reply  that 
his  eyes  were  beginning  to  be  opened 
respecting  them  and  their  objects;  and 
from  that  time  they  took  measures  for  his 
dethronement. 

When  the  plan  for  seizing  Henry  in  his 
camp  had  failed  through  the  extreme  cau- 
tion of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  the  Sixteen 
were  only  rendered  more  determined, 
and  became  more  impatient  for  an  oppor- 
tunity. They  were  in  constant  commu- 
nication with  Guise,  and  informed  him 
repeatedly  of  their  being  sufficiently  strong 
to  execute  the  enterprise ;  but  instead  of 
coming  to  Paris,  he  sent  them  a  letter 
stating  that  they  should  wait  for  a  good 
opportunity,  and  that  when  one  offered 


*  The  report  of  (he  surgeons  who  examined  his  body 
is  in  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  305.  See  also  De  Thou, 
liv.  90,  mid  the  Wem.  dd  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  841. 

f  Mtzeray  Micgt  Citron.  According  to  Davila,  liv. 
14,  the  princess  was  al^olved  by  the  parliament  in  1505, 
on  her  promising  to  be  a  Catholic,  and  engaging  to 
educate  her  son  in  that  religion. 

I  Pe  re  fixe. 

j  Journal  de  Henri  III. 


he  would  not  let  it  pass.*  No  occasion 
was  omitted  in  the  mean  time  for  publish-1 
ing  invectivesand  falseaccusationsagainst 
the  king,  from  the  press  as  well  as  the 
pulpit.  But  the  efficacy  of  these  means 
was  nothing  compared  with  the  advan- 
tage derived  from  the  confessional.  The 
confessors  (many  of  whom  were  Jesuits) 
abused  the  influence  of  their  ministry, 
sparing  neither  the  king  nor  his  adhe- 
rents, and  filled  the  minds  of  their  peni- 
tents with  alarm.  They  urged  the  pro- ' 
priety  of  joining  religious  associations, 
and  persuaded  all  they  could  to  join  the 
league,  denying  absolution  to  those  who 
refused.  Complaints  were  made  of  these 
seditious  confessors,  but  they  would  not 
desist ;  they  only  became  more  circum- 
spect, and  fortified  themselves  with  a  new 
dogma,  "That  the  penitent  who  reveals 
what  his  confessor  tells  him,  is  as  bad  as 
the  confessor  who  reveals  the  communica- 
tion of  his  penitent."! 

"On  the  fifteenth  of  April,  1588,"  says 
Poulain,  in  his  declaration,  "  calling  on  Le- 
Clerc,  he  informed  me,  that  Guise  was 
soon  coming  to  assist  them,  and  that  then 
they  would  fight  for  the  Catholic  faith."f 
Bussy-le-Clerc  then  told  Poulain  that,  on 
the  first  Sunday  after  Easter,  a  certain 
number  of  armed  persons  were  to  enter 
Paris  by  night,  through  the  Port  St. 
Denis,  the  keepers  of  which  were  devoted 
to  the  league  :  their  first  care  would  be  to 
kill  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  who  superin- 
tended the  patrol  of  the  city,  and  who 
would  be  sure  to  present  himself  if  he 
heard  the  noise  of  horsemen.  From  thence 
they  were  to  attack  the  Louvre,  and 
master  the  king's  guards,  the  captains  in 
the  town  at  the  same  time  defending  their 
several  quarters  by  barricades.  Le-Clerc 
himself  was  to  move  about  with  a  select 
body,  to  seize  strong  houses  and  import^ 
ant  posts.  This  intelligence  would  not 
allow  of  any  delay,  and  Poulain  demanded 
an  audience  of  the  king,  where  he  gave  a 
full  account  of  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened his  majesty. 

The  king  immediately  sent  for  arms 
and  armour  to  be  lodged  in  the  Louvre: 
he  also  ordered  a  division  of  four  thousand 
Swiss  to  approach  the  city,  and  take  their 
quarters  in  the  neighbourhood.  This 


*  Proces-verbal  de  N.  Poulain,  p.  153. 
t  De  Thou,  liv.  8(i,  vol.  ix.  p.  652. 
j  Proces-verbal,  &c,  p.  156. 


guise's  interview  with  the  king. 


219 


ehowed  the  conspirators  that  they  were 
discovered ;  still  they  would  not  desist, 
but  sent  repeated  letters  entreating  Guise 
to  come  to  them.  Henry  was  advised  to 
act  with  energy,  and  he  might  have  over- 
whelmed the  faction,  which  then  trembled 
with  apprehension,  in  consequence  of  his 
being  informed  of  their  plot.  A  display 
of  authority  at  this  time  would  have  suf- 
ficed; but  being  prepossessed  with  an 
idea  that  without  their  chief  the  league 
could  do  nothing,  he  sent  Bellievre  to 
Soissons  to  forbid  Guise  coming  to  Paris.* 
While  Bellievre  was  thus  employed,  the 
Duchess  of  Montpensier,  Guise's  sister, 
threw  herself  at  the  king's  feet,  and  with 
tears  implored  his  permission  for  her 
brother  to  come  and  justify  himself:  but 
at  the  same  time  she  was  treacherously 
employed  in  placing  an  ambuscade  to  sur- 
prise Henry  on  his  return  from  Vincennes. 
Directly  they  had  seized  the  king's  person, 
they  were  to  convey  him  to  Soissons,  and 
some  of  their  party  were  to  give  an  alarm 
in  Paris,  accusing  the  Huguenots  of  having 
carried  off  the  king:  this  alarm  it  was  ex- 
pected would  give  rise  to  another  mas- 
sacre. Poulain's  information  preserved 
his  sovereign  from  this  danger:  the  king 
sent  into  Paris  for  a  hundred  and  twenty 
horsemen,  and  thus  foiled  the  intentions  of 
his  enemies.t 

Poulain,  however,  began  to  be  sus- 
pected by  the  leaguers  of  having  given 
information  to  the  court,  as  he  had  been 
met  coming  out  of  the  Louvre  by  some 
of  their  spies.  To  counteract  his  asser- 
tions, and  throw  discredit  on  his  state- 
ment, it  was  insinuated  to  the  king  that 
he  was  a  Huguenot:  while  Villequier 
maintained  that  his  account  was  all  false, 
and  that  some  of  Guise's  enemies  had 
suborned  him  to  say  such  things.  Pou- 
lain offered  to  remain  prisoner,  and  gave 
the  names  of  several  persons  with  whom 
he  desired  to  be  confronted;  and  that  then 
he  would  make  good  his  charges  or  for- 
feit his  life.}  The  council  took  the  affair 
into  serious  consideration;  the  Duke  of 
Epernon  left  Paris  for  his  government  of 
Normandy  to  secure  Rouen  and  Havre, 
and  measures  were  taken  for  holding 
Paris  in  check,  by  the  possession  of  the 
surrounding  towns.  This  plan  was  adopt- 


*  Mem.  <le  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  315. 

t  5th  May.  1588.   Proces-verbnl,  &.c,  p.  158. 

X  Proces  verbal,  &c.  p.  163.  Payila,  liv.  9. 


ed  at  the  suggestion  of  the  queen-mother: 
the  bold  manner  in  which  the  populace 
had  defended  the  Curate  of  St.  Severin 
convinced  her  that  it  would  be  useless  to 
make  any  attempt  to  seize  the  leaders  of 
the  league  in  Paris,  until  the  king  had 
received  a  considerable  addition  to  his 
force.  She  made  use  of  an  Italian  pro- 
verb, "Before  you  irritate  a  wasp,  take 
care  to  shield  your  face."* 

But  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier  had 
written  to  her  brother,  that  Henry  medi- 
tated some  design  against  him,  and  that, 
if  possible,  he  should  anticipate  the 
movement.!  This,  added  to  the  entrea- 
ties of  the  Sixteen,  brought  Guise  to  Pa- 
ris: he  entered  by  the  Porte  St  Denis  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  9th  of  May,  and 
went  straight  to  the  dwelling  of  the 
queen-mother,  accompanied  by  seven 
gentlemen.  Nothing  can  adequately  de- 
scribe the  enthusiasm  of  the  Parisians 
on  seeing  their  champion  once  more 
among  them.  The  streets  resounded 
with  shouts  of  "  Jive  Guise!  Long  live 
Ike  pillar  of  the  church.'"  and  a  young 
woman,  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore,  ex- 
claimed in  an  audible  voice,  "  Good 
prince !  now  that  you  are  come  to  us  we 
are  safe." J 

Catherine  received  the  Duke  with  an 
observation  of  some  ambiguity,  purport- 
ing, that  though  she  was  glad  to  receive 
him,  she  would  have  had  more  satisfac- 
tion in  seeing  him  at  another  time.§  The 
Queen  had  secretly  desired  him  to  come 
to  Paris,  and  most  probably  had  wished 
his  party  success,  until  the  rebellion  be- 
came'too  glaring:  she  had  told  Bellievre 
when  he  was  sent  to  forbid  the  Duke's 
coming,  "Unless  he  come,  the  king  is 
in  such  a  rage,  that  a  great  number  of 
persons  of  distinction  are  lost."  Bel- 
lievre in  consequence  did  not  deliver  the 
king's  commands  in  a  sufficiently  pe- 
remptory manner;  and  Guise,  who  was 
not  at  a  loss  for  a  pretext,  told  him, 
"  That  he  would  come  privately  to  justi- 
fy his  conduct  to  the  king;  for  his  sole 
aim  was  to  serve  the  religion  and  the 
state;  and  that  he  would  not  disobev  the 
king's  commands."    But  after  dismiss- 


*  Davila,  liv.  9.  Bisogna  coprirsi  bene  il  viso,innanit 
die  si  stuzziclti  il  vespaio. 
t  Proces  verbal,  &c  p.  Ifi5. 

t  Hist.  des.  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p.  49.  D'Ati- 
bisne,  vol  iii.  p.  43.   Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  317. 
$  Davila,  liv.  9. 


220 


THE  KING  REPROVES  GUISE. 


ing  BelliSvre  with  an  idea  that  he  would 
wait  at  Soissons  till  he  again  heard  from 
the  king,  he  ordered  his  horses,  and  set 
out  for  Paris,  avoiding  the  high  roads;  as 
he  knew  he  should  meet  persons  bring- 
ing orders  for  him  to  keep  away.* 

The  news  of  Guise's  arrival,  and  the 
display  of  the  popular  feeling,  made 
Henry  summon  his  counsellors  to  the 
Louvre.  The  king  had  of  late  been  a 
great  deal  with  the  Abbe  d'Elbene;  and 
he  was  one  of  the  first  who  was  consult- 
ed. The  Abbe  recommended  strong 
measures.  "Strike!"  said  he,  "strike 
the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  will  be  scat- 
tered." But  the  dangers  of  such  a  mea- 
sure were  demonstrated  by  the  other 
counsellors.  The  queen -mother  in  the 
mean  time  had  sent  Louis  Davilaf  to  in- 
form her  son  that  Guise  was  coming 
with  her  to  the  Louvre.  Time  pressed, 
and  some  decision  was  necessary  in 
consequence.  The  unhappy  king  de- 
spatched a  messenger  to  urge  her  to  de- 
lay the  visit  as  long  as  she  could;  but 
she  was  already  at  the  gates,  and  further 
deliberation  was  impossible.]: 

Catherine  was  in  a  chair:  the  duke 
walked  by  her  side,  and  the  populace 
crowded  around  them  in  countless  multi- 
tudes. Guise  was  greeted  as  he  went 
along,  and  might  say,  that  there  was 
hardly  a  man  among  them  present  who 
was  not  devoted  to  him;  but  his  con- 
science told  him  he  was  guilty  of  rebel- 
lion, and  a  circumstance  occurred,  on  en- 
tering the  Louvre,  which  shows  he  expe- 
rienced some  dread  of  incurring  his  sove- 
reign's wrath.  Crillon  commanded  the 
guards  before  whom  he  passed:  Guise 
saluted  that  officer,  but  instead  of  re- 
ceiving from  him  a  return  in  unison  with 
his  flattering  reception  elsewhere,  a  stern 
look  was  coolly  fixed  upon  him,  at  which 
the  champion  of  the  league  and  the  idol 
of  the  Parisians  turned  pale.  His  un- 
easiness was  increased  as  he  passed 
through  a  double  line  of  Swiss  soldiers; 
and  when  he  found  archers  and  gentlemen 
placed  in  every  quarter  of  the  palace.  A 
princess  is  said  to  have  whispered  to 
him  that  his  death  was  then  being  dis- 
cussed in  the  cabinet. § 


*  Davila,  liv.  9.   Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  315. 
t  Brother  of  the  Historian, 
j  Davila,  liv.  9. 

6  Davila,  liv.  9.  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol. 
ii.  p.  323. 


On  entering  the  king's  chamber,  the 
duke  made  a  most  respectful  bow,  and 
Henry  said  indignantly  to  him — "I  sent 
you  orders  not  to  come  to  Paris."  Guise, 
in  a  submissive  tone,  assured  the  king 
"  That  he  had  thrown  himself  into  his 
majesty's  arms  to  demand  justice,  and  to 
free  himself  from  the  calumnies  of  his 
enemies;  but  that,  notwithstanding,  he 
certainly  would  not  have  come  if  he  had 
received  more  clear  and  positive  orders 
from  his  majesty."  The  king  turned  to 
Bellievre  to  know  what  he  had  said  from 
him,  but,  before  he  received  a  reply,  he 
told  Guise  "That  he  did  not  know  whe- 
ther he  had  been  calumniated  or  not,  but 
that  his  innocence  would  be  manifest  if 
no  interruption  of  the  public  tranquillity 
arose  out  of  his  arrival."  It  required  all 
the  persuasion  of  the  queen-mother  and 
the  Duchess  of  Usez  to  restrain  the  king 
from  inflicting  vengeance  on  Guise:  they 
satisfied  him  that  the  time  was  unfavour- 
able for  such  a  step,  and  the  duke  was 
allowed  to  retire  to  his  hotel  in  the  Bue 
St.  Antoine.* 

The  following  night  was  occupied  by 
both  parties  in  consulting  upon  the  mea- 
sures to  be  taken;  and  the  next  day  Guise 
visited  the  queen-mother  at  her  hotel. 
But  he  would  not  again  trust  his  person 
to  the  king's  vengeance,  and  took  care  to 
be  accompanied  by  some  resolute  and 
trusty  captains.  The  king  was  there  to 
meet  him,  and  the  prevailing  opinion  in 
Paris  was,  that  it  was  intended  to  have 
Guise  despatched.!  Whether  the  king 
did  contemplate  such  an  act  or  not  we 
cannot  ascertain;  subsequent  events  show 
that  he  was  capable  of  that  kind  of  re- 
venge; and  when  Guise  had  entered  the 
queen's  garden,  the  door-keeper  tried  to 
close  the  gate  immediately;  but  St.  Paul, 
a  zealous  friend  of  the  duke's,  forced  his 
way  in,  accompanied  by  several  friends, 
and  swore  that  if  there  was  any  thing  to 
be  clone  he  would  be  in  it.f 

The  king,  the  queen-mother,  and  the 
Duke  of  Guise  conversed  at  length,  hut 
without  coming  to  any  agreement.  Hen- 


*  Davila,  liv.  9.  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  58.  . 

t  Fclibien,  on  the  authority  of  the  Memoires  de 
Oodrfroy,  states  that  the  king  asked  Alphonso  Ornano 
what  he  should  do.  He  replied,  that  if  his  majesty 
pleased,  the  duke's  head  should  be  laid  at  his  feet.  The 
king,  however,  was  for  different  measures.— Hist,  de 
Paris,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 166. 

%  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  27. 


THE  BARRICADES  AND  BUTCHERY  OF  THE  SWISS.  221 


ry  was  determined  to  expel  from  the  city 
all  those  who  had  lately  arrived  from  the 
country,  and  who  were  come  solely  at 
Guise's  instigation.  This  measure  was 
necessary  before  he  could  attempt  to 
bring  any  of  the  Sixteen  to  justice;  and 
notwithstanding  the  circumstances  which 
had  followed  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  the  king  remained  firm  to  his  re- 
solution. 

Villequier  and  D'O  were  charged  by 
the  king  to  expel  the  strangers  from  the 
city:  they  were  occupied  in  so  doing  the 
whole  of  Wednesday,  the  11th  of  May, 
but  to  no  purpose,  for  the  leaguers  con- 
cealed them  in  their  houses.  Those  gen- 
tlemen informed  the  king,  that  to  expel 
them  without  violence  was  impossible, 
and  it  was  at  once  decided  to  use  force. 
The  Swiss  troops  were  ordered  into  Pa- 
ris, and  they  entered  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twelfth.*  Biron  had  the  dis- 
posing ot  the  military,  but  the  arrange- 
ments he  made  do  not  show  him  to  be  an 
experienced  soldier;  at  least  not  in  ope- 
rations of  this  kind,  when  his  only  point 
was  to  prevent  the  populace  from  be- 
coming masters  of  the  city.  As  he  knew 
that  Guise  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the 
sedition,  he  should  have  taken  possession 
of  all  the  avenues  to  his  hotel,  such  as 
the  Rue  St.  Antoine,  the  Place  de  la  Bas- 
tille, &c;  instead  of  which  he  posted  bo- 
dies of  men  at  the  burying-gronnd  of  the 
Innocents,  on  the  different  bridges,  and 
at  several  markets  and  open  places.  A 
strong  guard  of  gentlemen,  archers,  and 
musqueteers,  was  at  the  same  time  placed 
at  the  Louvre,  with  orders  not  to  stir 
out.t 

There  were  great  numbers  of  persons 
in  Paris  who  had  been  forced  into  the 
prevailing  habits  of  sedition,  but  who,  in 
their  hearts,  would  have  rejoiced  to  see 
the  king  succeed  in  mastering  his  ene- 
mies. Still  they  were  angry  that,  in  or- 
der to  punish  a  few  insolent  rebels,  he 
should  fill  Paris  with  troops,  and  subject 
them  to  all  the  dangers  of  a  town  taken 
by  assault.  The  Sixteen  turned  such 
fears  to  their  advantage,  and  circulated  a 
report  that  the  king  had  resolved  to  put 
to  death  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  the 
most  considerable  catholics;  and  a  list 
was  made  out  of  the  intended  victims, 


*  Cayct,  liv.  i.  p.  47. 


which  began  with  Guise,  and  included 
all  the  preachers  and  deputies  of  the 
league.  The  troops  being  posted  at  so 
many  points  at  once  confirmed  the  fears 
of  the  people,  and  it  was  in  vain  t hoy 
were  told  that  the  king  had  given  orders, 
forbidding  the  least  insolence  to  any  of 
the  inhabitants  on  pain  of  death;  the 
alarm  had  gone  forth,  and  it  was  impos- 
sible to  allay  it.  The  tradesmen  refused 
to  open  their  shops;  and  thus  added  force 
to  the  panic,  while  the  monks  mounted 
guard  in  front  of  their  convents* 

The  queen-mother  wished  to  learn 
what  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  doing,  and 
very  early  on  the  12th  sent  Louis  Davila 
to  pay  him  a  visit  upon  some  trifling  pre- 
tence: he  was  desired  to  be  particular  in 
looking  about  him  while  at  the  duke's 
hotel.  On  his  arrival  he  was  surprised 
to  find  the  house  close  shut  up.  He  was 
obliged  to  enter  by  a  little  door;  and, 
when  he  got  in,  he  found  the  court  filled 
with  armed  gentlemen.  When  he  had 
delivered  the  queen's  complimentary 
message,  Guise  (who  was  fully  aware  of 
her  motive)  took  Davila  by  the  hand,  and 
led  him  into  the  garden.  He  showed 
him  a  prodigious  quantity  of  arms  of 
every  kind,  and  pointed  out  to  his  notice 
a  number  of  places  full  of  soldiers.  They 
parted  very  civilly,  and  Davila  went  back 
to  the  Louvre  to  make  his  report. 

By  that  time  the  whole  city  was  in 
ferment,  and  it  was  clear  that  instructions 
had  been  circulated  to  regulate  the  pro- 
ceedings. Orders  were  sent  to  inarch 
some  troops  to  the  Place  Maubert,  where 
some  people  had  assembled.  Crillon 
commanded  the  detachment  employed, 
but  he  was  compelled  to  retire.  The 
moment  was  too  late  to  be  effectual;  for 
Bois-Dauphin,  with  a  number  of  young 
men  from  the  university,  and  the  boat- 
men from  the  river,  had  thrown  up  a  com- 
plete defence.  Chains  were  placed  across 
the  streets,  and  the  different  approar-lit is 
were  blocked  up  with  large  pieces  of  tim- 
ber, the  stones  of  the  pavement,  and 
casks  filled  with  rubbish.  As  Crillon 
was  returning,  he  found  himself  shut  in 
by  a  body  of  men  under  Brissac,  who 
was  the  most  active  person  on  the  occa- 
sion.   The  alarum  bells  were  rung;  cries 


t  Davila,  liv.  9  p. 

19 


*  Davila.  liv.  9.  Hist,  de  DernierstTroubJe?.  liv. 
50.    Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  334. 


222 


FLIGHT  OF  HENRY  III.  FROM  PARIS. 


of  to  arms  resounded;  the  barricades 
were  made  in  every  direction,  even  up  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Louvre;  and  in  a 
short  time  the  king's  troops,  who  were 
brought  into  Paris  to  suppress  the  revolt, 
M  ere  all  prisoners  of  the  mob:  the  word 
was  given  to  fall  upon  the  Swiss,  and  a 
terrible  butchery  ensued.* 

Brissac  exerted  his  influence  to  save  a 
considerable  number  who  had  thrown 
down  their  arms  and  called  for  quarter: 
he  led  them  to  the  Marche  Neuf,  where 
they  remained  his  prisoners.  He  had 
been  very  much  incensed  against  the 
king,  who  had  said  of  him  that  he  was 
lit  lor  nothing  by  sea  or  by  land;  and,  in 
addition  to  the  insult,  he  had  refused  to 
make  him  admiral.  When  therefore  he 
surveyed  the  barricades,  which  he  had 
first  suggested,  and  saw  the  king's  troops 
in  his  hands,  he  exclaimed  with  exulta- 
tion— "  The  king  shall  know  to-day  that 
I  have  an  element,  and  that  if  I  am  good 
for  nothing  by  land  or  by  sea,  I  can  do 
something  on  the  pavement."t 

Until  the  success  of  the  barricades  was 
certain,  Guise  remained  in  his  hotel,  with 
every  thing  arranged  for  assisting  his 
flight,  if  it  should  be  necessary.  When 
however  it  was  ascertained  that  the  only 
chance  of  safety  for  the  king  was  in  an 
obstinate  defence  of  the  Louvre,  he  sallied 
forth  on  horseback,  and  rode  from  quar- 
ter to  quarter,  recommending  the  people 
to  act  only  on  the  defensive,  and  to  rely 
upon  him.  Persons  had  called  upon  him 
earlier  in  the  day  to  stop  the  tumultuous 
proceedings:  he  coolly  answered,  that  it 
was  beyond  his  power  to  restrain  them, 
as  they  were  like  wild  bulls  broken  loose, 
and  that  those  alone  were  to  blame  who 
had  called  in  the  military.!  He  after- 
wards set  at  liberty  the  Swiss.  It  is 
probable  that  he  anticipated  a  more  fa- 
vourable result  from  negotiation,  than 
could  be  expected  from  pushing  his  ad- 
vantage. It  was  his  interest  for  the  pre- 
sent to  have  Henry  in  his  power,  rather 
than  to  dethrone  him  altogether;  and  un- 
til the  Bourbons  were  formally  declared 
incapable  of  succeeding  to  the  throne,  it 
was  not  the  interest  of  the  Guises  to  at 
tempt  his  life. 


*  Davila,  liv.  9.   Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  310 

<■£  seq. 

+  U'Auhiene.  vo'.  iii.  p.  74. 

J  Hist,  des  Deruiers  Troubles,  liv.  2,  p.  51.  Davila 
liv.  9. 


The  people  of  Paris  at  this  time  were 
very  angry  with  the  Q.ueen  of  England 
for  having  executed  Mary  Queen  of  Scots; 
and  Guise  pretending  that  they  contem- 
plated an  attack  on  the  English  ambassa- 
dor, sent  Brissae  to  his  house  with  the 
offer  of  a  guard.  The  ambassador,  in 
thanking  Guise,  refused  to  have  any  pro- 
tection beside  that  of  the  king.  Brissac 
then  asked  the  ambassador  if  he  had  arms 
to  defend  himself  with'!  The  question 
was  deemed  such  as  could  not  be  put  to 
an  ambassador,  and  no  answer  was  given ; 
but  afterwards  being  asked  as  a  friend, 
he  said  that  he  had  none,  except  the  pub- 
lic faith  and  the  law  of  nations.  Brissac 
urged  him  to  fasten  his  doors;  but  was 
told,  that  an  ambassador's  house  should 
be  always  open.*  The  Duke  of  Guise 
was  anxious  that  a  favourable  account  of 
the  affair  should  be  sent  to  England,  and 
was  desirous  of  appearing  to  protect  the 
ambassador:  if  he  could  not  hope  for  sup- 
port from  the  Q,ueen  of  England,  he  might 
succeed  in  persuading  her  to  remain 
neutral. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


Flight  of  Henry  III.  from  Paris— Deputations  to  Chat- 
tres — Edict  of  union — Attack  on  the  Duke  of  Eper- 
non — States-general  of  Pdois— Death  of  the  Duke  and 
Cardinal  of  Guise. 


As  usual,  the  settlement  of  the  dispute 
was  left  to  the  queen-mother,  who  went 
to  Guise's  hotel  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
of  the  barricades.  The  leaguers  would 
not  allow  their  defences  to  be  removed  for 
her  coach,  and  she  was  compelled  to  go 
in  a  chair:  so  great  was  the  difficulty  in 
passing,  that  two  hours  were  occupied  in 
going  to  the  hotel.t  Guise  dictated  the 
most  humiliating  terms  to  the  unhappy 
king:  he  demanded  for  himself  the  post  of 
lieutenant-general,  with  the  same  autho- 
rity which  his  father  had  possessed  under 
Franc  is  II. ;  in  return  for  which  he  under- 
took to  give  so  good  an  account  of  the 
Huguenots,  that  very  soon  the  Catholic 
should  be  the  only  religion  in  all  the  king- 
dom :  he  asked  for  a  number  of  places  of 


*  Mem.  de  la  Ligne,  vol.  ii.  p.  322.  De  Thou,  liv. .90. 
Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  549.  It  appears  from  the  records  of 
Hie  State  Paper  Office  that  Sir  Edward  Stafford  was  am- 
bassador at  Paris  from  15b3  to  15S9. 

f  Davila,  liv.  9. 


WAVERING  OF  THE  SWISS  TROOPS. 


223 


security,  and  funds  to  pay  their  garrisons ; 
the  Bourbon  princes  were  to  be  declared 
incapable  of  succeeding  to  the  crown; 
Epernon,  D'O,  Biron,  and  several  others 
were  to  be  dismissed  from  their  employ- 
ment, and  their  property  confiscated  in 
favour  of  noblemen  that  he  (Guise)  should 
name:  the  post  of  admiral  was  demanded 
for  Mayenne,  and  Brissac  was  to  be  go- 
vernor of  Paris,  with  the  charge  of  colonel- 
general  of  the  infantry;  besides  a  number 
of  appointments  for  his  friends :  the  whole 
to  be  confirmed  by  the  states-general, 
which  should  be  held  in  Paris  without  de- 
lay: the  king  in  addition  was  called  upon 
to  dismiss  his  guard  of  forty-five  gentle- 
men, a  new  institution  which  the  enter- 
prises of  the  league  had  rendered  neces- 
sary for  his  personal  safety* 

To  consent  to  such  proposals  would 
have  been  equivalent  to  an  abdication ; 
still  the  queen  mother  would  not  leave 
Guise  without  hopes.  She  returned  to 
the  Louvre,  and  showed  to  the  king  that 
his  only  chance  was  to  leave  Paris:  mea- 
sures were  taken  in  consequence  to  mis- 
lead the  Duke  of  Guise.  For  that  purpose 
she  went  again  the  next  day  to  renew  the 
conference,  notwithstanding  her  great  age, 
and  the  extreme  inconvenience  of  the 
transport.  While  her  chair  was  being 
lifted  over  one  of  the  barriers,  a  citizen, 
under  pretence  of  assisting,  told  her  in  a 
whisper  that  fifteen  thousand  persons 
were  going  to  attack  the  Louvre  on  the 
side  next  the  country.  She  sent  one  of 
her  gentlemen  to  tell  the  king,  and  conti- 
nued her  route.  When  she  arrived  at 
the  duke's  she  was  more  obstinate  than 
before,  in  order  to  prolong  the  conversa- 
tion. In  about  two  hours'  time  Mein- 
ville,  one  of  Guise's  friends,  came  to  tell 
him  that  the  king  had  escaped.  Guise 
exclaimed,  "Madam,  I  am  a  dead  man! 
while  your  majesty  is  amusing  me  here, 
the  king  goes  away  to  ruin  me."  Cathe- 
rine coolly  replied,  "  that  she  did  not  know 
his  determination,"  and  returned  to  the 
Louvre,  where  she  gave  orders  for  the 
court  and  the  guards  to  make  haste  to 
join  his  majesty.t 

On  hearing  the  message  which  the 
queen  had  sent  him,  Henry,  pretending  to 
take  a  walk  in  the  garden  of  the  Tuilleries, 

*  Davila,  liv.  'J.  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol 
ii.  p.  41. 

t  fiavila,  liv.  9.  Uayet,  liv.  ],  p.  48.  Alein.  dc  la 
Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  319. 


went  to  the  stables,  where  he  equipped 
himself  for  his  intended  journey,  and  im- 
mediately set  off  on  horseback,  accompa- 
nied by  fifteen  or  sixteen  gentlemen. 
When  he  arrived  at  Chaillot,  he  stopped 
a  few  minutes  to  look  at  Paris.  He  is  said 
to  have  poured  out  a  malediclion  upon  it 
and  its  inhabitants,  and  swore  that  he 
would  re-enter  it  only  through  the  breach. 
He  was  met  by  some  of  his  court  at  St. 
Cloud,  and  arrived  at  Chartres  the  next 
day.* 

The  Swiss  troops  were  on  the  point  of 
joining  the  league ;  the  brave  Crillon,  how- 
ever, made  an  attempt  to  prevent  it,  and 
was  successful.  He  went  to  the  place 
where  the  Swiss  were  quartered,  and  ad- 
dressed the  colonel  upon  the  report  which 
had  reached  him.  "  Remember,"  said  he, 
"the  brave  PleifFer,  your  predecessor, 
who  protected  Charles  IX.,  and  brought 
him  in  safety  from  Meaux  to  Paris,  in 
sight  of  a  rebel  army;  and  can  you  con- 
sent to  abandon  a  king  who  honours 
you  with  his  confidence?"  Crillon  de- 
clared his  conviction  of  their  innocence, 
although  the  charge  was  but  too  well 
founded:  he  then  called  upon  them  to 
choose  their  alternative,  which  was  either 
to  fight  with  him  and  his  loyal  followers, 
or  to  renew  their  oath  of  fidelity,  and  fol- 
low the  king  to  Chartres.  They  all  con- 
sented to  follow  Crillon,  who  had  the  sa- 
tisfaction of  calming  the  king's  mind  by 
the  presence  of  an  armed  force  which  was 
equal  to  the  protection  of  his  person  and 
court.t 

The  king's  friends  had  great  difficulty 
in  escaping  from  the  fury  of  the  populace, 
who  became  enraged  against  them,  when 
the  king's  flight  was  known.  Many  of 
them  left  Paris  in  such  haste  that  they  had 
not  time  to  put  on  their  boots.  They 
would  have  had  no  chance  of  escape  if  the 
Pa  risians  had  not  been  so  taken  by  sur- 
prise, that  they  were  undecided  whether 
to  pursue  those  who  had  escaped,  or  to 
fall  upon  those  that  remained.^ 

The  king's  escape  completely  foiled 
Guise's  plans:  he  thought  he  should  be 
able  to  enforce  the  conditions  he  had  al- 
ready dictated.  But  by  a  sort  of  fatality 
he  committed  the  same  fault  which  Henry 

*  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii. p.  321.  Mathieu,  Mezeray 
and  Maimbourg. 
t  Vie  Je  Crillon,  vol.  ii.  p,  4. 

J  Hist,  des  Oemiers  TroubL'S,  liv.  3,  p.  Gl.  Davila, 
liv.  9. 


224 


TREATY  OF  THE  QUEEN  WITH  GUISE. 


had  previously  done.  The  leaguers  were 
dissatisfied  with  him  on  that  account,  and 
some  recommended  that  the  enterprise 
should  be  abandoned.*  Pasquier  ob- 
serves upon  this  subject,  "  Since  the  duke 
had  the  imprudence  to  come  with  only 
six  friends,  the  king  should  have  arrested 
him :  he  could  have  done  so  on  the  Tues- 
day and  Wednesday,  because  he  had  then 
all  the  magistrates,  the  respectable  inha- 
bitants, and  four  thousand  Swiss,  besides 
his  guards ;  the  populace  therefore  would 
not  have  stirred.  Even  on  Thursday 
morning  he  could  have  enclosed  him  with 
his  troops,  if  by  a  false  policy  he  had  not 
in  a  manner  tied  the  hands  of  his  soldiers, 
by  forbidding  them  to  fire  on  the  people 
when  they  began  the  barricades.  But 
since  Guise  had  overcome  all  these  dan- 
gers, he  ought  not  to  have  suffered  the 
king  to  escape.  He  should  have  remained 
close  to  him,  and  then  he  might  have  ob- 
tained from  him  any  declaration  he 
pleased."f  The  probable  fact  was  that  he 
could  not  conceive  it  possible  for  Henry 
to  act  with  so  much  decision. 

The  pope,  Sixtus  V.,  was  quite  con- 
cerned at  the  great  encroachments  on  the 
authority  and  dignity  of  the  French  crown : 
he  had  written  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  to  Henry,  exhorting  him  to  sustain 
with  courage  the  honour  of  his  throne,  and 
to  repress  with  firmness  the  pride  and  in- 
solence of  his  rebellious  subjects.  He  told 
him  in  his  letter,  "  that  he  should  apply  fire 
and  sword  to  an  inveterate  evil ;  and  that 
he  should  not  spare  the  blood  of  his  sub- 
jects, which  overflowed  in  their  veins."i 
But  though  Henry  refused  to  follow  this 
recommendation,  Sixtus  could  not  con- 
ceive that  he  would  patiently  be  bearded 
on  his  throne.  "  Oh,  what  a  rash  and  im- 
prudent man !"  he  exclaimed,  when  he 
heard  that  Guise  had  come  to  Paris,  and 
placed  himself  at  Henry's  mercy ;  "  Oh  ! 
what  a  weak  prince !"  he  exclaimed  still 
louder,  when  he  heard  that  Henry  had 
suffered  the  rebel  to  escape. $  We  are  not 
informed  of  the  exclamation  he  made, 
when  he  heard  that  Guise  in  turn  had 

*  The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  the 
governor  of  Orleans  :  "  Notre  grand  n'a  su  executer  snn 
aessien;  s'etant  le  Roi  sauve  a  Charires,  par  quoi  je 
suia  d'avis  que  vous  vous  retiriez.  en  vos  niaisons,  le 
plusdoucement  que  pourrez, aangfaire  semblant  d'avoir, 
rien  vu ;  et  si  n'y  pensiz  etre  surement,  venez  ici. — 
Mem.  de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 

t  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  340. 

I  Leti.  Vitadi  Sislo  V. 

§.De  Thou,  liv.  90. 


suffered  the  king  to  leave  Paris;  but  may 
fairly  presume  that  it  was  not  less  charac- 
teristic of  his  violent  and  sanguinary  dis- 
position. 

After  some  deliberation,  Guise  seized 
upon  the  Bastille,  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  the 
Chatelet,  Arsenal,  &c.  Bussy-le-Clerc 
was  made  governor  of  the  Bastille,  and  a 
new  municipal  administration  was  formed. 
Guise  wished  the  parliament  to  be  assem- 
bled, in  order  to  confer  importance  on  his 
arrangements  by  the  approbation  of  that 
body.  On  addressing  himself  to  the  pre- 
sident Harlay,  he  was  told  with  a  severe 
look,  "  That  it  was  much  to  be  regretted 
when  the  valet  drives  away  the  master." 
Guise  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  certain 
measures  which  the  parliament  should 
adopt ;  to  which  Harlay  replied,  "  When 
the  majesty  of  the  prince  is  violated,  the 
magistrates  have  no  longer  any  autho- 
rity." The  president  Brisson  was  more 
complacent;  and  either  through  weak- 
ness, or  a  secret  attachment  to  the  league, 
he  consented  to  the  duke's  proposal.  The 
barricades  were  taken  down  in  a  day  or 
two;  St.  Cloud,  Vincennes,  Charenton 
and  other  places  around,  submitted  to 
Guise;  and  the  public  peace  was  restored. 
The  chiefs  of  the  league  addressed  circu- 
lars to  their  friends  in  the  provinces,  and 
Guise  addressed  several  letters  to  the  king, 
probably  with  the  hope  of  drawing  him 
back  to  Paris.  The  king  on  his  part  pub- 
lished an  account  of  the  occurrence,  which, 
by  its  humble  tone,  forms  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  bold  language  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise.* 

The  queen  remained  in  Paris  to  treat 
with  Guise:  she  availed  herself  of  the  me- 
diation of  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier, 
whom  she  lured  with  the  hope  of  marry- 
ing the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon.  They  per- 
suaded Guise  to  be  reconciled  to  the  king; 
and  the  leaguers  went  in  solemn  proces- 
sion to  Chartres,  to  express  their  regret  at 
what  had  occurred,  and  to  induce  the  king 
to  return  to  his  capital.  A  procession  of 
persons,  in  the  habit  of  penitents,  was 
made,  to  pray  God  to  soften  the  king's 
heart :  they  set  out  afterwards  for  Chartres 
to  address  the  king.  "  At  the  head  of  it," 
says  De  Thou,  "appeared  a  man  with  a 
great  beard,  dirty  and  greasy,  covered 
with  hair-cloth,  and  wearing  a  broad  belt, 


*  Davila,  liv.  9.  Hatbieu,  liv.  s.  Cayet,  liv.  1.  Mem- 
de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  pp.  313— 343.    Villeroy,  v. 


DEPUTATION  TO  CHARTRES — EDICT  OF  UNION. 


225 


upon  which  hung  a  crooked  sabre;  at  in- 
tervals he  sent  forth  some  harsh  discordant 
sounds  from  an  old  rusty  trumpet.  After 
him  marched  fiercely  three  other  men 
equally  filthy,  each  of  them  having  on  his 
head  a  greasy  pot,  instead  of  a  helmet; 
bearing  coats  of  mail  upon  their  hair-cloth, 
with  brassards  and  gauntlets:  their  arms 
were  rusty  old  halberts.  These  three 
braggadoccios  rolled  about  their  wild  and 
savage  eyes,  and  bustled  a  great  deal  to] 
keep  off  the  crowd  collected  by  this  spec- 
tacle. After  them  came  brother  Ange  de 
Joyeuse,  that  courtier  who  had  turned  ca- 
pucin  the  year  before.  He  had  been  per- 
suaded, in  order  to  move  Henry,  to  re- 
present in  this  procession  the  Saviour 
going  up  to  Calvary :  he  had  suffered  him- 
self to  be  bound,  and  to  have  his  face 
painted  with  drops  of  blood,  which  ap- 
peared to  flow  from  his  thorn-crowned 
head.  He  seemed  to  drag  with  difficulty 
a  long  cross  of  painted  pasteboard  ;  and 
at  intervals  he  threw  himself  down,  utter- 
ing lamentable  groans.  At  his  sides 
marched  two  young  capucins  clothed  in 
white  robes;  one  representing  the  Virgin, 
the  other  the  Magdalen.  They  turned 
their  eyes  devoutly  towards  heaven,  shed- 
ding false  tears;  and  every  time  brother 
Ange  fell  down  they  prostrated  themselves 
before  him  in  cadence.  Four  satellites, 
resembling  the  three  former,  held  the  cord 
which  bound  brother  Ange,  and  gave  him 
blows  with  a  scourge,  which  were  heard 
at  some  distance.  A  long  train  of  peni- 
tents closed  this  ludicrous  procession." 

When  this  pious  masquerade  passed 
before  the  court  at  Chartres,  Crillon,  who 
stood  by  the  king,  called  out  to  those 
who  scourged  brother  Ange,  "  strike  in 
good  earnest ;  whip  away !  he  is  a 
coward,  who  has  taken  the  frock  that  he 
may  bear  arms  no  longer."  The  king 
was  disgusted  with  the  indecent  specta- 
cle, and  seriously  reprimanded  his  former 
favourite  for  turning  into  a  farce  the  sa- 
cred mystery  of  the  redemption.  He  told 
him  also  that  they  had  abused  his  credu- 
lity in  persuading  him  to  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  rebels,  under  the  pretext 
of  religion ;  "  And  I  know,"  said  Henry, 
raising  his  voice,  "  there  are  many  re- 
bels in  this  procession."* 

Soon  after  this  burlesque,  a  deputation 

*  De  Thou,  liv,  90. 


waited  on  the  king :  it  consisted  of  the 
most  respectable  inhabitants  of  Paris; 
and  their  address  was  in  the  most  hum- 
ble style  of  contrition.  When  the  speaker 
had  concluded  his  harangue,  he  respect- 
fully presented  a  statement  of  their  re- 
quest, comprising  five  articles:  the  extir- 
pation of  heresy  by  the  united  forces  of 
the  king  and  the  league ;  the  banishment 
of  Epernon  and  La  Valette,  his  brother; 
a  full  amnesty  for  the  disturbance  in 
Paris;  the  confirmation  of  the  new  ap- 
pointments to  officers  since  the  barri- 
cades ;  and  the  revival  of  the  old  ordon- 
nanees  of  the  kingdom,  restoring  to  the 
parliaments  the  right  of  verifying  new 
edicts,  and  remonstrating  upon  them. 
The  king,  in  reply,  told  them,  that  he 
fully  intended  assembling  the  states-ge- 
neral, as  the  most  complete  as  well  as 
the  safest  remedy  for  the  disorders  of  the 
kingdom  ;  that  there  he  would  not  neglect 
the  fears  entertained  by  the  Catholics 
of  falling  under  the  dominion  of  the  here- 
tics; that  as  to  the  particular  complaint 
against  the  Duke  of  Epernon  and  his 
brother,  he  would  show  that  he  was  a 
just  and  equitable  prince,  who  would  in- 
jure no  one,  and  would  prefer  the  pub- 
lic advantage  to  every  other  consider- 
ation.* 

The  parliament  was  unwilling  to  ap- 
pear forgetful  of  the  sovereign,  or  to 
countenance  revolt  by  omitting  any  dis- 
play of  loyal  homage :  that  body  also 
sent  a  deputation  to  express  to  his  ma- 
jesty the  regret  they  experienced  at  the 
misfortune  which  had  forced  him  to 
quit  Paris,  to  claim  his  clemency  for  the 
offenders,  and  to  entreat  him  to  return  to 
his  capital.  Henry  told  them  that  he 
would  treat  them  as  children,  not  as 
slaves,  and  sent  them  away.  But  in  the 
afternoon  he  sent  for  them  again,  a$&. 
charged  them  to  threaten  the  Parisians 
with  the  removal  of  the  royal  courts,  if 
they  persisted  in  their  factious  behaviour. 
"  I  know,"  said  the  king,  "  that  some  per- 
suade them,  that,  having  offended  me  as 
they  have  done,  my  indignation  is  beyond 
the  power  of  reconciliation  ;  but  I  wish 
you  to  inform  them  that  I  have  neither 
the  wish  nor  the  humour  to  ruin  them ; 
and  as  God  does  not  desire  the  death  of 


*  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  62.  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troub  ee, 
liv.  3,  p.  86—9.  De  Thou,  liv.  91. 


226 


ATTACK  ON  THE  DUKE  OF  EPERNON. 


a  sinner,  neither  do  I,  his  unworthy 
image  on  earth,  desire  their  destruction." 
His  speech  was  rather  lengthy :  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  history  of  his  life,  and  said, 
"  It  is  absurd  to  make  a  pretext  of  reli- 
gion :  you  should  adopt  some  other  plan : 
there  is  not  in  the  whole  world  a  more 
Catholic  prince  than  myself;  and  my  ac- 
tions and  my  life  have  sufficiently  testified 
it."  He  concluded  with  a  short  exhorta- 
tion, and  dismissed  them* 

In  the  mean  time  the  nation  seemed  to 
shudder  at  the  recent  insult  offered  to  the 
monarch.  Not  only  a  large  proportion  of 
the  Parisians,  who  already  perceived  the 
injury  their  affairs  would  suffer  from  the 
absence  of  the  court,  and  such  of  the  no- 
bility as  considered  the  barricades  too 
bold  a  measure,  but  several  large  towns 
sent  addresses,  inviting  his  majesty  to  re- 
pair thither  to  receive  their  warm  greet- 
ings, and  accept  of  their  faithful  services. 
Lyons,  in  particular,  had  sent  deputies 
for  that  purpose,  but  it  was  so  distant 
from  the  centre  of  operations  that  Rouen 
was  preferred.  The  king,  on  arriving  at 
that  city,  was  received  with  unusual  de- 
monstrations of  joy.f 

During  the  king's  stay  at  Rouen  there 
was  a  constant  interchange  of  couriers 
with  Paris:  the  queen  being  in  corre- 
spondence with  her  son,  and  Guise  with 
his  agents.  Henry  was  never  absent 
from  the  consultations  of  his  ministers; 
but  he  heard  their  discussions  with  indif- 
ference, and  employed  the  intervals  in 
light  pastimes,  apparently  as  a  relief  for 
his  painful  reflections.}.  An  edict  was  at 
last  produced,  which  was  announced  as 
the  Edict  of  Union,  but  which  is  more 
generally  known  as  the  second  Edict  of 
July.§  The  Leaguers  testified  great  joy 
at  the  articles  agreed  upon  between 
Guise  and  the  queen-mother;  and  with 
reason,  for  every  item  was  in  their  fa- 
vour except  one,  which  stipulated  that  the 
Bastille  should  be  given  up  to  the  king : 
that  article  was  never  executed.  The 
league  considered  they  had  gained  a 
victory,  and  Henry  confirmed  that  opi- 
nion by  publishing  an  order  for  the  states- 


*  Cayet.  liv.  1,  p.  (V7  De  Thou,  liv.  91.  Hist,  des 
Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  3,  p.  89,  et  scq.  Mem.  <le  la 
Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  362. 

t  Caypt,  liv.  1,  p.  69.    Davila,  liv.  9. 

I  De  Tliou,  liv.  91. 

J  It  was  agreed  upon  tlie  15th,  signed  by  the  king  on 
the  16th,  and  registered  in  parliament  the  21st  July, 
1588. 


general  to  meet  at  Blois,  in  the  month  of 
October.  Guise  was  named  commander- 
general  of  the  gend'annerie ;  an  appoint- 
ment equal  to  that  of  constable:  he  met 
the  king  at  Chartres  with  great  cordiality. 
The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  was  declared, 
by  edict,  the  first  prince  of  the  blood,  and 
next  in  succession  to  the  crown.* 

Still  the  king  refused  to  return  to  Paris ; 
and  we  are  told  by  Mathieu,  that  he 
signed  the  edict  with  tears  in  his  eyes.t 
Two  armies  were  raised  to  send  against 
the  Huguenots;  but  the  command  of  one 
was  given  to  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  who 
was  at  variance  with  the  Duke  of  Guise; 
the  king's  confidants  were  D'Aumont, 
Rambouillet,  and  others,  who  were  by 
no  means  friendly  with  him ;  and  a  com- 
plete change  in  the  administration  took 
place,  by  the  dismissals  of  Chiverny,  Vil- 
leroy, Bellievre,  and  others,  who  had  ad- 
vised the  reconciliation  with  the  league: 
their  places  were  filled  by  persons  recom- 
mended by  Nevers,  who  had  deserted 
the  Holy  Union.} 

Whether  it  formed  a  part  of  the  king's 
policy  to  deprive  the  Duke  of  Epernon  of 
the  government  of  Angouleme,  or  that 
Villeroy  acted  with  treachery  towards 
him,  and  surreptitiously  obtained  the 
king's  signature  to  the  instrument,  is  un- 
certain ;  but  orders  were  sent  to  that 
town  to  refuse  him  admittance.^  Eper- 
non, however,  had  quitted  his  residence 
at  Loches  earlier  than  the  court  expected, 
and  arrived  at  Angouleme  before  the 
orders  were  received.  The  mayor  of 
the  town  was  a  zealous  leaguer,  and  re- 
solved on  seizing  him  in  the  castle.  He 
entered  the  place  with  ten  men  well 
armed;  and  the  duke's  attendants  being 
quite  off  their  guard,  they  succeeded  in 
penetrating  to  th«  ante-chamber  of  his 
apartment.  A  violent  struggle  ensued ; 
several  were  killed  on  both  sides;  but  the 
noise  brought  other  persons  to  the  duke's 
assistance.  The  alarm  spread  through 
the  town,  and  the  populace  having  been 
inflamed  by  various  statements,  injurious 
to  the  duke,  followed  the  example  of  the 


*  The  letters-patent  for  Giuise  were  dated  the  14th  of 
August ;  the  edict  for  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  the  l?lh 
of  August,  15SS.    Cayet,  liv.  1,  p  74. 

t  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  3,  p  102. 

t  Davila,  liv.  9.  Maiuibourg,  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol. 
ii.  p.  68. 

5  Mem.  d'Etat,  vol  i.  p.  80.  Villeroy,  of  course,  in- 
sists upon  having  done  no  more  than  he  was  com-, 
mauded. 


MEETING  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


227 


Parisians,  and  made  barricades  in  every 
direction.  But  Epernon  having  the  cita- 
del with  the  garrison  for  him,  in  addition 
to  those  troops  stationed  at  the  chateau, 
or  governor's  residence,  was  able  to  sup- 
press this  tumult,  though,  not  without 
considerable  danger  and  exertion.  The 
duchess  had  just  before  left  the  chateau, 
to  go  to  mass,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  leasuers.  That  however  did  not  pre- 
vent him  from  valiantly  defending  the 
place,  and  declaring  that  he  would 
give  no  quarter  to  any  that  fell  into 
his  hands.  After  thirty  hours'  fight- 
ing, the  arrival  of  some  gens-d'armes, 
made  the  people  wish  to  settle  the  affair ; 
and,  by  the  mediation  of  the  bishop,  an 
accommodation  was  brought  about.  The 
nobles  attached  to  the  league  quitted  the 
town,  and  the  Duke  of  Epernon  remained 
governor:  he  had  shown  great  personal 
courage  in  defending  himself,  and  his 
moderation  afterwards  was  equally  great, 
for  he  took  no  measures  whatever  to  re- 
sent the  attack  upon  him,  except  refusing 
the  customary  honours  at  the  funeral  of 
the  mayor,  who  fell  in  the  fray.* 

The  court  arrived  at  Blois  on  the  27th 
of  September.  The  king  was  desirous 
of  giving  every  importance  to  the  assem- 
bly about  to  be  held  ;  and  ordered  a  mag- 
nificent procession  for  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing the  2d  of  October.  On  the  9th,  the 
sacrament  of  the  encharist  was  adminis- 
tered to  all  the  deputies  present ;  the  king 
and  Guise  receiving  it  together  at  the 
hands  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  with 
the  appearance  of  the  most  perfect  recon- 
ciliation. It  was  not  till  the  16th  the 
estates  were  opened. f 

The  meeting  was  held  in  the  great 
hall  of  the  castle :  the  majority  of  the  de- 
puties were  leaguers,  and  Guise  reckoned 
on  certainly  obtaining  the  full  extent  of 
his  wishes:  he  opened  the  session  as 
grand  master  of  the  king's  household. 
"  The  deputies  having  entered,"  says  the 
historian  Mathieu,  "and  the  door  being 
shut,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  seated  in  a  chair, 
clothed  in  a  dress  of  white  satin,  the  cape 
thrown  across,  his  eye  piercing  into  the 
very  thickest  of  the  assembly  to  recog- 
nise and  distinguish  his  servants,  and  with 
a  single  glance  to  strengthen  them  in  the 

*  D'Auhigni':.  vol  iii.  p.  121.  DeThpii.liv.92i  Cayet, 
liv.  1,  p.  HO.  Davila,  liv.  9.  Hist,  des  Denuers  Troubles, 
liv.  3,  p.  107. 

f  Davila,  liv.  9. 


hope  of  advancing  his  designs,  his  for- 
tune, and  his  grandeur,  and  silently  to 
tell  them  '  I  see  you,'  rose,  and  after 
making  a  reverence,  followed  by  two 
hundred  gentlemen  and  captains  of  the 
guards,  went  to  fetch  the  king,  who  en- 
tered full  of  majesty,  wearing  his  grand 
order  at  his  neck."* 

The  speeches  made  at  the  opening  of 
the  states-general  contained  nothing  re- 
markable; the  second  sitting  was  on  the 
Tuesday  following,  when  the  Archbishop 
of  Ambrun,  representing  the  clergy,  the 
Count  de  Brissac,  the  noblesse,  and  the 
advocate  Bernard,  the  Tiers  Etat,  soli- 
cited the  king  to  swear  anew  the  oath  of 
union.  Henry  found  fault  with  such  dis- 
trust; "For  having  already  sworn  it  at 
Rouen,  there  was,"  said  he,  "  no  occa- 
sion to  renew  the  oath:"  notwithstand- 
ing, to  satisfy  the  league,  he  consented, 
and  the  sitting  commenced  with  his 
taking  it.  Silence  being  proclaimed  by 
a  herald,  the  king  said,  "  That  in  the  for- 
mer sitting  he  had  testified  his  desire  to 
see  all  his  subjects  united  in  the  true  Ca- 
tholic, Apostolic,  and  Roman  religion; 
and  having  given  an  edict  in  the  month 
of  July  last,  to  effect  that  object,  he 
wished  it  to  be  read  publicly,  and  re- 
ceive the  solemn  assent  of  the  assembly." 
The  edict  was  read  by  Beaulieu,  the  se- 
cretary; and  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges 
seriously  exhorted  the  meeting  upon  it : 
after  which  the  king  and  all  the  deputies 
swore  to  observe  and  to  maintain  it  as  a 
fundamental  law  of  the  kingdom.  So 
great  was  the  joy  of  all  present  at  the 
king's  piety,  that  shouts  of  Vive  It  Roy 
resounded  from  all  parts;  and  the  assem- 
bly followed  him  to  church  to  sing  a  Te 
Deum.i 

Thus  far  the  king  and  the  states-gene- 
ral were  in  unison ;  but  Guise  had  ex- 
pectations of  being  proclaimed  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  kingdom  by  the  assembly, 
who  would  at  the  same  time  exclude  the 
Bourbon  princes  from  the  succession. 
The  death  of  the  king  would  then  leave 
him  a  free  course  for  his  ambition,  even 
on  the  supposition  that  he  would  be  satis- 
fied with  waiting  for  his  death.  The 
king  had  received  information  of  Guise's 


*  Mathien,  liv.  8,  p.  631, 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  95.  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles, 
liv.  4,  p.  120.  Mem  de  la  Ligue.vol.  li.  p.  508.  Davila, 
liv.  9. 


228 


AMBITION  AND  HAUGHTINESS  OF  GUISE. 


ambitious  schemes,  and  therefore  is  jealousy,  they  informed  the  monarch  of 
thought  to  have  practised  great  dissimu-  various  circumstances  which  called  for 


lation  when  he  made  a  public  protesta- 
tion of  having  forgotten  the  past,  and 
sent  an  assurance  to  that  effect  to  tire 
people  of  Paris. 

After  the  treaty  of  July,  1588,  between 


the  greatest  energy  on  his  part.  The 
Cardinal  of  Guise  gave  scope  to  the  most 
licentious  railleries  on  the  king,  and 
frequently  said  that  he  ought  to  be  shut 
up  in  a  monastery,  and  that  he  should 


the  king  and  the  league,  Guise  received  j  feel  extreme  pleasure  in  holding  his  head 


a  letter  from  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons, 
containing  ad  vice  for  his  government  and 
conduct.  The  prelate  described  the  pru- 
dence of  Charles  Martel.and  showed  how 
necessary  it  was  for  him  to  be  either 
lieutenant-general  or  constable,  and  to 
have  the  majority  of  the  courtiers  depend- 
ent upon  him:  he  thus  concludes — "This 
is  what  I  wish  to  see,  in  order  that  we 
may  afterwards  consider  what  you  should 
do  to  attain  your  object"  &c* 

Soon  after  a  circumstance  occurred 
which  alarmed  the  whole  court,  and 
might  have  produced  results  of  a  serious 
nature.  Its  only  consequence,  however, 
was  to  display  the  devotedness  of  Guise's 
followers  and  the  animosity  which  pre- 
vailed among  all  ranks,  connected  with 
either  the  king's  party,  or  the  league.  On 
the  night  of  the  4th  of  November  a  quar- 
rel arose  between  a  servant  of  the  Gui- 
sard  party,  and  the  Duke  of  Montpensier's 
page.  The  servant  was  killed;  and  both 
parties  took  arms,  collected  their  friends, 
and  began  a  terrible  conflict.  The  Gui- 
sards  had  the  advantage,  and  drove  their 
opponents  back  into  the  king's  residence/]" 
The  arrival  of  the  military  quelled  the  tu- 
mult, but  the  king  was  alarmed  until  the 
affair  was  cleared  up:  he  was  persuaded 
that  it  was  a  plan  of  Guise's  to  attack 
him;  and  this  proof  of  the  hatred  between 
the  parties,  and  the  readiness  of  the  duke's 
followers  to  proceed  to  extremities,  was 
an  additional  cause  of  disquiet,  as  it  held 
out  so  much  encouragement  to  his  am- 
bitious schemes. 

But  Guise's  audacity  .in  a  certain  de- 
gree prevented  his  own  success:  ambition 
had  blinded  his  prudence;  and  as  he  had 
escaped  unhurt  from  the  interview  at 
Paiis,  he  fancied  it  beyond  the  king's 
power  to  molest  him.  His  haughtiness 
had  destroyed  the  friendship  which  many 
of  the  nobles  had  entertained  for  him; 
and  their  coolness  being  converted  into 


while  he  received  a  capucin's  crown. 
The  Duchess  of  Montpensier  was  furious 
against  the  king;  she  constantly  exhibited 
a  pair  of  scissors,  which  she  said  she 
kept  ready  to  give  Henry  a  monachal 
crown,  whenever  he  was  confined  in  a 
convent;*  and  one  of  the  deputies  of  the 
clergy  called  the  barricades  a  holy  and 
blessed  event,  even  in  the  king's  pre- 
sence.! These  things,  added  to  the  hos- 
tile operations  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
who  was  strongly  suspected  of  acting  in 
concert  with  Guise,  made  Henry  resolve 
to  adopt  some  strong  measure  towards 
this  insolent  subject.  The  Duke  *  of 
Savoy  had  seized  upon  the  marquisate  of 
Saluces;  and  the  general  feeling  of  the 
states-general  was  to  lay  aside  domestic 
quarrels,  and  attack  the  stranger;  Guise 
was  opposed  to  this,  and  said  that  the 
war  with  Savoy  need  not  make  any  dif- 
ference in  the  war  with  the  Huguenots  — 
at  the  same  time  taking  measures  for 
making  the  war  impracticable,  by  spread- 
ing a  report  that  the  king  himself  had 
concerted  the  invasion  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  in  order  to  prevent  the  execution 
of  the  edicts  against  the  heretics.! 

Guise,  in  the  extent  of  his  influence, 
and  the  importance  of  his  functions,  re- 
sembled the  ancient  mayors  of  the  palace; 
and  Henry's  mind  was  alive  to  that  re- 
semblance, as  well  as  to  the  parallel  con- 
clusion, which  was  contemplated.  Every 
day,  during  his  residence  at  Blois,  he  wa3 
informed  of  some  fresh  insult  on  the  part 
of  the  Guises.  Among  others,  Marshal 
d'Aumont  informed  him  of  the  duke's 
proposal  to  join  in  compelling  his  majesty 
to  deprive  the  Duke  of  Montpensier  of  the 
government  of  Normandy,  and  promising 
to  confer  it  on  him  as  a  reward. §  This 
desire  to  remove  a  prince  of  the  blood 
from  his  post  inclined  the  king  to  give 
more  credit  to  a  communication  sent  by 
the  Duchess  of  Aumale,  informing  him 


*  Villeroy,  vol.  iii.  p,  124. 
t  Davila,  IiV.  9. 


*  Oe  Thou,  liv.  93. 

+  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  362. 

t  Davila,  liv.  9.  Cayet,  liv.  ],  p.  97. 

$  De  Thou,  liv.  93. 


MURDER  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE  CONTEMPLATED.  229 


of  the  intended  attempt  to  seize  his  per- 
son, and  confine  hip  in  a  convent,  at  the 
same  time  advising  him  to  anticipate  the 
blow.  Letters  were  also  received  from 
the  Dukes  of  Mayenne  and  Epernon, 
stating  that  an  attempt  upon  his  person 
was  under  discussion.* 

We  know  not  the  precise  time  when 
these  communications  were  made  to  the 
king;  but  the  journal  of  the  time  informs 
us,  "  That,  on  the  4th  of  December,  the 
king  swore  upon  the  sacrament  at  the 
altar  perfect  reconciliation  and  friendship 
with  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  forgetful  ness 
of  all  past  quarrels;  and  which  he  did  ap- 
parently quite  freely ;  he  even  declared, 
in  order  to  amuse  that  party,  that  he  was 
resolved  to  leave  the  management  of 
affairs  to  his  cousin  of  Guise  and  to  the 
queen  his  mother,  in  order  to  occupy 
himself  entirely  with  prayer  and  peni- 
tence."! What  a  dreadful  display  of  im- 
pious perfidy  !  It  is  true  that  he  did  not 
finally  resolve  on  putting  Guise  to  death 
till  the  eighteenth  ;£  but  it  is  also  known 
that,  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  states 
at  Blois,  he  had  contemplated  some  strong 
measure.  Doth  he  and  Guise  were  tryin» 
to  surprise  each  other,  and  each  was 
aware  of  the  other's  design. 

When  the  king  was  convinced  that  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  strike 
the  fatal  blow,  or  consent  to  be  struck,  he 
consulted  with  Marshal  d'Aumont,  Beau- 
vais-Nangis,  and  two  others,  but  without 
calling  in  the  queen-mother.  After  detail- 
ing the  injuries  he  had  received  from  Guise, 
he  asked  for  their  sincere  opinions  upon 
the  conduct  he  should  follow  in  his  dan- 
gerous situation.  The  first  who  gave  his 
sentiments  recommended  the  arrest  of 
Guise  and  his  chief  partisans,  and  that 
they  should  be  tried  by  the  parliament; 
but  upon  consideration  it  was  judged  im- 
practicable, on  account  of  the  number  of 
his  friends,  and  the  influence  of  his  party. 
It  was  then  agreed  upon  that  his  guilt  of 
high  treasoq  and  rebellion  was  clear; 
that  as  he  was  above  the  control  of  the 
laws,  he  could  be  punished  without  the 
formalities  of  justice,  and  that  there  was 
no  other  way  to  prevent  him  from  carry- 


*  Hist,  deg  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  142.  D'Au- 
bigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  149    Mem.  de  Neverg,  vol.  ii.  p.  63. 
t  Journal  de  Henri  III. 
j  Davila,  liv.  9. 

20 


ing  into  effect  the  design  which  he  was 
known  to  be  planning  against  the  king.* 

The  measures  being  decided  on,  Henry 
looked  around  for  a  person  capable  of  ex- 
ecuting it,  and  fixed  his  eye  on  Crillon  : 
he  considered  a  refusal  from  him  very 
improbable,  for  the  Duke  of  Guise  had  de- 
manded his  banishment  as  one  of  the  con- 
ditions of  reconciliation.  He  sent  for  him, 
and,  after  exposing  the  Duke's  crimes,  he 
said,  "Do  you  think  he  merits  death?" 
"  Yes,"  answered  Crillon.  "  Well,  then," 
said  the  king,  "  you  are  the  man  I  have 
chosen  to  punish  him."  Crillon  was  de-, 
lighted  at  the  honour  of  being  the  cham- 
pion of  his  sovereign,  and  said,  "  I  will 
meet  him,  and  my  sword  shall  pierce  his 
heart,  even  if  I  receive  his  in  my  own 
bosom,  and  die  with  him."  "  Stop,"  said 
Henry,  "I  do  not  wish  to  get  rid  of  the 
chief  of  the  rebels  by  exposing  the  life  of 
my  friend  ;  your  existence  is  dear  to  me  ; 
we  must  strike  him  without  compromising 
you."  Crillon  shuddered  with  horror  at 
the  proposal,  and  felt  inexpressible  regret 
that  the  king  should  have  thought  him 
capable  of  such  an  act :  at  the  same  time, 
to  prevent  any  fear  of  his  betraying  the 
secret,  he  offered  to  remain  in  custody. 
His  word,  however,  was  sufficient  for  the 
monarch.  Loignac,  captain  of  the  guards, 
called  the  Forty-Jive,  undertook  the  com- 
mission :  the  whole  of  that  body  were  de- 
voted to  Epernon,  and  in  consequence 
were  enemies  of  Guise.t 

In  the  mean  time  Guise's  friends  be- 
came alarmed  for  his  safety,  and  urged 
him  to  retire  from  Blois.  The  king's  pa- 
tience had  excited  their  suspicions,  which 
were  in  a  great  measure  confirmed  by 
their  anxious  inquiries.  But  Guise  paid 
no  attention  to  their  entreaties,  and  the 
day  before  that  which  was  intended  for 
his  assassination,  he  found  on  sitting 
down  to  table  a  note  in  the  folds  of  his 
napkin,  containing  a  caution  against  an 
intended  attack  upon  him.  He  merely 
wrote  upon  it  with  his  pencil,  "  They 
would  not  dare  attempt  it,"  and  threw  it 
under  the  table.! 

On  the  22d  of  December  the  king  sent 
word  to  Guise,  that  as  he  purposed  going 

*  Hist,  des  Dernierg  Troubleg,  liv.  4.  Davila,  liv.  9" 
Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  366. 

+  Davila,  liv.  9.    Vie  de  Crillon,  vol.  ii.  p.  24. 

%  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  146.  D'Au- 
bigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  151. 


230 


MURDER  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  GUISE. 


to  Notre-Dame  de  Clery  to  pass  the  fes- 
tival of  Christmas,  he  should  hold  his 
council  early  the  next  morning.  Loignac 
at  the  same  time  received  his  instructions: 
he  had  entered  by  a  private  door,  accom- 
panied by  thirteen  of  the  most  resolute  of 
his  company.  Henry  addressed  them  in 
a  few  words,  and  promised  them  great  re- 
wards. He  gave  each  of  them  a  poniard 
and  said,  "  This  is  the  greatest  criminal 
in  my  kingdom,  and  the  laws,  both  human 
and  divine,  allow  me  to  punish  him;  but 
not  being  able  to  do  so  by  the  ordinary 
ways  of  justice,  I  authorize  you  by  my 
royal  prerogative."  He  then  placed  them 
in  an  antechamber,  through  which  the 
duke  would  pass. 

The  Duke  and  the  Cardinal  of  Guise 
consulted  with  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons 
on  the  propriety  of  retiring  from  Blois. 
They  considered  the  advantage  which 
Henry's  friends  would  gain  over  them  if 
they  withdrew  from  the  conclusion  of  the 
states-general ;  and  things  had  proceeded 
so  far,  that  the  retreat  of  one  party  was 
certain  victory  for  the  other.  These  con- 
siderations, added  to  the  most  complete 
contempt  for  the  king,  made  them  pay  no 
further  attention  to  the  warnings  which 
they  continued  to  receive  till  the  last  mo- 
ment :  Guise  passed  the  night  with  the 
Marchioness  of  Noirmoutier,*  who  had 
come  to  Blois  on  purpose  to  persuade  him 
to  remove,  bur  nothing  could  induce  him 
to  change  his  opinion. 

Early  the  next  morning  he  went  to  the 
council,  and  when  he  had  entered  the  cas- 
tle the  gates  were  shut.  Pericard,  his 
secretary,  observing  this,  wrote  a  note 
and  sent  it  to  the  duke  folded  in  a 
handkerchief:  the  note  contained  another 
warning,  but  the  bearer  was  not  able  to 
obtain  admission.  Guise  being  in  the  hall, 
was  observed  to  look  pale :  different  rea- 
sons have  been  assigned  for  it,  but  the 
most  probable  is,  that,  on  finding  himself 
surrounded  by  soldiers  of  the  Forly-five, 
and  none  of  those  persons  being  present 
who  were  usually  in  attendance,  he  called 
to  mind  his  repented  warnings,  and  too 
late  regretted  his  blind  presumption.  Pre 
sently  he  was  summoned  to  the  king's 
presence,  and  as  he  approached  the  door 
one  of  the  assassins  stabbed  him  in  the 
breast;  the  others  did  the  same';  and  the 

*  She  was  well  known  for  her  gallantries  as  Madame 
de  Sauve. 


duke  before  he  died  had  only  time  to 
make  a  short  exclamation,  the  substance 
of  which  is  not  known  with  any  certainty.* 
The  Cardinal  of  Guise,  hearing  the  noise, 
immediately  suspected  that  it  was  an  at- 
tack upon  his  brother  :  he  and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Lyons  ran  to  the  door  to  give 
the  alarm,  and  call  their  friends;  but  the 
Marshals  d'Aumont  and  De  Retz  arrested 
and  placed  them  in  a  small  room  under  a 
strong  guard.    At  the  same  time  were 
arrested  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  the 
Prince  of  Joinville,  then  become  Duke  of 
Guise  by  his  father's  death,  the  Dukes  of 
Elboeuf  and  Nemours,  and  the  Duchess  of 
Nemours,  Guise's  mother.    The  principal 
leaguers  in  the  town  were  also  taken  into 
custody,  and  among  them  Pericard,  the 
duke's  secretary,  by  which  means  the 
king  obtained  a  number  of  letters  and 
papers,  which  showed  that  he  had  re- 
ceived considerable  sums  from  Spain  to 
promote  his  enterprise.! 

When  the  door  of  the  ante-chamber 
was  thrown  open  the  king  came  out  of  his 
apartment  with  his  suite:  many  of  the 
courtiers  made  jesting  remarks  upon  the 
King  of  Paris,  and  Henry  himself  is  said 
to  have  kicked  the  dead  body  of  his  ene- 
my.} The  king  then  went  to  his  mother's 
chamber  to  inform  her  of  what  had  taken 
place.  She  was  ill  in  bed,  and  had  asked 
several  times  what  was  the  cause  of  the 
noise  and  bustle,  but  no  one  had  dared  to 
inform  her  of  it.  The  queen  having  in- 
formed her  son  that  she  felt  rather  better, 
he  answered,  "  And  so  do  I,  for  this  morn- 
ing I  have  become  King  of  France,  having 
put  to  death  the  King  of  Paris." 

You  have  killed  the  Duke  of  Guise," 
said  Catherine;  "God  grant  that  this 
death  do  not  make  you  king  of  nothing. 
Have  you  considered  the  consequences  1 
Two  things  are  necessary  for  you,  dili- 
gence and  resolution :"  she  also  recom- 
mended him  to  send  Cardinal  Gondy  to 
inform  the  legate.§ 

After  hearing  mass,  the  kin,g  had  a  long 
conversation  with  Cardinal  Morosini,  the 
legate.  He  endeavoured  to  convince  him 
of  the  necessity  in  which  he  had  found 


*  Some  say  it  was  Dieu  ayei  pitic  de  moi !  Others, 
Akl  truitri  roi ! 

t  i>'Aubij;ne,  vol.  iii.  p  151.  Davila,  liv.  9.  Hist, 
iles  Demiers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  147.  C'ayet,  liv.  1,  pp. 
105—110. 

J  Journal  de  Henri  III. 

i  Davila,  liv.  9.  D'Aubignt,  vol.  iii.  p.  153.  Hist, 
des  lleriiiers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p  149. 


MURDER  OF  THE  CARDINAL  OF  GUISE. 


himself  placed  to  save  his  crown  and  his 
life  by  that  method;  concluding  by  a  re- 
quest that  he  would  inform  the  pope  of  all 
those  reasons  before  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  his  enemies  should  raise  an  un- 
favourable opinion  of  him  in  the  mind  of 
his  holiness.*  Morosini,  perceiving  the 
necessity  of  humouring  the  king  to  pre- 
vent his  thinking  of  a  peace  with  the  Hu- 
guenots, answered  him  with  great  address; 
while  Henry  was  so  anxious  to  preserve 
the  pope's  friendship,  that  he  swore  to  the 
legate  that  if  Sixtus  would  co-operate  with 
him,  he  would  make  still  greater  exertions 
to  exterminate  the  heretics  from  his  king- 
dom, in  which  he  was  resolved  to  suffer 
none  but  the  true  religion  to  be  exercised. 
The  legate  was  well  aware  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances respecting  Guise's  death,  and 
Henry's  communication  taught  him  no- 
thing fresh  on  that  subject ;  but  the  king's 
principal  aim  was  to  have  his  sentiments 
respecting  the  Cardinal  of  Guise,  whose 
death  he  had  also  contemplated.  The  le- 
gate, however,  avoided  that  subject,  and 
pretended  not  to  know  that  the  Cardinal 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons  were  in 
prison :  he  continued  his  familiarity  with 
the  king,  went  with  him  to  mass,  and 
gave  him  marks  of  particular  confidence. 
This  line  of  conduct  was  interpreted  by 
the  king's  friends  as  a  silent  approbation 
of  his  vengeance,  and  made  many  think 
that  the  pope  was  previously  informed  of 
his  intentions.! 

The  king,  rinding  the  cardinal's  impri- 
sonment did  not  create  any  opposition 
from  the  legate;  and  being  informed  of 
the  violent  threats  he  had  made  on  hear- 
ing of  his  brother's  death;  and  the  dread 
of  his  revenge,  if  he  lived,  operating  on 
many  of  the  king's  advisers,  his  death 
also  was  decided  on.J    But  a  fresh  difii- 

*  The  correspondence  with  Cardinal  Joyeuse,  then  nt 
Rome,  throws  great  light  on  the  projects  of  the  Guises 
It  is  given  at  length  by  Villeroy,  vol.  iii. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  110.  Davila,  liv.  9,  p.  553.  D'Au 
bigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  15-2.  Leti,  liv.  10.  But  Maimbourg, 
upon  the  authority  of  Morosim's  letter  to  the  Cardinal 
Moutalto,  asserts  that  the.  interview  between  the  king 
and  the  legate  did  not  take  plaee  till  the  2(ith,  that  is, 
after  the  death  of  the  Cardinal.  However,  as  Cayet, 
Davila,  and  U'Aubigne  were  contemporaries,  and  Gre- 
gorio  Leti  was  in  a  situation  to  he  well  informed  of  the 
merits  of  the  case,  I  have  adopted  their  ver-ion,  and 
am  the  more  satisfied  in  so  dning  as  Sixtus  was  very 
angry  with  ins  legate  for  being  so  friendly  with  the  i 
king:  Morosim's  letter,  therefore,  was  a  defence  of  his 
own  conduct,  and  being  ez  parti,  is  not  of  such  an1 
overwhelming  authority,  as  to  reduce  contrary  state- 
ments to  "fictions  such  as  poets  only  are  allowed  to 
nee. "    See  Hist,  de  la  Ltgue,  vol  ii.  p.  91. 

J  Vedendo  dunque  il  re  che  il  legato  (che  fa  effelti- 
fameiite  la  causa  della  niorte  del  cardinale  6  almeno  da 


:  culty  arose;  the  assassins,  who  had  mur- 

■  dered  the  duke  without  scruple,  refused 
I  to  stain  their  hands  with  the  blood  of  an 

ecclesiastic.    At  last  four  soldiers  were 
found,  whose  objections  were  overcome 
f  by  a  promise  of  four  hundred  crowns, 
i  They  proceeded,  on  the  morning  of  the 

■  twenty-fourth,  to  the  room  where  the  car- 
•  dinal  and  his  companion  had  passed  a 

troubled  night.  On  opening  the  door, 
i  they  called  forth  the  archbishop,  telling 
!  him  the  king  wanted  hiin.  The  two  pri- 
i  soners  received  each  other's  confession, 
i  and  were  both  in  expectation  of  being 
murdered:  as  the  archbishop  quitted  the 

■  chamber,  they  mutually  exhorted  each 
other  to  think  of  God.    After  conduct- 

■  ing  the  archbishop  to  another  room,  Du 
Guast,  who  commanded  the  assassins, 

.  returned  and  told  the  cardinal  he  had  the 
:  king's  orders  to  kill  him.  "Execute 
:  your  commission,"    said    the  cardinal, 
:  after  a  short  pause  occupied  in  prayer,  at 
the  same  time  covering  his  head  with  his 
gown:  the  soldiers  immediately  put  him 
to  death  with  their  spears.* 

The  two  bodies  were  placed  in  quick- 
lime to  destroy  the  flesh,  the  bones  were 
afterwards  burnt  to  ashes,  and  thrown 
away  by  the  king's  orders:  he  was  fearful 
that  their  remains  would  be  treated  by  the 
league  as  holy  relics. f 

Thus  perished  the  Duke  and  the  Car- 
dinal of  Guise:  had  their  death  been  at- 
tended with  the  bare  forms  of  justice, 
there  would  exist  but  one  opinion  on  the 
subject.  They  had  succeeded  in*  esta- 
blishing such  a  power  in  the  state,  that 
they  could  set  the  laws  at  defiance;  and  it 
must  also  be  recollected,  that,  according 
to  the  ultramontane  notions,  then  bearing 
such  terrible  sway,  the  Cardinal  of  Guise 
could  not  be  brought  to  judgment  by  the 
king  of  France.  These  circumstances 
should  have  their  weight  in  estimating 
the  king's  conduct.  Unhappily  for  him, 
he  had  been  nurtured  in  bigotry,  and 
trained  to  dissimulation.  The  former 
prevented  him  from  acting  fairly  by  those 
who  would  h  ave  preserved  him  from  the 
dreadful  dilemma  in  which  he  found  him- 

questo  hebbe  origine  la  risolutione)  nnn  faceva  alcuno 
caso,  ne  si  turbava  della  prigtonia  de  Cardinale,  deli- 
hero  di  passare  innanzi,  e  liberarsi  del  Cardinale  di 
Ghisa,  Leti,  parte  2»  lib.  5°,  p.  39i>.    Losanna,  1669. 

*  D'Aubigne  vol.  iii.  p.  152.  Davila,  liv.  9.  llist.des 
Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  4. 

t  Journal,  de  Henri  III.,  and  D'Aubigne.  Henry, 
Duke  of  Guise,  was  born  in  1550.  Louis,  the  cardinal, 
in  1553. 


1232 


IRRESOLUTION  OF  THE  KING. 


self;  while  the  latter  became  a  ready  re- 
source when  he  discovered  the  necessity 
of  adopting  this  measure  as  his  only  al- 
ternative. 

The  Duke  of  Guise  is  described  as 
having  excelled  in  every  quality  required 
ill  nobles  of  the  time;  and  the  cardinal 
was  reputed  to  be  learned,  generous,  of 
a  penetrating  mind  and  a  courageous 
spirit.  But  although  the  establishment  of 
the  league,  and  the  circumstances  to 
which  it  gave  rise,  raised  the  two  bro- 
thers to  the  first  degree  of  importance 
during  the  political  hurricane,  they  can 
never  be  compared  to  their  father,  Francis, 
Duke  of  Guise,  and  his  brother  the  Car- 
dinal of  Lorrain. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Death  of  Catherine  de  Medicis— Conclusion  of  the 
States  general— Violence  of  the  League  in  Paris — 
Mayennfi  appointed  Lieutenant-general. 

The  death  of  the  Guises  completely 
changed  the  face  of  affairs;  the  king, 
however,  did  not  derive  from  the  event 
those  advantages  which  had  been  ex- 
pected. As  so  strong  a  measure  had  not 
been  decided  upon  without  mature  delibe- 
ration, it  should  have  been  promptly  fol- 
lowed up  with  vigour;  and  Henry  ought 
to  have  attacked  his  revolted  subjects 
before  they  had  lime  to  recover  from  the 
amazement  into  which  the  loss  of  their 
chief  had  thrown  them;  but  his  orders 
were  barely  carried  into  execution  when 
he  almost  regretted  having  given  them. 
Irresolution,  his  bane,  again  possessed 
him,  and  he  seemed  to  recoil  from  his 
own  work. 

Of  all  the  leaguers  taken  into  custody 
when  Guise  was  killed,  there  remained 
in  a  few  days  only  the  young  Duke  of 
Guise,  the  Duke  of  Elbceuf,  the  Cardinal 
of  Bourbon,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons; 
they  were  confined  in  separate  apartments 
in  the  castle  of  Amboise,  and  Du  Guast, 
the  assassin  of  the  cardinal,  was  intrust- 
ed with  the  charge  of  them.  The  Duke 
of  Nemours  made  his  escape,  and  re- 
turned to  Paris;  the  Duchess  of  Nemours 
(the  mother  of  the  Guises,)  was  set  at 
liberty  in  consideration  of  her  birth,  being 
a  grand-daughter  of  Louis  XII.;  and  the 
different  deputies  to  the  states-general 


were  enlarged  on  the  plea  of  public  faith. 
The  Duke  of  Mayenne  was  at  Lyons, 
and  Alphonso  Ornano  was  sent  to  arrest 
him,  but  without  success;  for  directly  the 
death  of  Guise  was  known,  two  leaguers 
had  quitted  Blois  to  warn  the  remaining 
hope  of  their  party:  and  they  had  no  time 
to  spare,  for  Mayenne  quitted  Lyons  by 
one  gate  as  Ornano  entered  by  another. 
He  went  at  once  to  Dijon,  where  he  was 
governor.*  A  similar  activity  on  the  part 
of  the  league  anticipated  the  king  in 
getting  possession  of  Orleans. f  Henry 
was  urged  to  take  the  field,  to  recall  the 
army  from  Poitou,  and  prevent  Mayenne 
from  collecting  his  forces.  He  thought, 
however,  that  he  should  be  joined  by  the 
Catholics  of  the  League,  whose  aim  being 
more  to  suppress  the  Huguenots  than  to 
assist  the  Guises,  would  cheerfully  help 
him  in  subduing  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  thus  enable  him  to  restore  order.  He 
contented  himself  therefore  with  publish- 
ing a  declaration,  justify  ing  his  conduct 
towards  the  Guises,  and  renewing  the 
edict  of  union,  to  show  his  attachment  to 
the  Catholic  faith.  Had  he  shown  him- 
self before  Orleans,  his  presence  alone 
would  have  preserved  that  city  from  join- 
ing in  the  rebellion;  but  he  ridiculed  the 
advice  which  was  given  him  both  to  that 
effect,  and  also  to  unite  with  the  King  of 
Navarre,  a  measure  which  ultimately  he 
could  not  avoid.]: 

Soon  after  the  Cardinal  of  Guise  was 
killed,  two  counsellors  and  a  clerk  were 
sent  to  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  to  ques- 
tion him  upon  the  charges  against  the 
Duke  of  Guise.  The  archbishop  told 
them,  that  as  they  were  laymen  they  had 
no  jurisdiction  over  him,  and  that  he 
should  not  answer  their  questions.  When 
this  answer  was  reported  to  the  king,  he 
sent  Cardinal  Gondy  to  speak  to  him.§ 
The  archbishop  said,  he  had  nothing  to 
allege  against  the  cardinal  or  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  but  that  if  he  had,  he  neither  could 
nor  would  be  questioned,  except  by  the 
pope,  or  some  one  delegated  by  him;  for, 
as  Primate  of  all  Gaul,  he  had  no  other 
judge;  and  that  even  he,  the  cardinal, 


*  Davila,  liv  9. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  113.  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles, 
liv.  4.  p.  149. 

t  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  153. 

}  Peter  Gondy,  liishop  of  Paris  anil  Cardinal , b  rn  at 
Lyons  in  1533;  died  1016.  lie  was  brother  of  Martial 
de  Relz. 


DEATH  OF  CATHERINE  DE  MEDICIS. 


233 


Teas  under  his  primacy,  being  Bishop  of  granted  liberty  of  conscience  to  his  sub- 
Paris.    "  But,"  added  he,  "  if  Cardinal  jects.* 

Morosini,  his  holiness's  legate,  finds,  on  Those  of  the  queen-mother's  deeds 
consulting  with  the  other  prelates,  who  which  are  known  with  certainty,  (with- 
are  assembled  for  the  states-generah  that  out  considering  those  which  are  imputed 
I  ought  to  reply,  I  will  follow  their  deci-  to  her  with  every  appearance  of  pmbabi- 
sion;  for  then  it  will  be  they,  and  not  I,  |lity,)  display  her  character  more  clearly 
who  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  eccle- '  than  language  can  describe  it:  still  the 
siastics."  Nearly  a  fortnight  was  occu-  j  fact  of  those  charges  against  her  being 
pied  in  discussing  whether  the  king  did  currently  received,  evidently  proves  that 
or  did  not  possess  the  right,  of  judging  a  by  the  nation  at  large  she  was  thought 
bishop  of  his  kingdom;  after  which,  the  I  to  be  capable  of  any  crime.    A  notion 


Bishop  of  Beauvais,  and  Ruze,  a  secre 
tary  of  state,  went  to  the  Archbishop,  and 
exhorted  him  to  conform  to  the  king's 
wishes,  urging,  as  a  reason  for  his  com- 
pliance, that  his  life  had  been  spared.  But 
the  archbishop  was  inflexible;  he  asked 
the  bishop  in  what  capacity  he  came: 
"If  you  come,"  said  he,  "as  a  bishop, 
you  cannot  interrogate  your  superior;  if 
as  a  peer,  it  is  a  lay  office  to  which  I  can- 
not submit:  thank  God  I  know  the  privi- 
leges and  authority  of  the  church;  I  can- 
not think  that  the  kino-  wishes  me  to  dis- 


prevailed  at  Florence,  that,  when  her  na- 
tivity was  cast,  the  astrologers  declared 
that  if  she  lived  she  would  be  the  cause  of 
very  great  calamities,  and  would  totally 
ruin  the  family  into  which  she  married, 
and  the  place  where  she  might  settle. 
The  Florentines,  thinking  she  might 
cause  their  ruin,  proposed  when  Clement 
VII.  besieged  them  to  expose  her  to  the 
enemy's  fire;  and  a  preacher  in  his  ser- 
mons recommended  her  to  be  disposed 
of  in  some  manner:  among  other  things 
it  was  suggested  to  place  her  in  a  bro- 


regard  them;  and  as  he  has  given  me  my  thel ,  and  keep  her  ignorant  of  her  birth. f 
life,  he  surely  will  leave  free  my  con- 
science also,  which  is  dearer  to  me  than 
a  thousand  lives."  The  archbishop  con- 
cluded by  requesting  his  majesty  to  al- 
low him  to  be  accompanied  by  some  ec- 
clesiastic, and  to  hear  mass  in  his  room, 
which  permission  was  readily  given.* 

The  queen-mother  died  on  the  fifth  of 
January,  1589.  She  went  to  see  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  soon  after  the  death 
of  Guise:  as  she  entered  his  room  he  ex- 
claimed, "Ah,  madam!  you  have  led  us 
all  to  be  slaughtered."  She  assured  him 
that  she  had  not  the  least  idea  of  it  before 
it  took  place,  and  that  she  felt  an  un- 
speakable regret  that  it  had  occurred;  but 
the  Cardinal's  reproaches  became  still 
more  violent,  and  she  felt  severely  the 
reflection,  that  she  should  have  made  her- 
self liable  to  such  a  charge,  by  a  long 
series  of  duplicity  and  cruelty.  She 
went  home  and  became  a  prey  to  the  vio- 
lent conflict  of  her  ideas.t  On  her  death- 
bed she  is  said  to  have  exhorted  the  king 
to  attach  himself  to  the  Princes  of  Bour- 
bon, and  especially  to  the  King  of  Na- 
varre; and  to  have  impressed  on  his  mind, 
that  he  never  could  have  peace  unless  he 


*  Hist,  des  Derniers  Trouble?,  liv.  4,  p.  151.  Davila, 
liv.  9 

f  Brantome,  vol.  i.  p.  119.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.p.  153. 
Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  377.   Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  669. 


20* 


She  possessed  a  strong  mind,  a  per- 
suasive eloquence,  and  an  invention  so 
ready  that  she  never  wanted  an  expedient: 
this  to  be  sure  was  more  easy  for  her 
than  for  others;  because  to  effect  her 
purpose,  she  never  considered  any  means 
improper  or  unjust.  In  furtherance  of 
her  artful  plans,  she  availed  herself  of  the 
licentiousness  of  the  court,  and  by  her 
encouragement  raised  it  to  a  pitch  of  un- 
paralleled dissoluteness  and  infamy.  Her 
principal  weakness  was  the  habit  of  fre- 
quently consulting  astrologers;  but  in  the 
exercise  of  her  cruelty  and  perfidy,  she 
became  so  much  detested  by  both  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants  that  her  foibles  were 
thrown  in  the  shade.  Being  entirely 
taken  up  with  the  weightier  matters  of 
public  affairs,  she  paid  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  those  subjects  which  generally 
occupy  the  minds  of  ladies  of  rank,  and 
appears  to  have  cared  but  little  for  the 
adulations  which  are  invariably  offered  to 
a  female  sovereign.!    The   feelings  of 

*  De  Bury.  Hist,  de  Henri  IV ,  vol.  i.  p  315. 
t  Discours  lie  la  Viede  Catherine  de  Medici*,  p.  355. 
t  After  a  long  conference  at  St.  Bria  will]  [he  King  of 
Navarre,  finding  she  coulrl  not  bring  him  to  accept  her 
terms,  she  asked  him  if  the  trouble  she  had  taken  was 
to  produce  noetfcct;  adding  that  she  wished  for  nothing 
more  than  peace.  "  Madam,"  said  Navarre,  "  it  is  not 
my  fault  that  you  do  not  sleep  in  your  own  bed:  imt 
you  prevent  me  from  sleeping  in  mine:  the  trouble  you 
take  gratifies  and  nourishes  you,  for  quiet  is  the  great- 
est enemy  of  your  life  "—Perejiit,  liv.  1,  p  uS. 


234 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


vanity  were  smothered  in  her  breast  by 
the  calculations  of  policy,  and  the  spnr- 
rings  of  ambition:  indeed  this  latter  im- 
pulse was  too  strong  to  allow  maternal 
affection  to  have  its  proper  sway;  for 
she  encouraged  her  children  in  habits  of 
licentiousness  in  order  to  make  them  sub- 
servient to  her  purposes,  and  to  prevent 
them  from  becoming  obstacles  to  her 
views,  instead  of  exciting  them  to  actions 
worthy  of  their  important  station  in  so- 
ciety. Brantome  extols  her  as  being 
unequalled  in  the  management  of  a  splen- 
did court,  and  attempts  to  answer  many 
of  the  charges  against  her;  while  Davila 
attributes  the  greater  part  of  those  charges 
to  malice  or  ignorance.  The  facts,  how- 
ever, are  too  well  authenticated  for  her  re- 
putation to  admit  of  much  defence:  she 
possessed  good  qualifications  rather  than 
good  qualities,  and  the  good  which  she 
effected  was  only  momentary,  while  the  in- 
juries she  inflicted  on  the  country  were  of 
long  duration.  Catherine  de  Medicis,  at 
the  time  of  her  decease,  was  in  the 
seventieth  year  of  her  age. 

The  people  of  Paris,  thinking  she  was 
concerned  in  the  murder  of  the  Guises, 
declared  that  if  her  body  came  there  in 
its  way  to  St.  Denis,  they  would  drag  it 
through  the  streets  and  throw  it  into  the 
river.* 

The  states-general  were  closed  on  the 
sixteenth  of  January,  as  the  confusion  of 
public  affairs  prevented  any  probable 
benefit  being  derived  from  their  consulta- 
tions. Previous  to  their  separation  each 
order  presented  a  remonstrance  to  the 
king  on  the  different  disorders  and  irre- 
gularities in  the  government.  The  prin- 
cipal grievance  in  the  eyes  of  the  clergy 
was  the  alienation  of  the  church  lands. 
"Saint  Augustin  and  several  good  fathers, 
said  the  Archbishop  of  Bouige's,  have  per- 
mitted the  sale  and  alienation  of  church 
property  for  redeeming  captives,  and  for 
the  poor;  but  that  was  the  vessels  and 
money  belonging  to  the  church,  for  the 
alienation  of  church  lands  is  without  ex- 
ample. Charles  Mart  el  alone  has  made 
himself  infamous  by  attempting  to  obtain 
the  estates  of  the  church  ;  and  a  horrible 
serpent  was  afterwards  found  in  his  tomb. 
Not  all  the  wars  against  the  Albigenses, 
nor  the  distresses  of  the  wars  against  the 


English,  have  been  able  to  destroy  this 
palladium,  so  much  as  the  suggestions  of 
concealed  Huguenots."* 

The  remonstrance  of  the  noblesse,  pre- 
sented by  the  Count  de  Brissac,  was  as 
inveterate  against  the  Huguenots  as  that 
of  the  clergy;  but  while  they  were  willing 
to  help  the  king  against  that  most  dan- 
gerous and  abominable  sect,  whose  im- 
piety being  extreme  should  be  chastised 
with  extreme  severity,  they  would  not 
overlook  their  own  exclusive  interests, 
and  called  on  his  majesty  to  prevent  per- 
sons from  obtaining,  by  money  or  other 
means,  the  rank  and  privileges  of  gentle- 
men.t 

Bernard,  the  speaker  of  the  Tiers  Etat, 
commenced  his  harangue,  by  solemnly 
thanking  the  king  for  his  promise  to  exe- 
cute the  holy  edict  of  union,  which  he 
stated  to  be  written  by  divine  inspiration, 
and  which  would  dissipate  heresy,  as  fogs 
are  scattered  by  the  sun.  But  the 
picture  which  he  afterwards  gave  of  the 
state  of  society  was  sufficient  to  prevent 
any  very  considerable  benefit  to  be  ex- 
pected from '  it.  "  Blasphemy,"  said  he, 
"is  the  ordinary  conversation  of  many, 
and  adultery  is  their  recreation  ;  magic 
employs  their  minds,  and  occupies  their 
curiosity;  and  simony  is  their  common 
trade.  Thus1  the  splendour  of  justice  is 
dimmed,  good  customs  are  perverted, 
virtue  is  banished,  and  vice  placed  in  au- 
thority; while  rapine  strides  through  the 
kingdom  with  an  unfurled  standard. "| 

Henry's  zeal  for  the  Catholic  church 
was  well  known.  Duplessis-Mornay, 
writing  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  says, 
"  Sire,  I  persist  in  my  opinion  of  yester- 
day; the  king  will  continue  the  war 
against  you,  unless  his  plans  are  traversed 
by  the  remains  of  the  league  faction  :  at 
any  rale,  he  will  not  dare  to  speak  of 
peace."}  But  that  did  not  preserve  him 
from  the  vengeance  of  the  enraged  Sixtus 
V.,  who,  after  expressing  his  regret  that 
Henry  should  suffer  so  tamely  the  inso- 
lence of  the  league,  was  surprised  to  find 
that  he  had  inflicted  capital  punishment 
on  a  cardinal.  When  he  heard  that 
Guise  was  killed,  he  told  the  Cardinal 
Joyeuse,  that,  if  he  had  been  King  of 


•  Journal  ile  Henri  III. 


*  Hist,  des  Oernieis  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  163. 
t  Ibid,  p.  167.  t  Ibid.  p.  170. 

§  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  i  p.  878.  The  letter  is  dated 
27ih  December,  1588. 


EXCITEMENT  OF  THE  POPE. 


235 


France,  he  would  have  done  the  same  ;|  have  fled,  and  the  populace  would  soon 
but  the  news  of  the  cardinal's  arrest  had  have  become  calm  and  satisfied.  The 
put  him  in  so  violent  a  rage,  that  when  city  appeared  overwhelmed  with  grief  and 
Cardinal  Gondy  arrived  at  Rome,  he  sat, astonishment;  and  the  mass  was  per- 
up  a  whole  night  with  the  Marquis  Pisany,  i  formed  in  the  churches  without  any  kind 
the  French  ambassador,  consulting  on  of  music*  But  the  king's  indecision 
the  best  means  of  preparing  the  pontiff!  ruined  every  thing,  by  giving  time  for  the 
for  the  news  of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  active  rebels  to  rally  their  companions; 
It  was  impossible  to  avoid  irritating  him  and  in  a  few  days  the  fury  of  the  league 
exceedingly  by  the  communication,  and  l  burst  forth  with  redoubled  fierceness.  We 
he  refused  to  hear  any  thing  of  the  king's  I  learn  from  the  journal  of  the  time,  that  on 
attachment  to  the  church.  Sixtus  said  it  j  the  29th  of  December,  the  people,  on 
was  useless  to  talk  of  Henry's  submission  leaving  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
to  the  church,  while  he  held  prisoners  the  [where  Dr.  Lincestre  had  been  preaching, 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  and  the  Archbishop  pulled  down  the  king's  arms  which  were 
of  Lyons:  "  Your  master,"  said  he  to  the1  over  the  door,  broke  them  to  pieces,  and 
messengers,  "thinks  to  deceive  me,  and! trampled  them  in  the  kennel, — being  ani- 
treats  me  as  if  I  were  no  more  than  a  poor  \  mated  to  it  by  the  discourse  tney  had  just 
monk;  but  you  shall  find  that  you  deceive  j  heard,  upon  the  perjuries  and  heresies  of 
yourselves,  and  that  you  have  to  deal  with  I  Henry  of  Valois,  who  was  no  longer  their 
a  pontiff  who  is  ready  to  shed  plenty  of;  king,  f 


blood  when  the  honour  and  interest  of  the! 
church   require  support." 
father,"  said  Pisany,  "  shall 
rny  master  be  at  liberty  to  kill  the  Cardi 


Versoris,  who  had  been  employed  as 
"  But,  holy !  the  advocate  of  the  Jesuits,  was  so  affected 
not  the  king  I  by  the  murder  of  the  Lorrain  princes, 
that  it  caused  his  death.    As  he  was  ex- 


nal  of  Guise,  his  mortal  enemy,  after  Pope  piring,  he  embraced  Guise's  portrait; 
Pius  IV.  has  authorized  the  murder  of; arid,  being  shown  that  of  the  king,  he 
Cardinal  Caraffe,  who  had  been  one  of!  called   him  a  tyrant,  and  broke  it  to 


his  friends]"  Sixtus  was  too  enraged  to 
reply,  and  dismissed  them  both  from  his 
presence.* 

When  the  consistory  was  assembled, 
Sixtus  gave  vent  to  his  rage  against 
Morosini,  whom  he  accused  of  not  having 
done  what  he  could  to  prevent  the  cardi- 
nal's death :  he  even  threatened  to  de- 
prive him  of  his  purple. t  Some  time  after 
a  bull  of  excommunication  was  issued 
against  the  King  of  France,  notwithstand- 
ing repeated  missions  to  Rome,  to  pacify 
the  pontiff,  and  obtain  his  absolution. 


pieces.}; 

The  preachers  exerted  themselves  to 
inflame  the  public  mind;  and  the  cardi- 
nal's death  gave  them  great  scope  for 
their  declamations.  "To  murder  the 
duke,"  said  Lincestre,  "indicated  but 
little  attachment  to  the  Holy  Union ;  but 
to  assassinate  a  prelate  was  a  crime 
against  religion  itself.  The  Catholics 
must  unite  to  avenge  this  crime,  and  em- 
ploy, if  necessary,  their  last  mite,  and 
their  last  drop  of  blood  for  it.  Swear  to 
do  so;  swear  it,  all  of  ye!  and  lift  up 


While  the  king  was  wasting  his  time  at 'your  right  hands  in  token  of  your  oath." 
Blois,  his  enemies  were  making  great  ad- jThe  president, *Harlay,  happened  to  be 
vantages,  and  the  progress  of  rebellion  in 'present,  and  the  preacher  insolently  called 
Paris  surpassed  all  idea.  When  the  out  to  him — "Lift  up  your  hand, also, Mr. 
leaguers  first  heard  of  the  death  of  their  Chief  President,  lift  it  up  high,  that  every 


chief  they  were  paralyzed:  they  con-j 
sidered  it  impossible  for  the  king  to  have 


body  may  see  it."§ 

Every  pulpit  resounded  with  invectives 


attempted  such  a  thing,  unless  he  were; against  the  king's  person, and  with  the  most 
sure  of  some  support,  of  which  at  present  pathetic  descriptions  of  the  tragical  death 


they  knew  nothing.  Their  fears  there- 
fore magnified  its  force;  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  if  Henry  had  sent  some 
officer  of  rank  to  Paris,  with  a  few  troops, 
the  violent  members  of  the  league  would 


*  G.  Leti,  Vi'a  diSisto  V.  lib.  10. 


f  Ibid. 


of  the  two  brothers,  who  were  extolled  as 
martyrs.  The  hearers  were  moved  to 
tears ;  but,  instead  of  inculcating  Christian 


*  Davila,  liv.  10; 
f  Journal  de  Henri  III. 
§  1st  Jan.  1589.  Cayet, 
Henri  III. 


liv. 


%  Ibid. 
1,  p.  118. 


Journal  de 


236 


VIOLENCE  OF  THE 


LEAGUE  IN  PARIS. 


doctrines,  and  holding  up  the  examples 
of  Christian  martyrs,  the  preachers  en- 
deavoured to  inspire  an  ardent  desire  of 
revenge.  "  So'  that  those,"  says  Maim- 
bourg,  "  who  had  no  wish  to  weep  or  to 
sigh ;  and  who  were  scandalized  with 
manners  so  very  unworthy  of  a  holy 
ministry,  were  constrained  to  counterfeit 
weeping,  for  fear  of  being  murdered."* 

If  we  can  depend  upon  Marshal  Bas- 
sompierre's  narrative,  the  reanimation  of 
the  league  was  principally  occasioned  by 
the  discovery  of  a  concealed  treasure, 
which  enabled  his  father,  Christopher  Bas- 
sompierre,  to  raise  an  army  of  foreigners. 
That  gentleman  was  a  native  of  Lorrain, 
and  a  warm  partisan  of  the  League.  He 
was  at  Blois  during  the  meeting  of  the 
states-general;  and  as  he  was  known  to  pos- 
sess great  influence  among  the  Germans 
and  Swiss,  the  king  sent  Crillon  to  arrest 
him  immediately  after  the  death  of  Guise. 
Bassompierre,  having  some  apprehensions 
of  such  a  measure,  made  preparations  for 
leaving  Blois,  and  escaped  with  one  at- 
tendant, as  the  bridge  was  being  drawn 
up.  He  passed  through  Chartres,  where 
he  called  upon  the  people  to  take  arms, 
and  proceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  was  in- 
troduced to  the  council,  then  deliberating 
at  the  Hotel-de-Ville.  His  opinion  was, 
that,  unless  they  had  money  sufficient  to 
carry  on  a  war,  they  had  better  make 
the  best  terms  possible  with  the  king. 
The  assembly  took  time  for  delibera- 
tion :  in  the  interval,  a  mason,  who 
had  been  employed  in  concealing  a  sum 
of  five  hundred  and'  thirty  thousand 
golden  crowns,  denounced  this  fact  to  the 
council,  who  immediately  decided  upon  a 
war,  and  commissioned  Bassompierre  to 
levy  troops  in  Germany,  and  Switzer- 
land.t 

The  Sixteen  elected  the  Duke  of  Aumale 
for  their  governor :  he  had  not  entertained 
the  most  favourable  idea  of  the  estates  of 
Blois,  and  had  remained  in  Paris.t  This 
choice  was  remarkable,  as  it  was  rumoured 
that  he  had  been  in  treaty  with  the  king: 
he  demanded  the  government  of  Picardy 
and  Boulogne,  and  that  his  debts  should 
be  liquidated  out  of  the  public  treasury.  5 


*  Hist,  de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii.  p.  114. 

f  Mem.  de  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  pp.  23 — 5. 

t  Davila,  liv.  10. 

,  It  was  also  believed  that  the  Duchess  of  Aumale  de- 
cided Henry  by  a  letter  which  she  sent,  to  warn  him 


The  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  a  woman 
of  great  courage,  contributed  very  much 
to  rally  the  spirits  of  the  league ;  and  it 
was  said  that  her  tongue  did  the  king 
more  harm  than  her  brother's  swords.* 
The  Duchess  of  Guise,  who  was  pregnant 
at  the  time,  at  first  gave  vent  to  her  grief, 
and  in  silence  and  retirement  poured  forth 
lamentations  and  tears.  But  afterwards 
she  presented  a  demand  to  the  parliament, 
calling  for  an  inquiry  into  her  husband's 
death.  The  proceedings  on  this  point 
were  carried  to  a  great  length  ;  but  when 
affairs  took  another  turn,  and  the  Parisians 
opened  their  gates  to  Henry  IV.,  the  leaves 
of  the  register  were  torn  out  and  de- 
stroyed, to  avoid  the  resentment  of  that 
prince,  and  of  those  counsellors  who 
would  not  be  parties  to  the  proceedings. f 
Most  probably  that  refusal  on  the  part 
of  some  counsellors  of  the  parliament  was 
the  cause  of  their  being  sent  to  the  Bas- 
tille. On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of 
January,  Bussy-le-Clerc,  accompanied  by 
twenty-five  or  thirty  blackguards,  armed 
with  pistols  and  cuirasses,  went  into  the 
court,  and  calling  several  counsellors  by 
name,  told  them  to  follow  him  to  the 
Hotel-de-Ville.  Harlay  and  some  others 
wished  to  know  by  what  authority  he 
thus  acted,  but  was  only  told  that  they 
had  better  lose  no  time  in  making  objec- 
tions, or  force  would  be  used.  When  the 
presidents  Harlay  and  Pothier  followed 
Bussy,  they  were  attended  by  all  the 
counsellors,  even  those  who  were  not 
called,  alleging  that  they  could  not  sepa- 
rate from  their  captains.  Instead  of  going 
to  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  they  were  led  to  the 
Bastille,  and  a  new  parliament  was  formed, 
consisting  of  persons  devoted  to  the  league. 
Mole  was  appointed  attorney-general  by 
acclamation,  although  he  was  on  Bussy's 
list ;  and  it  was  with  regret  he  accepted 
the  office,  but  to 'have  refused  it  might 
have  cost  him  his  life,  on  account  of  the 
hatred  borne  to  all  who  were  suspected 
of  favouring  the  claims  of  the  king  of  Na- 
varre. Brisson  was  made  the  new  chief 
president,  and  in  that  quality  assented  to 
a  decree  declaring  the  king  fallen  from  his 
dignity,  and  deprived  of  his  authority; 
but  at  the  same  time,  to  make  sure  of  a 


aijainst  some  violent  measures  contemplated  by  lie 
Guises.    See  the  Satyre  Menipee. 

*  Davila,  liv.  10.  p  9. 

t  lb.,  liv.  10.  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  140. 


MAYENNE  APPOINTED  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 


327 


good  plea,  in  the  event  of  the  king's  party 
prevailing,  he  made  a  protestation  before 
two  notaries,  in  which  he  declared  he  had 
been  compelled  to  give  his  assent  to  mea- 
sures against  his  inclination,  and  that  he 
had  no  other  means  of  saving  the  lives  of 
his  wife  and  children.* 

A  few  days  after  a  herald  arrived  from 
the  king,  ordering  Aumale  to  leave  Paris, 
and  forbidding  the  parliament  and  other 
courts  to  exercise  any  jurisdiction.  So 
far  were  the  leaguers  from  paying  any  at- 
tention to  this  summons,  that  they  put  the 
herald  in  prison,  whence,  after  remaining 
some  time  in  expectation  of  being  hanged, 
he  was  insultingly  sent  away.  Every 
thing  which  could  be  devised  was  done 
to  encourage  the  popular  hatred  to  the 
king;  even  his  name  was  detested,  and 
no  one  would  venture  to  mention  it.  Pro- 
cessions of  children  were  considered  a 
sure  way  of  touching  the  sensibility  of  the 
people ;  and  they  frequently  paraded  the 
streets.  On  one  occasion  they  had  assem- 
bled to  the  number  of  near  a  hundred 
thousand :  they  went  from  the  cemetery 
of  the  Innocents  to  the  church  of  St. 
Genevieve,  each  carrying  a  taper  of  con- 
secrated wax.  As  they  entered  the 
church,  they  extinguished  the  lights,  and 
uttered  expressions  indicating  that  the 
race  of  Valois  should  become  equally  ex- 
tinct. Other  persons  joined  these  proces- 
sions afterwards,  when  the  young  women, 
to  show  their  excessive  grief,  went  half 
naked ;  and  as  nocturnal  processions  were 
made,  the  greatest  disorders  arose  from 
the  licentious  conduct  of  the  Duke  of  Au- 
male and  his  young  companions.t 

The  decree  of  the  Sorbonne,  which  re- 
leased the  French  from  their  allegiance  to 
the  king,  had  the  full  effect  which  its  au- 
thors intended.]:  By  this  the  confessors 
were  enabled  to.  stifle  in  the  breasts  of 
their  penitents  every  vestige  of  fidelity  to 
the  king:  absolution  was  refused  to  all 
who  would  not  renounce  him  as  their  so- 
vereign ;  and  some  recommended  his  as- 
sassination as  a  meritorious  act.  Every 
portrait,  statue,  and  bust  of  Henry  III. 
was  then  thrown  down,  destroyed,  and 
cast  with  execrations  into  the  river ;  while 
those  of  the  Guises  were  placed  upon  the 


*  Journal  de  Henri  lit.    Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  121.  De 
Thou,  liv.  94.   he Grain,  liv.  4.    Davila,  liv  10. 
t  Journal  de  Henri  III.    Le  Grain,  liv.  4.  p.  170. 
t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  119.   It  was  dated  l?Ui  January, 


altars.  Lincestre  and  Boucher,  in  the 
mean  time,  were  indefatigable  in  preaching 
to  the  people  the  most  inflammatory  dis- 
courses: Lincestre,  in  particular,  recom- 
mended assassination.  "  I  still  hear  it 
questioned,"  said  he,  "if  it  be  lawful  to 
kill  Henry  of  Valois :  for  my  part,  I  declare 
that  I  should  be  ready  to  kill  him  at  all 
times ;  even  when  I  am  at  the  altar,  and 
holding  the  precious  body  of  the  Lord  in 
my  hands."* 

While  the  Parisians  were  in  this  state 
of  excitement,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  ar- 
rived towards  the  end  of  February.  He 
had  received  letters  while  at  Dijon  from 
his  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier, 
who  gave  him  every  encouragement  to 
make  an  effort  for  obtaining  the  crown  ; 
and  certainly  the  flaming  enthusiasm  of 
the  leaguers  throughout  France  afforded 
him  the  greatest  chance  of  success.  No 
wonder,  therefore,  that  he  disregarded  a 
letter  from  the  king,  in  justification  of  the 
death  of  the  Guises,  and  offering  to  unite 
with  him  for  preserving  the  peace  among 
the  Catholics,  in  order  to  make  war 
against  the  Huguenots.  The  duchess, 
however,  would  not  trust  to  her  letter 
alone,  but  went  to  Dijon  notwithstanding 
the  inclemency  of  the  season.  Her  ex- 
hortations, and  the  advice  he  received 
from-Aumale  and  others,  made  him  decide 
on  becoming  chief  of  the  league:  he  com- 
missioned persons  to  make  preparations 
for  carrying  on  the  war,  and  proceeded  to 
Paris,  where  he  was  solemnly  invested 
with  the  dignity  of  lieutenant-general  of 
the  state  and  crown  of  France:  he  was  to 
have  the  full  powers  of  royalty  until  that 
point  should  be  decided  by  the  states-ge- 
neral, which  would  be  held  at  Paris  in  the 
month  of  July.t 

The  king  was  fearful  of  being  sur- 
prised at  Blois,  and  removed  to  Tours,  to 
which  town  he  transferred  the  parliament 
and  royal  courts  of  Paris. f  He  ordered 
an  inquiry  to  be  instituted  into  the  crimi- 
nality of  the  two  Lorrain  princes;  but  the 
league  laughed  him  to  scorn,  and  em- 
ployed two  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  to 
inquire  into  his  private  life  and  conduct.^ 
He  found  himself  abandoned  also  by  the 


*  Journal  de  Henri  III. 

t  Davila,  liv.  10.    Le  Grain,  liv.  4. 

I  '23d  March,  1589.  Recueil  des  clioses  memorables, 
&c,  depuis  la  Ciosture  des  Estals  de  Blois  jusques  a  la 
mort  de  Henri  III. 

§  Hist,  du  Parlement  de  Paris,  ch.  30. 


238 


AFFAIRS  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


Duke  of  Mercosur,  the  brother  of  his  con- 
sort, who  joined  the  league  with  the 
whole  of  Brittany,  the  parliament  of 
Rennes  excepted.  In  a  word,  his  condi- 
tion was  desperate:  he  found  his  domi- 
nion reduced  to  very  little  more  than  the 
town  in  which  he  lived,  and  the  prediction 
of  his  dying  mother  was  recalled  to  his 
mind:  he  was,  in  fact,  a  king  without  a 
kingdom.  He  had  been  uniform  in  his 
haired  and  opposition  to  the  Protestants: 
he  had  refused  on  several  occasions  to 
accept  of  their  services  on  more  equal 
terms:  he  was  now  compelled  to  join 
them,  for  his  personal  safety. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

ileview  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Huguenots — Meeting  at 
Rodie  He— Reconciliation  between  Henry  III.  arid  the 
King  of  Navarre — Attack  upon  Tours  by  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne — Paris  invested  by  the  Royal  Annies. 

The  important  events,  which  in  the 
course  of  1588  succeeded  each  other  with 
such  rapidity  at  Paris  and  at  Blois  have 
excluded  the  affairs  of  the  Huguenots 
from  our  attention  :  it  will  therefore  be  ne- 
cessary to  revert  to  the  early  part  of  that 
year,  when  we  left  the  King  of  Navarre 
in  rather  unfortunate  circumstances,  in 
consequence  of  the  dispersion  of  his  Ger- 
man auxiliaries.  It  was  useless  for  him 
to  attempt  keeping  the  field  with  his  small 
force,  and  he  retired  to  Rochelle,  where 
his  little  court  was  occupied  with  his  pri- 
vate affairs,  and  particularly  with  a  mar- 
riage which  he  then  contemplated  with 
the  Countess  of  Guiche.  His  faithful  ad- 
visers succeeded  in  convincing  him  that 
in  his  situation  such  a  measure  might  be- 


an important  post,  on  account  of  its  vicinity 
to  Rochelle.  Navarre  made  a  spirited 
effort  to  relieve  the  garrison,  but  in  vain. 
In  the  month  of  June  he  attacked  it  with 
success,  and  expelled  the  troops  placed 
there  by  Laverdin.  On  the  day  the  prin- 
cipal attack  was  made,  the  Huguenots 
were  discerned  to  be  at  prayer,  and  the 
garrison  directly  exclaimed  to  one  ano- 
ther, "  They  are  at  prayers,  and  wilt  beat 
us  as  at  Courtras :"  this  prediction  may 
in  a  measure  have  been  realized  by  then- 
own  dejection.* 

Later  in  the  summer  an  expedition  was 
planned  for  taking  the  town  of  St.  Lazare, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Loire.  Duplessis- 
Mornay  was  to  conduct  the  maritime  ope- 
rations, and  the  King  of  Navarre  was  to 
lead  the  land  forces.  The  troops  were  to 
embark  at  Beauvoir,  and  Navarre  set  out 
in  that  direction.  But  some  time  was 
lost  in  a  fruitless  attempt  to  take  Clisson, 
a  fortified  town  in  his  route,  and  when  he 
arrived  at  Beauvoir,  in  the  beginning  of 
October,  the  wind  prevented  his  getting 
out.  To  compensate  for  the  disappoint- 
ment, he  resolved  on  laying  siege  to  the 
castle  of  that  place,  which  was  held  by  the 
Catholics,  and  was  well  garrisoned  and 
fortified.! 

The  castle  was  well  defended,  which 
compelled  the  besiegers  to  make  great  ex- 
ertions ;  and  the  King  of  Navarre  was 
always  in  the  most  dangerous  and  difficult 
posts.  On  one  occasion,  he  was  out  sur- 
veying the  surrounding  country,  and  Vil- 
leserin,  the  commander  of  the  castle,  placed 
forty-five  men  in  ambush  on  the  road  by 
which  the  King  of  Navarre  would  return. 
When  he  was  within  thirty  paces  walking 
carelessly  and  conversing  with  D'Aubigne, 
all  those  men  started  up,  and  levelled  their 


come  an  insuperable  impediment  in  ob-  . 

.  ■  .     ,.     .  v, .       ,                    ..     pieces  at  him.  The  King  of  Navarre  s 

taming  bis  rights  to  the  crown  after  the    ,.     ,    .  ,.  .  ,     , °    ,  .,  , 
,    ,,°  ,  XT    e   TTT       ,  .              . ;  ,  .    attendants  immediately  placed  themselves 

death  of  Henry  III.,  and  he  consented  to  ,  c     ..         ,  ,.  , , J\  u-  i 

,.  ,,  c  before  him,  and  shielded  his  person :  and 
adjourn  the  discussion  for  the  space  of  two !  ^e  r 

years.    In  the  interval  a  change  tookj, 

place  in  his  sentiments,  and  he  never  re-|  .[, 
£       ,    ..         .  .    .    ',      ~      .  c  with  great  precipitation,  and  did  but  little 

newed   the    subiect — the   Countess    of        ~.        m,    TT  .  L 

l  execution 

Guiche,  in  fact,  had  been  superseded  in  j 


)e  and  support  of  the  Huguenots,  fired 


by  the   Marchioness   of i  ^  .,  ,.  . 
J  Catholics  to 


The  Huguenots  very  soon  be- 
came the  assailants,  and  compelled  the 


retreat.    This  circumstance 


his  affections 

Guierchevi  e.                                     |w    afterwards  of  great  utility  to  the  Hu 
The  death  of  the  Prince  of  Conde  had  I  .„,...&  lL.   :         c  . 


afforded  an  opportunity  to  Laverdin,  a 
Catholic  commander,  to  attack  Marans, 


guenots,  for  when  the  governor  found 
there  was  no  chance  of  any  help  being 


*  Hist,  des  Amours  du  Grand  Jllcandre,  at  the  begin- 176 
ning.    D'Aubigne,  Mem.  p.  123. 


*  Mem.  de  Duplessie,  vol.  i.  p.  855.   Cayel,  liv.  1,  p. 


|  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  526. 


THE  HUGUENOTS  MEET  AT  ROCHELLE. 


239 


sent  to  him,  he  offered  to  capitulate  as  the 
best  way  of  avoiding  Navarre's  resent- 
ment for  his  recent  attempt.  The  Duke 
of  Nevers,  soon  after  coming  into  the  pro- 
vince with  his  army,  compelled  the  Hu- 
guenots to  abandon  their  original  design 
on  St.  Lazare.  Navarre  strengthened  the 
garrisons  of  the  different  surrounding 
towns,  and  returned  again  to  Rochelle.* 

While  the  states-general  were  assem- 
bled at  Blois,  the  Huguenots  held  a  meet- 
ing of  their  churches  at  Rochelle.  The 
deputies  met  on  the  12th  of  November.! 
The  ministers  did  not  fail  to  reproach  the 
King  of  Navarre  with  his  improper  con- 
duct, and  with  his  prodigality  to  his  Ca- 
tholic friends,  while  he  permitted  his  ser- 
vants of  the  reformed  religion  to  suffer 


terpoise.  St.  Gelais  commanded  the  party : 
they  approached  the  town  very  silently, 
and  having  placed  their  petards  for  burst- 
ing the  gate,  the  ladders  were  set  against 
the  wall.  The  order  preserved  on  this 
occasion  could  be  equalled  only  by  the  re- 
solution displayed.  On  their  arrival  the 
moon  shone  bright,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  lie  concealed,  waiting  on  the  frozen 
ground  till  the  moon  was  down :  on  placing 
the  ladders  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  a  senti- 
nel called  out  Qui  va  la?  but  the  silence 
they  observed,  and  their  adroitness  in  con- 
cealing themselves  was  such  that  they 
could  hear  the  sentinel  tell  the  patrol  of 
the  guard  that  he  had  heard  some  noise, 
but  that  it  was  nothing.  Soon  after  they 
succeeded  in  mounting  the  wall,  and  the 


extreme  indigence:  they  charged  him  with  petards  being  discharged  against  the  gate 


having  sold  the  isle  of  Oleron  to  the  Ca- 
tholics; and  they  dwelt  with  severity  upon 
his  shameless  incontinence.];  But  the  si- 
tuation of  affairs  would  not  admit  of  the 
Huguenots  being  at  variance  with  Na- 
varre, nor  could  he  dispense  with  their 
services,  and  the  meeting  was  brought  to 
unanimity  by  the  proposal  to  send  a  de- 
putation to  Blois.  The  request  addressed  j 
to  the  states-general  was,  that  the  king 
should  restore  to  them  (exiles  for  their  re- 
ligion) the  privileges  granted  by  the  edict 
of  January,  1561;  that  they  should  be  re- 
instated in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property 
and  estates ;  and  that  a  national  council 
should  be  assembled,  when  the  doctors  of 
both  parties  might  in  perfect  safety  calmly 
discuss  the  differences  of  their  opinions, 
and  solemnly  decide  upon  the  result. § 
The  temper  of  the  majority  of  the  deputies 
at  the  states-general  destroyed  all  chance 
of  this  request  obtaining  any  considera- 
tion ;  and  its  presentation  only  served  to 
stimulate  the  more  violent  leaguers. 

The  King  of  Navarre  was  at  St.  Jean- 
d'Angely  when  he  received  the  intelligence 
of  Guise's  death,  on  the  third  day  after  it 
had  taken  place.  He  was  then  engaged 
in  an  attack  upon  Niort;  and,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  several  of  his  officers,  the  news 
caused  no  change  in  his  operations.  The 
Duke  of  Nevers  was  besieging  Ganache, 
a  town  held  by  the  Huguenots,  and  this 
enterprise  was  considered  a  sort  of  coun- 

*  Cayet,  liv.  l,  p.  87.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  129,  et 
scq. 

t  Mem.  de  la  Ligue.  vol.  ii.  p.  529. 

t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  J33. 

}  Hist,  dee  Derniers  Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  138. 


at  the  same  time  made  an  entrance  for  the 
rest  of  the  party,  and  the  town  was  com- 
pletely in  their  possession  after  a  short 
struggle.  Five  large  and  some  small 
guns  were  found  in  the  place.* 

Ganache  in  the  mean  time  was  well  de- 
fended. After  a  cannonade  of  four  days, 
the  Duke  of  Nevers  ordered  an  assault, 
which  the  besieged  repulsed  with  great 
finnness.f  Navarre  had  set  out  to  relieve 
the  place,  but  was  seized  with  a  sudden 
illness,  which  at  one  time  was  so  violent 
that  his  death  was  generally  reported. 
His  complaint  was  a  pleurisy,  with  a  vio- 
lent fever,  and  he  was  taken  ill  at  a  vil- 
lage, where  no  medical  assistance  could 
be  had  for  two  days.J  The  Duke  of  Ne- 
vers having  offered  favourable  terms,  and 
the  besieged  seeing  no  chance  of  being 
succoured,  a  capitulation  was  agreed  to, 
and  the  garrison  evacuated  the  town, 
taking  with  them  their  arms  arid  baggage.Q 
During  the  King  of  Navarre's  illness,  the 
Duke  of  Nevers  had  returned  to  Blois,  as 
his  presence  there  was  likely  to  be  more 
useful  to  the  King  of  France.  On  his  re- 
covery he  proposed  to  attack  Brouageand 
Saintes,  which  he  could  then  do  with  ad- 
vantage, as  the  king's  forces  in  those  parts 
were  very  trifling.  But  Duplessis-Mornay 
opposed  his  plan:  "It  is  very  well,"  said 
he,  "if  we  are  to  grow  old  in  these  marshes; 
but  if  you  are  ever  to  be  King  of  France, 

*  28  Dec.  1588.  Cayet,  liv.  ],  p.  1 14-  Hist,  des  Der- 
niers Troubles,  liv.  4,  p.  155.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p. 
157.    De  Thou,  liv.  94. 

t  Jan.  1589. 

%  Mem.  cle  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  883. 
§  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  552.    Mem.  de  Nevers. 
vol.  i.  p.  878.   De  Thou,  liv.  94.  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  136. 


240 


THE  KING  RECONCILED  WITH  NAVARRE. 


you  must  direct  your  views  elsewhere.  ! should  think  no  more  of  his  differences 
The  shortest  of  those  sieges  will  detain 'in  that  quarter;  that  he  was  insulted  by 
you  two  months,  and  during  that  time  the  courts  of  Spain  and  Rome,  and  was 
France  will  be  lost.  But  take  the  field  I  in  danger  of  suffering  in  his  own  person, 
with  all  your  troops  and  cannon,  attempt1  what  had  been  done  to  his  effigy  in  Paris 
something  of  consequence,  go  towards  the :  and  Toulouse;  that  by  availing  himself 
Loire  and  attack  such  places  as  Saumur.  j  of  the  help  of  the  Huguenots,  he  could 
The  king,  pressed  on  both  sides,  will  not  carry  into  effect  his  old  threat  of  making 
venture  to  treat  with  Mayenne,  his  hands  1  use  of  one  enemy  to  be  avenged  upon  ano- 
being  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  brothers, 1  ther;*  and  that  such  a  measure  was  not 
and  he  will  be  forced  to  throw  himself  unprecedented,  for  many  Catholic  kings 
into  your  arms."*  jand  emperors  had  made  use  of  infidels 

Navarre  was  convinced  by  this  reason-  and  heretics  against  their  enemies, 
ing;  and,  in  order  to  make  the  King  of  These  arguments  induced  the  king  to 
France  more  ready  to  join  him,  he  pub-  consent  to  a  treaty .f 
lished  a  manifesto  addressed  to  the  three .  The  Duke  of  Epernon  informed  Na- 
estates  of  the  kingdom,  in  which  he  so-  varre  of  the  king's  willingness  to  con- 
lemnly  called  upon  them  to  quit  the  league, 1  elude  a  treaty,  and  Sully  was  sent  to 
and  warned  them,  that  if  they  persisted  in  court  incognito.}  Henry  repeated  to  that 
their  rebellion,  he  was  resolved,  if  the  messenger,  that  he  wished  to  unite  him- 
king  called  upon  him,  to  take  the  field  in  self  with  the  King  of  Navarre:  Sully, 
his  behalf,  and  he  hoped  by  divine  help  to]  however,  being  aware  of  the  King's  fic- 
frustrate  their  designs:  he  publicly  offered  kle  disposition,  asked  for  a  letter  to  his 


his  protection  to  all  towns  and  persons 
who  would  renounce  their  connexion  with 
the  league,  promising  that  there  should  be 
nothing  changed  in  the  police  or  in  reli- 
gion. He  afterwards  deplored  the  neces- 
sity of  bearing  arms  in  civil  war:  "  would 


master,  which  Henry  refused  to  give. 
"For  fear  lest  it  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  legate,  or  the  Duke  of  Ne- 
vers;  and  that,  notwithstanding  his  good 
will  to  him,  he  could  not  prevent  his  fall- 
ing into  their  hands,  if  they  discovered 


to  God!"  said  he,  "that  I  had  never  been  [that  he  had  come  to  Tours."  Stiil  the 
a  captain,  since  my  apprenticeship  was  to' assurances  he  gave  to  Sully,  arid  the 


be  made  at  the  expense  of  France.  I  am 
ready  to  ask  peace  of  my  lord  the  king; 
repose  for  his  kingdom  and  for  mine.  I 
have  often  been  summoned  to  change  my 
religion,  but  how  1 — with  a  dagger  at  my 
throat !  If  you  simply  desire  my  salvation, 
I  thank  you;  but  if  you  desire  my  conver- 
sion because  you  are  afraid  lest  at  some 
time  I  should  constrain  you,  you  are 
wrong."t 

A  reconciliation  with  Navarre  was  pro- 
posed to  Henry  III.  by  some  of  his  ad- 
visers, but  his  aversion  to  the  Huguenots 
prevented  him  from  listening  to  it.  He 
preferred  purchasing  an  ignominious 
peace  of  the  League;  and  had  written  to 
that  effect  to  "the  Duke  of  Lorrain.  At 
last  his  council  convinced  him  that  he 
could  no  longer  delay  coming  to  some 
decision,  for  he  would  soon  find  himself 
alone  between  the  two  factions:  that  he 
had  done  more  to  pacify  the  pope  than 
anv  king  had  done  before,  and  therefore 


firmness  with  which  he  addressed  him, 
satisfied  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  from 
that  time  discontinued  his  hostile  ope- 
rations. "Return,"  said  he' to  Sully," 
"  and  take  my  letters  to  him,  for  I  fear 
neither  Morosin,  nor  Nevers."§ 

The  Duchess  of  Angouleme,  Henry's 
natural  sister,  was  the  person  who  con- 
tributed principally  to  the.  conclusion  of 
a  treaty:  she  was  highly  esteemed  by 
both  parties,  and  persuaded  each  to  make 
concessions,  which  at  first  were  positive- 
ly refused. ||  Mornay  concluded  a  treaty 
on  the  3rd  of  April,  which  stipulated 
that  there  should  be  a  truce  between  the 
two  kings  for  twelve  months;  that  they 
should  make  a  war  in  concert  against  the 
league;  and  that  the  Huguenots  should 
have  Saumur,  an  important  passage  "on 


*  Vie  de  Mornay,  p.  127. 

t  Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  734.  It  was  dated  4th  March, 
1589. 


*  De  inimicis  meis,  vindicabo  inimicos  mr.os,  an  expres- 
sion which  Henry  frequently  made  use  of. 

■f  Davila,  liv.  10.  Maimbourg,  Hist,  dc  la  Ligue,  vol. 
ii.  p.  159. 

t  Although  he  was  styled  Rosny  for  several  years  after 
this  period.  I  have  uniformly  called  him  by  the  name 
most  familiar  to  us. 

$  Sully,  liv.  3. 

J  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  165. 


MEETING  BETWEEN  THE  KING  AND  NAVARRE. 


241 


the  Loire.  It  was  also  agreed  that  the 
treaty  should  not  be  made  public  till  a 
considerable  time  after.*  Henry  was 
averse  to  the  cession  of  Saumur,  but  the 
discussion  was  given  up,  in  consequence 
of  his  discovering  that  Du  Guast,  who 
held  the  castle  of  Amboise,  was  in  treaty 
with  the  League;  their  emissaries  having 
persuaded  him  that  the  king  had  accused 
him  at  Rome  of  having  sacrificed  the 
Cardinal  of  Guise  to  his  private  resent- 
ment; and  it  became  necessary  to  pacify 
him,  and  separate  his  prisoners.  At  the 
same  time,  the  king  learned  that  a  plot 
was  in  agitation  to  gain  the  city  of  Tours 
for  the  league;  emissaries  had  spread  a 
report  that"  the  place  was  to  be  delivered 
to  the  Huguenots,  and  the  sedition  was 
appeased  with  difficulty .t 

The  pope's  legate  and  the  Spanish 
ambassador  were  indignant  when  they 
heard  that  negotiations  were  carrying  on 
with  the  Huguenots:  the  former  made  a 
remonstrance,  and  the  latter  abruptly 
quitted  the  court,  and  fixed  his  residence 
at  Paris.t  As  the  king  had  assured  the 
legate  that  he  had  not  consented  to  treat 
with  the  Huguenots,  until  he  was  com- 
pelled by  the  obstinacy  of  the  pope  in 
refusing  him  absolution,  and  the  refusals 
of  the  Lorrain  princes  to  come  to  some 
arrangement,  the  legate  entreated  him  to 
grant  a  delay  of  ten  days,  in  which  he 
might  try  to  bring  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
to  terms.  He  offered,  in  the  king's  name, 
the  government  of  Burgundy,  and  forty 
thousand  crowns  per  annum  to  Mayenne, 
who  was  also  to  have  the  disposal  of  all 
vacant  places  in  that  province:  the  young 
Duke  of  Guise  was  offered  the  govern- 
ment of  Champagne,  with  a  pension  of 
twenty  thousand  crowns.  But  he  could 
make  no  impression  on  Mayenne,  al- 
though for  two  days  he  endeavoured  to 
persuade  him  to  accept  the  king's  offers. 
In  speaking  of  the  king,  Mayenne  con- 
stantly called  him  a  wretch,  and  declared 
that  he  would  not  listen  to  any  proposal 
from  a  perfidious  man,  who  had  neither 
faith  nor  honour:  that  he  never  would 
trust  to  the  word  of  him,  who  had  so 
cruelly  murdered  his  brothers,  and  vio- 
lated not  only  the  public  faith,  but  also 
the  oath  he  had  made  upon  the  holy  sa- 


*  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  897.  D'Aubignc,  vol. 
iii.  p.  168. 

t  Davila,  liv.  10.  J  Ibid. 

21 


crament.  The  legate,  finding  lie  could 
not  succeed  with  the  Duke  of  Mayenne, 
was  as  unwilling  to  remain  with  the 
king,  as  to  encourage  the  rebellious 
leaguers:  he  therefore  decided  on  quit- 
ting France,  and  soon  after  went  to 
Rome,  to  give  an  account  of  his  lega- 
tion.* 

The  two  kings  met  in  the  park  of 
Tours,  on  the  30th  of  April,  amidst  the 
acclamations  of  an  immense  multitude. 
The  King  of  Navarre  was  some  time  in 
deciding  whether  he  should  trust  his  per- 
son to  him  who  was  an  avowed  enemy 
of  the  Protestants;  but  as  Catherine  de 
Medicis  and  the  Duke  of  Guise  no 
longer  existed,  he  banished  all  suspicion 
from  his  mind.  As  he  approached  Tours, 
he  stopped  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Cher,  and  conversed  with  his  gentlemen 
before  he  crossed  it.  Several  of  his  old 
captains  were  averse  to  his  going:  they 
argued,  that  so  desperate  were  the  king's 
affairs,  that  he  would  be  glad  to  obtain 
the  pope's  absolution,  even  by  sacrificing 
the  life  of  the  King  of  Navarre.  They 
would  not  consent  to  expose  him  on  the 
promise  of  a  prince  whose  word  could 
not  be  trusted.f  At  length  Navarre  broke 
the  conversation,  by  saying,  "  Come  on, 
the  resolution  is  taken;  we  must  not 
think  any  more  about  it."  He  crossed 
the  river  immediately,  and  went  to  meet 
the  King  of  France.! 

Henry  had  waited  some  time  for  bis 
arrival,  and  showed  great  displeasure  at 
the  suspicions  entertained  by  Navarre's 
friends.  The  crowd  was  so  great,  that  it 
was  some  time  before  they  could  ap- 
proach: when  they  met,  the  King  of  Na- 
varre went  on  his  knee;  but  Henry  III. 
raised  him  up,  called  him  his  dear  bro- 
ther, and  embraced  him  several  times, 
while  the  people  shouted  Vivent  les 
i?oi's.§  They  separated  in  the  evening; 
but  early  next  day,  Navarre  visited  the 
king  in  his  chamber,  accompanied  only 
by  a  page:  this  mark  of  confidence  com- 
pletely dissipated  every  unfavourable 
feeling  in  Henry's  mind.  The  King  of 
Navarre  derived  equal  satisfaction;  and 
wrote  to  Mornny,  "  The  ice  has  been 
broken,  not  without  a  number  of  warn- 
ings, that  if  I  went  it  would  cost  my 

*  Maimbouie,  Hist,  de  la  Ligur,  vol.  ii.  pp.  160 — 1)5. 
t  De  Thou,  liv. 95.  Le  Grain,  liv.  4.  Pere  rile,  liv.  1. 
j  Sully,  liv.  3. 

5  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  186.   De  Thou,  liv.  95. 


242 


DANGER  OF  THE  KING. 


life."*  Mornay  replied,  "  Sire,  you 
have  done  what  you  ought  to  do,  but 
what  no  one  could  have  advised  you  to 
do."t 

The  greatest  unanimity  pervaded  the 
two  armies;   Catholics  and  Huguenots 
forgot  their  injuries,  and  different  nobles, 
who  were  at  variance,  agreed  to  lay  aside 
their  disputes,  and  unite  to  serve  the 
king.    The  war  had  commenced  in  Nor- 
mandy, by  the  Duke  of  Montpensier  be- 
sieging Falaise,  held  by  the  League;  and 
Mayenne  on  his  side  had  obtained  pos- 
session of  Vendome.     This  movement 
made  it  probable  that  he  would  attack 
Tours;  and  it  was  fortunate  for  the  King 
of  France  that  he  had  been  joined  by  the 
Huguenots;  but  for  their  assistance,  he 
would  have  been  made  a  prisoner  by  the 
leaguers.     Mayenne   had  agents  even 
among  the  king's  personal  attendants:  he 
received  information  of  the  reconciliation 
between  him  and  Navarre,  and  also  of 
the  weak  state  of  the  guards  at  Tours; 
and  his  aim  was  to  get  possession  of 
Henry's  person  before  the  Huguenots 
had  all  arrived,  for  the  King  of  Navarre 
had  gone  to  meet  the  infantry  of  his 
army.    Some  of  the  courtiers,  who  were 


hours,  obtained  possession  of  it.  The 
town  seemed  likely  to  fall  into  his  power, 
and  Henry's  condition  was  desperate. 
Crillon,  at  the  head  of  the  infantry,  made 
an  obstinate  stand  against  the  assailants, 
and  boldly  disputed  every  inch  of  ground. 
But  the  duke's  force  was  too  great  to  be 
driven  back;  and,  in  addition,  he  re- 
ceived a  reinforcement  of  cavalry  which 
the  Chevalier  d'Aumale  brought  to  him. 
The  only  chance  of  preserving  the  town 
then  rested  on  the  defence  of  the  bridge. 
Cannon  were  placed  upon  it,  but  the 
hatred  which  animated  the  leaguers  was 
fiercer  than  the  fire  from  the  batteries, 
and  they  advanced  to  the  foot  of  the 
bridge,  where  a  furious  combat  took 
place.  Henry  fought  there  with  great 
valour.  He  did  not  fail  to  encourage 
those  around  him,  for  every  thing  de- 
pended on  their  exertion.  "  On  your 
bravery  this  day,"  said  he,  "  depends  the 
fate  of  your  unhappy  king."  By  won- 
derful efforts  of  courage,  the  defence  was 
prolonged  till  evening,  when  Chatillon 
arrived  with  five  hundred  chosen  men, 
sent  forward  by  the  King  of  Navarre, 
who  had  received  the  news  of  Mayenne's 
attack,  and  was  hastening  on  with  his 


in  confederacy  with  Mayenne,  engaged  to  |  main  body.  This  seasonable  reinforce 
persuade  the  king"  to  take  a  ride,  when  ment  arrested  the  progress  of  the  assail 


an  ambuscade  would  be  prepared  to  seize 
him;  If  that  plan  failed,  Mayenne  was 
immediately  to  attack  one  of  the  suburbs 
of  Tours,  and  draw  thither  the  King's 
forces;  the  leaguers  in  the  city  were  then 
to  take  arms,  seize  on  the  principal  posts, 
and  shut  the  gates  before  the  king  could 
return:  it  would  then  be  hardly  possible 
for  him  to  escape.  On  the  night  of  the 
seventh  of  May,  the  duke  marched  eleven 
leagues,  and  early  the  following  morning 
he  posted  some  cavalry  at  the  spot  agreed 
upon.  The  king  went  out  on  horseback, 
accompanied  by  those  who  were  in  the 
secret,  and  was  proceeding  direct  to  the 
place  of  ambush,  when  a  miller  called  out 
to  him,  "  Go  back,  Sire  !  your  enemies 
are  close  at  hand."  The  king  turned  his 
horse,  galloped  back  to  Tours,  and  im- 
mediately gave  orders  for  putting  the 
town  in  a  state  of  defence.! 

Mayenne  attacked  the  faubourg  St. 
Symphorian,  and  after  fighting  for  several 


*  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  901. 
+  Vie  de  Mornay,  p.  135. 
J  Cayet,  liv.  1,  pp.  180  187. 


ants;  and  other  troops  arriving  the  next 
day,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  thought  fit 
to  retire.* 

It  is  said  that  when  the  leaguers  saw 
the  Huguenots,  they  called  out  to  them, 
"  Retire,  white  scarfs!  Retire,  Chatillon! 
We  are  not  against  you,  but  against  your 
father's  murderers!"  But  the  Huguenots 
were  not  deceived:  Chatillon  called  out 
in  reply  that  they  were  traitors,  and  that 
when  the  service  of  his  prince  and  the 
state  was  concerned,  he  laid  aside  all 
private  interests.!  The  royalists  lost 
near  four  hundred  men  in  defending  the 
place,  while  the  leaguers  had  not  more 
than  a  hundred  killed.  The  Duke  of 
Mayenne  glutted  his  vengeance  on  the 
dead  body  of  St.  Mallin,  one  of  those 
who  had  murdered  his  brother.  The 
hands  and  head  were  cut  off;  the  body 
was  hung  up  by  the  heels;  and  the  head 
was  ordered  to  be  put  up  at  Montfaucon, 
with  a  notice  stating,  that  he  had  ordered 
him  to  be  put  to  death,  and  that  the  body 

*  Davila,  liv.  10. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  III.,  and  D'Aubigne. 


HENRY  III.  BEFORE  PARIS. 


243 


ought  to  be  accompanied  by  that  of  Hen- 
ry III.,  the  author  of  the  murder.  The 
troops  committed  dreadful  excesses  in  the 
faubourg:  they  robbed  all  the  churches, 
and  subjected  the  women  and  girls  to 
violence.* 

The  historian  De  Thou  was  at  Tours 
at  the  time,  and  confirms  the  preceding  J 
statement  in  a  great  measure;  but  he  ex- 
presses his  doubts  of  Mayenne  having 
killed  St.  Mallin  in  the  way  he  announced 
it.    He  says  that  he  and  Chatillon  con- 
versed a  great  deal  with  the  inhabitants 
about  what  they  had  seen  and  experi- 
enced, and  that  not  one  of  them  men- 
tioned the  execution.    Mayenne's  bulle-j 
tin  contains  many  things  which  were 
proved  to  be  false;  among  others  that 
Crillon  and  Rubeaupre  were  killed,  and 
that  Marshal  d'Aumont  was  dangerously 
wounded:  it  is  not,  therefore,  surprising; 
that  he  should  have  exaggerated  a  state- ! 
ment  calculated  to  make  him  popular 
with  the  league.f 

From  the  time  Henry  had  been  joined 
by  the  King  of  Navarre,  his  affairs  took  a  | 
different  turn ;  and  the  bravery  he  dis-  j 
played  in  the  defence  of  Tours  was  a 
comfort  to  his  real  friends,  who  feared 
that  all  his  energy  was  extinct.  Manyj 
persons  now  joined  his  party,  who  had  | 
kept  aloof  while  they  considered  his  cause 
hopeless;  and  many  places  which  had 
joined  the  league  again  returned  to  their 
duty.  Several  towns  in  the  Orleannais 
submitted  to  him ;  Poissy,  Meulan,  and 
Estampes  were  reduced  ;  and,  in  capitu- 
lating, they  declared  they  wanted  no 
other  security  than  Navarre's  word, 
which  was  worth  more  than  the  written 
promises  of  Henry  III.  Senlis  also  had 
declared  in  favour  of  the  king  on  the  ar- 
rival of  Thore  ;  and  the  Duke  of  Aumale 
sustained  a  defeat  by  La  Noue,  while  he 
was  occupied  in  besieging  it  :i  the  Duke 
of  Montpensier  had  likewise  been  suc- 
cessful in  Normandy.  Still  the  king  was 
desirous  of  going  farther  from  Paris,  and 
it  required  great  persuasion  to  keep  him 
from  retiring  to  Limoges.  \ 

While  he  was  at  Estampes  he  received 
intelligence  of  the  papal  excommunica- 
tion having  been  issued  against  him :  he 
regretted  it  very  much,  for  having  always 


*  Davila,  liv.  10.    Journal  de  Henri  III. 
tDeThou,  liv.  95. 
j  Amirault,  p.  338. 

5  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  207—212.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p 
171.  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  333.  Davila,  liv.  10. 


exerted  himself  for  the  religion,  he  con- 
sidered it  unjust  to  be  excommunicated 
because  he  would  not  be  murdered  by 
rebellious  subjects ;  while  others  who  had 
sacked  Rome,  and  imprisoned  the  pope 
himself,  had  not  been  so  treated.  "  Sire," 
said  Navarre  to  him,  "  those  persons  were 
victorious,  and  for  that  reason  your  ma- 
jesty should  strive  to  be  conqueror,  for 
then  your  absolution  will  follow  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course;  but  if  we  are  overcome,  we 
shall  all  die  heretics  and  excommuniT 
cate."* 

The  persuasions  of  the  king  of  Na- 
varre, and  the  great  change  in  'the  state  of 
his  affairs,  decided  Henry  to  attempt  the 
siege  of  Paris.  Sancy  had  been  into 
Switzerland,  and  was  on  his  march  to 
join  him  with  a  large  body  of  troops  le- 
vied there.t  The  royal  army  amounted 
altogether  to  near  forty-thousand  men. 
Pontoise  was  taken  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
July,  and  a  few  days  after  they  took  pos- 
session of  the  bridge  of  St.  Cloud,  where 
Henry  III.  fixed  his  head-quarters.  As 
he  surveyed  Paris  from  the  height,  he  is 
said  to  have  given  vent  to  his  feelings, 
and  to  have  vowed  complete  vengeance 
against  that  rebellious  city.f  The  King 
of  Navarre  took  his  quarters  at  Meudon, 
and  spread  his  forces  along  the  south 
side  of  the  city  as  far  as  Charenton.  The 
leaguers  were  in  the  greatest  perplexity, 
for  at  the  sight  of  the  royal  army  many 
concealed  royalists  had  declared  them- 
selves openly:  a  general  attack  was  de- 
cided upon,  and  it  was  to  be  made  in  a 
few  days  ;  but  in  the  interval  Henry  was 
assassinated. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

Assassination  of  Henry  III.  by  James  Clement — Acces- 
sion of  Henry  IV. 

The  approach  of  the  two  kings  to  Pa- 
ris filled  the  league  with  alarm.  The 
army  was  reduced  by  desertions.  The 
Duke  of  Mayenne  had  taken  every  pos- 
sible measure  for  making  a  good  defence, 
and  bastions  were  thrown  up,  and 
trenches  were  dug,  for  that  purpose ;  but 
as  there  were  numbers  of  persons  in  the 

*  Davila,  liv.  10. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  210.  De  Thou,  liv.  96.  Discours  de 
Harlay  de  Sancy,  p.  38.  This  piece  is  inserted  in  Ville- 
roy,  vol.  v. 

%  Davila,  liv.  10. 


244 


ASSASSINATION  OF  HENRY  III. 


city,  who,  being  only  retained  by  fear 
from  declaring  their  opinions,  would  be 
sure  to  join  the  king  when  he  presented 
himself,  very  little  hope  was  entertained 
of  repelling  the  expected  attack.  As  a 
last  resource,  Mayenne  had  decided  on 
dashing  into  the  ranks  of  the  royal  army 
with  a  body  of  devoted  followers,  and  if 
escape  should  then  appear  impracticable, 
he  resolved  to  seek  in  a  glorious  death  a 
refuge  from  the  disgrace  which  appeared 
almost  inevitable.*  The  ecclesiastics  re 
doubled  their  efforts  to  inflame  the  pub- 
lic mind,  and  inspire  that  enthusiasm 
which  the  emergency  required.  The 
preachers  had  for  a  long  time  declared 
that  it  would  be  meritorious  in  any  one 
to  assassinate  the  tyrant ;  and,  from  the 
time, the  two  kings  had  met  at  Tours, 
that  abominable  notion  had  mote  earn- 
estly been  dwelt  upon.  The  success 
which  attended  the  king's  operations  in 
June  and  July  appeared  likely  to  restore 
him  to  the  exercise  of  his  authority:  their 
own  safety,  therefore,  made  them  seek 
for  some  bold  or  fanatical  spirit,  who 
would  execute  the  horrible  commission. 

A  young  Dominican,  named  James 
Clement,  distinguished  for  his  violent 
enthusiasm,  even  amongst  the  most  en- 
thusiastic of  the  League,  was  the  person 
they  employed.  His  passions  were 
strong,  his  principles  libertine,  and  his 
fanaticism  unequalled.  He  constantly 
went  armed  in  the  processions;  and,  as 
lie  was  vehement  in  calling  for  war 
against  the  heretics,  he  obtained  the 
name  of  Captain  Clemen!.  He  was 
fully  imbued  with  the  blind  zeal  of  his 
party;  and  as  he  looked  upon  Henry  III. 
as  a  murderer,  anathematized  by  the 
church,  he  wanted  but  little  to  excite 
him  to  the  task.  His  brother  monks,  fear- 
ing he  might  grow  cool,  and  reflect  upon 
the  enormity  of  the  crime  in  contempla- 
tion, made  use  of  the  following  stratagem. 
An  opening  was  made  in  his  cell,  and,  in 
the  night,  a  man  surrounded  with  a  blaze 
of  light,  descended  and  woke  up  Cle- 
ment. Surprise  and  agitation  prevented 
him  from  recognising  either  the  figure  or 
the  voice  of  the  person,  who  was  pro- 
bably a  brother  monk,  for  it  would  have 
been  dangerous  to  intrust  the  secret  to  a 
stranger.    It  appeared  to  Clement  to  be 

*  Davila,  liv.  10. 


really  an  angel,  as  it  was  also  publicly 
declared  to  be  by  the  Dominican  monks.* 
"  James  !"  said  he,  "  I  am  the  messen- 
ger of  the  Almighty,  come  to  inform  thee 
that  the  tyrant  of  France  is  to  die  by  thy 
hand:  the  martyr's  crown  is  prepared  for 
thee,  prepare  thyself  also."  The  phan- 
tom then  disappeared.  Clement  was 
unable  fully  to  comprehend  this  vision, 
and  in  the  morning  went  to  the  prior  of 
his  convent,  Father  Burgoing:  "a  man," 
says  the  writer  before  quoted,  "  very 
scientific,  and  well  versed  in  the  holy 
scriptures."  After  relating  frankly  what 
he  had  seen,  Clement  asked  the  prior  if 
it  would  be  offensive  to  God  to  kill  a 
king  who  had  no  religion,  and  who 
sought  to  oppress  his  poor  subjects, 
thirsting  after  innocent  blood,  and 
abounding  in  every  possible  vice.  Bur- 
going  told  him,  "That,  in  reality,  we 
were  forbidden  by  God  to  commit  homi- 
cide; but  as  the  kingin  question  was  a  man 
set  apart  from  the  church,  practising  ex- 
ecrable tyrannies,  and  who  seemed  bent 
on  being  an  eternal  scourge  to  France, 
he  considered  that  whosoever  put  him  to 
death  would  do  a  very  holy  and  com- 
mendable thing."  He  then  directed  his 
attention  to  Judith,  Ehud,  and  Jael;  and 
compared  the  deliverance  which  would 
result  from  it  to  that  of  Israel  from 
Egypt. 

Clement's  resolution  being  confirmed, 
he  prepared  for  the  king's  assassination 
by  fasting  and  prayers.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  he  was  praying  in  the  church, 
some  monks,  concealed  behind  the  prin- 
cipal altar,  called  out  to  him  through  a 
tube — "  James  Clement !  kill  the  king  1" 
No  doubt  could  any  longer  exist  as  to  the 
authority  of  his  holy  mission :  he  con- 
fessed, and  took  the  sacraments,  and  then 
presented  himself  to  the  Dukes  of  May- 
enne and  Aumale,  who  were  far  from 
disapproving  of  his  project.! 

But  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier  no 
sooner  heard  of  it  than  she  sent  for  Cle- 
ment. She  had  maintained  her  boldness 
when  the  heads  of  the  League  were  trem- 
bling with  apprehension;  and  she  con- 
tributed very  essentially  to  keep  Clement 


*  Discoiira  veritable  de  reshanije  et  subite  mort  <le 
Henri  lie  Valnis,  advenue  par  permission  divine,  lui 
Hslant  A  Si.  Clou,  &c.  Par  un  religieux  de  l'orore  des 
Jacobins.—  Troyes.  J589. 


28', 


\  Hist,  de  la  Sorbonne,  par  TAbb<j  Duvernet,  vol.  ii.  p. 


BY  JAMES  CLEMENT. 


245 


to  the  resolutions  he  had  formed.  Cle- 
ment frequently  visited  the  duchess,  and 
she  soon  observed  how  sensible  he  was 
to  the  allurements  of  pleasure.  A  beau- 
tiful woman,  a  princess,  sister  of  two 
martyrs,  who  displayed  all  her  attractions 
to  gain  his  complete  devotion,  could  not 
fail  of  captivating  the  senses  of  the  young 
monk.  He  related  to  her  his  vision, 
and  the  different  calls  he  had  received 
from  Heaven  for  the  work,  adding,  that 
his  confessor  had  conjured  him  to  yield 
to  the  divine  inspiration,  but  that  he  had 
delayed  executing  his  commission  on  ac- 
count of  an  angel  telling  him  to  wait  till 
the  tyrant  came  before  he  gave  the  blow. 
The  duchess  is  stated  to  have  addressed 
him  in  a  most  eloquent  manner,  appeal- 
ing by  turns  to  his  fanaticism,  his  ambi- 
tion, and  his  passions.  She  entreated 
him  to  take  pity  on  France,  and  save  the 
nation  from  heretics  and  idolaters,  by  a 
number  of  measures  which  she  proposed 
should  be  adopted:  his  death,  she  ob- 
served, was  by  no  means  certain,  and 
that,  after  such  an  exploit,  a  cardinal's 
hat  would  be  the  certain  recompense  from 
the  church;  while  heavenly  laurels  would 
assuredly  reward  him  if  he  perished.* 

It  is  plainly  hinted  by  many  writers 
that  the  duchess  obtained  Clement's  pro- 
mise to  commit  this  crime,  by  yielding 
to  the  violence  of  his  passion:  it  was  not, 
however,  the  interest  of  that  princess  to 
gratify  his  desires:  she  might  have  given 
him  a  promise,  in  order  to  stimulate  him 
to  the  work;  but  upon  that  we  can  only 
form  conjectures,  for  Clement  had  no 
time  to  boast  of  his  good  fortune,  and  the 
duchess  is  not  likely  to  have  been  her 
own  accuser. 

A  monk  named  Mergy  was  employed 
to  buy  the  knife  that  was  to  be  used  on 
the  occasion,  and  which  was  consecrated 
with  considerable  ceremony. t  A  letter 
from  the  president  Harlay  was  procured 
to  serve  as  an  introduction  for  Clement: 
it  is,  however,  a  matter  of  doubt  whether 
it  was  really  that  person's  writing,  ob- 
tained under  some  pretence  or  a  forgery. 
It  has  been  said  that  a  packet,  addressed 
to  the  king,  was  brought  out  of  the  Bas- 
tille, by  a  monk  who  officiated  in  that 
prison;    and  that,  on    the  proposal  of 


*  De  Thou,  liv.  96,  at  large.    Davila,  liv.  10.  Lacre- 
telle.  Hist,  ties  Ouerres  de  Religion. 
+  Hist,  de  la  Sorbonne,  vol.  li.  p.  29. 


Bussy-le-Clerc,  it  was  resolved  that 
Clement  should  be  the  bearer  of  it.  "  Let 
the  worst  happen,"  said  one  of  the  Six- 
teen, "  it  will  only  be  the  hanging  of  a 
monk."*  But  the  account  which  was 
addressed  to  a  friend  by  La  Guesle,  at- 
torney-general to  the  parliament,  gives 
the  substance  of  the  letter  brought  by 
Clement,  and  it  has  every  appearance  of 
being  a  fabrication. t  He  was  also  sup- 
plied with  a  passport  signed  by  the 
Count  de  Brienne.i 

Thus  furnished,  Clement  set  out  for 
St.  Cloud,  the  last  day  of  July,  1589; 
well-satisfied,  if  he  succeeded  in  stabbing 
the  king,  that  he  should  have  the  mar? 
tyr's  crown,  or  a  bishopric,  and  the  fa- 
vours of  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier. 
The  Jesuits  took  considerable  interest  in 
this  undertaking:  Clement  was  a  great 
deal  with  them,  and  some  of  them  accom- 
panied him  a  short  distance  out  of  Paris, 
when  he  set  out  for  the  royal  cam  p.  j  He 
was  stopped  by  the  picquets  of  the  King 
of  Navarre's  arm}' ;  but  as  he  declared  he 
had  letters  for  his  majesty,  he  was  al- 
lowed to  pass  on.  At  St.  Cloud  he  ad- 
dressed the  Duke  of  Angouleme,||  who 
told  him  that  he  could  not  see  the  king: 
he  was  afterwards  referred  to  La  Guesle, 
who  questioned  him  at  length. IT  Cle- 
ment made  a  plausible  tale,  which  how- 
ever ought  not  to  have  deceived  him  so 
completely:  for  as  he  knew  the  president 
Harloy  was  in  the  Bastille,  he  might  have 
confused  the  monk  by  his  inquiries;  the 
necessity  of  extreme  caution  in  allowing 
him  to  approach  the  king  would  then 
have  been  apparent. 

The  substance  of  Clement's  account 
was,  that  the  king's  faithful  subjects  in 
the  city  could  not  openly  act  in  his  be? 
half;  but  that  whenever  his  majesty  came 
to  Paris  they  would  be  ready  to  seize 
one  of  the  gates  and  admit  him:  he  added, 
that  he  had  further  information,  which 
he  could  only  communicate  to  the  king 
himself  in  private.  La  Guesle  went  to 
inform  the  king  of  what  he  had  heard, 
and  sent  Clement  to  sup  with  his  ser- 

*  Mist,  des  Conspirations  des  Jesuites. 
f  Journal  de  Henri  III. 
|  Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  772. 

§  Anti  Cotlon,  p.  84.  The  writer  of  which  declares 
it  to  he  a  fact  known  to  two  thousand  persons  then 
living  (A.  D.  1610.) 

||  Natural  son  of  Charles  IX.  by  Marie  Touchet :  at 
this  time  he  was  only  Count  d' Aiivergne,  hut  in  history 
he  is  best  known  under  his  superior  title. 
IT  Mathieu,  liv.  8,  p.  773. 


21* 


246 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  III. 


vants,  where  he  ate  heartily,  and  an- 
swered their  various  questions  with  great 
coolness,  although  they  were  chiefly  in 
allusion  to  his  attempt.*  After  supper 
he  fell  into  a  sound  sleep,  when  some 
one  had  the  curiosity  to  examine  his 
breviary,  which  lay  beside  him:  it  was 
open  at  the  history  of  Judith,  which  part 
had  become  soiled  from  frequent  use. 
This  circumstance  was  sufficient  to  cre- 
ate suspicion,  but  his  profound  sleep 
quieted  those  who  were  charged  to 
watch  him.t 

Although  the  kin<r  had  received  a  note  a 
few  days  previous,  warning  him  against  an 
attempt  on  his  life,  he  persisted  in  giving 
Clement  an  audience  the  next  morning.]; 
The  monk  stated  that  his  communication 
could  not  be  made  in  the  presence  of  any 
other  than  the  king:  La  Guesle  and  Belle- 
garde,  however,  refusing  to  leave  the  room, 
Henry  took  Clement  aside  to  a  window. 
He  went  on  his  knee  to  present  the  letter 
of  introduction  to  the  king,  who  inclined 
his  head  to  hear  the  confidential  commu- 
nication. Clement  took  the  opportunity 
to  plunge  his  knife  into  the  king's  abdo- 
men. "  Wretch  !"  said  Henry,  drawing 
the  knife  from  the  wound,  "  what  have  I 
dono  that  you  should  assassinate  me  ?" 
and  as  he  spoke  he  stabbed  the  murderer 
in  tlte  face.  La  Guesle  ran  to  the  spot, 
and  struck  Clement  with  his  sword;  the 
noise  brought  in  some  attendants,  who 
immediately  despatched  the  miscreant,  al- 
though La  Guesle  exhorted  them  to  take 
him  alive.§  The  body  was  then  exposed, 
in  order  to  be  recognised,  for  many 
thought  it  was  some  soldier  of  the  League 
disguised  as  a  monk;  and  the  historian 
Mathieu  relates,  "  That  if  he  had  not 
been  recognised  by  Francis  Dumont  and 
some  others,  there  were  many  persons 
who  would  have  contended  it  was  some 
Huguenot. "||  There  can,  however,  exist 
no  doubt  of  Clement's  identity.  The 
Dominican,  who  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, details  the  treatment  which  his 
dead  body  received:  it  was  torn  asunder 
by  four  horses,  and  afterwards  burned. 
"  But  his  soul,"  he  adds,  "  did  not  fail  to 


*  Lottre  de  M.  La  Guesle,  and  Davila,  liv.  10. 

+  Hist,  de  laSorbonne.  vol.  It.  p.  ,')0. 

I  Pasquier,  vol.  ii  p  409.  Crammbnt,  a  leaguer,  met 
the  Duke  d'Aneonutme  tbe  day  before,  and  seeing  Inm 
clu>erf  .  I,  said,  "To-morrow  you  will  not  be  so  merry."— 
jyfcm.  da  Due  d'Anguulemc,  p.  3. 

§  Lettre  de  M.  La  Guesle. 

||  Malliieu,  liv.  8,  p.  774. 


ascend  to  heaven  with  the  blessed:  as  to 
that  of  Henry  of  Valois,  I  refer  to  what 
is  known  of  him,  and  leave  the  judgment 
to  God.  You  have  now  before  you  the 
account  of  the  death  of  Henry  of  Valois; 
and  how  opportunely  this  poor  monk 
undertook  our  deliverance,  not  fearing 
death,  if  he  could  give  liberty  to  the 
church  and  the  people.  I  pray  God  that 
the  same  may  befall  all  those  who  are 
against  the  Catholic  religion,  and  who 
now  unlawfully  besiege  us.  Amen."* 

The  king  was  put  to  bed,  and  his 
wounds  examined.    At  first  the  surgeons 
pronounced  them  not  dangerous,  and  let- 
ters were  sent  off  to  the  governors  of  the 
provinces,  containing  an  account  of  the 
circumstances;  that  sent  to  Duplessis- 
Mornay,  governor  of  Saumur,  has  been 
handed  down  to  us.    After  describing  the 
event,  the  letter  states:  "But  if  it  please 
God,  it  will  be  nothing;  and  in  a  few 
days  he  will  give  me  both  my  former 
health,  and  the  victory  over  my  enemies, 
of  which  I  am  desirous  of  informing  you, 
both  to  acquaint  you  with  the  wickedness 
of  my  enemies,  and  to  assure  you  of  the 
hope  of  my  speedy  recovery. "t  For 
some  time  great  hopes  were  entertained 
that  the  wounds  would  not  prove  fatal; 
but  when  the  abdomen  was  examined  a 
second  time  it  was  found  that  the  intes- 
tines were  pierced,  and  from  that  moment 
the  king  prepared  for  death.    His  confes- 
sor refused  to  give  him  absolution  on  ac- 
count of  the  anathema  he  had  incurred, 
and  said  that  he  must  conform  to  the 
pope's  demand  before  his  sins  could  be 
absolved.    Henry  replied,  "I  am  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Catholic,  apostolic,  and 
Roman  church,  and  such  I  wish  to  die. 
I  promise  before  God,  and  before  all  men, 
that  my  chief  desire  is  to  satisfy  his  holi- 
ness in  every  thing  which  he  can  wish 
of  me."    This  declaration  removed  the 
scruples  of  the  confessor,  who  gave  him 
absolution,  and  administered  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  eucharist  and  extreme  unc- 
tion.J 

The  King  of  Navarre  had  been  early 
informed  of  the  fatal  event:  he  arrived  at 
St.  Cloud,  accompanied  by  twenty-five 
gentlemen. §    When  the  king's  religious 

*  Discours  veritable,  &c. 
t  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  i.  p.  026. 
j  Davila,  liv.  10.   Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  223.  Maimbourg, 
Hist  de  la  Ligue,  liv.  3. 
§  Sully,  liv.  3. 


ACCESSION  OF  HENRY  IV. 


247 


exercises  wpre  concluded,  his  chamber- 
door  was  thrown  open,  and  all  the  no- 
bility approached  to  hear  his  dying  coun- 
sel. He  deplored  the  unhappy  state  in 
which  he  left  France;  he  begged  they 
would  leave  to  God  the  vengeance  of  his 
death;  exhorted  them  all  to  be  united, 
and  declared  the  King  of  Navarre  his 
legitimate  successor:  he  recommended 
also  that  the  discussion  of  their  religious 
differences  should  be  deferred  till  the 
meeting  of  the  States-general.  "  Adieu  ! 
my  friend,"  said  the  king  in  conclusion; 
"  turn  your  tears  into  prayers,  and  pray 
for  me."  He  then  embraced  the  King  of 
Navarre;  dwelt  upon  the  danger  there 
would  be  for  him  if  it  became  common  to 
assassinate  kings;  and  concluded  by  ex- 
horting him  to  renounce  the  Protestant 
religion.  "  Be  assured,  my  dear  brother," 
said  he,  "  that  you  will  never  be  King  of 
France,  unless  you  become  a  Catholic, 
and  humble  yourself  to  the  church." 
His  attendants  then  withdrew,  and  he 
occupied  the  remainder  of  his  moments 
in  religious  exercises:  he  lived  till  three 
o'clock  the  following  morning,  the  se- 
cond of  August,  when,  as  he  was  repeat- 
ing the  Miserere,  he  died  without  a  strug- 
gle, in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age, 
and  the  fifteenth  of  his  reign.* 

The  King  of  Navarre  had  retired  to 
Meudon  after  receiving  the  dying  mo- 
narch's farewell.  In  the  middle  of  the 
night  an  express  arrived,  to  inform  him 
that  he  must  hasten  to  St.  Cloud,  if  he 
wished  to  see  the  king  any  more.  He 
immediately  took  horse,  and  when  he  ar- 
rived at  St.  Cloud  the  first  thing  he  heard 
was,  that  Henry  was  dead.  When  his 
arrival  was  known  in  the  place,  the 
Scotch  guards  came  to  offer  him  their 
homage,  and  proclaim  him  their  king.t 
Henry  IV.  proceeded  to  his  predecessor's 
bed-side,  and  addressed  all  present,  who 
were  indignant  at  the  malignity  of  the 
league  in  resorting  to  such  means;  while 
they  lamented  the  loss  of  a  prince  who 
had  been  particularly  kind  to  most  of 
them.  The  new  king  was  very  much 
affected,  and  as  he  spoke,  his  words  were 
often  interrupted  by  his  sighs.  "Tears," 
said  he,  "  will  not  restore  him  to  life:  the 
true  proof  of  fidelity  is  to  avenge  him: 


*  Davila,  liv.  10.   Hist.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii. 
p.  7.  De  Thou,  liv,  96. 
t  Sully,  liv.  3. 


for  my  part,  I  will  sacrifice  my  life  to  it: 
we  are  all  Frenchmen,  and  there  is  no- 
thing to  make  distinctions  among  us  in 
the  duty  we  owe  to  the  memory  of  our 
king  and  the  service  of  our  country."* 

But  it  was  not  long  before  Henry  dis- 
covered that  he  had  yet  considerable  dif- 
ficulties to  overcome.  Most  of  the  Ca- 
tholic noblemen  protested  against  his 
being  acknowledged  as  king:  some  ob- 
jected from  scruples  of  conscience,  but 
several  were  in  hopes  of  establishing  an 
independent  authority  in  the  provinces 
or  towns  where  they  had  influence.! 
Henry  took  his  two  confidants,  La  Force 
and  D'Aubigne,  into  an  adjoining  room, 
and  asked  for  their  advice.  La  Force  de- 
clined speaking,  but  D'Aubigne  addressed 
the  king  nearly  as  follows: — "You  stand, 
Sire,  more  in  want  of  advice  than  of  con- 
solation: and  your  present  conduct  will 
decide  the  remaider  of  your  life — will 
make  you  a  king  or  nothing.  You  are 
surrounded  by  men  who  tremble  while 
they  threaten  you,  and  who  conceal  their 
private  fears  under  general  pretences.  If 
you  suffer  such  things  to  influence  you, 
what  will  you  not  fear?  And  if  you  at- 
tempt to  overcome  the  difficulty  by  yield- 
ing, who  will  not  tyrannize  over  you  ? 
There  are  in  the  court  and  the  army  two 
sorts  of  persons:  those  who  are  resolved 
to  support  the  king,  and  maintain  his 
right  to  the  crown;  and  those  whom  the 
pretext  of  religion  makes  uncertain  and 
doubtful;  and  you  must  not  give  them 
time  to  deliberate.  You  are  sure  of  the 
Protestant  nobility  and  the  troops  under 
them.  Marshal  Biron  and  the  Catholic 
captains  under  him  have  no  thoughts  of 
leaving  you,  for  the  share  they  had  in  the 
death  of  the  Guises  secures  them.  Call 
on  Biron  to  engage  the  Swiss  to  acknow- 
ledge you;  despatch  Givry  and  Humieresf 
to  gain  partisans  among  the  nobles  of  the 
Isle  of  France  and  Pieardy.  The  Duke 
of  Epernon  is  the  most  influential  person 
in  the  army,  but  he  is  sure  not  to  join  the 
league,  who  are  as  much  his  enemies  as 
yours.  Be  assured,  Sire,  that  you  have 
the  superiority  of  force,  and  that  your 
vigour  and  firmness  will  bring  back  every 
one  to  his  duty."§ 

*  Mathieu,  vol.  ii.  liv.  1,  p.  5. 
t  I'erefixe,  liv.  1. 

t  Charles  de  Himiiercs,  killed  at  the  siege  of  Ham, 

15:»5 . 

}  D'Aubigni,  vol.  iii.  p.  184. 


248  DIFFICULTIES 

Biron  was  then  sent  for,  and  the  king 
said  to  him,  "  The  time  is  come,  my 
cousin,  when  your  hand  must  help  to 
place  the  crown  on  my  head.  It  will  ill 
suit  both  your  disposition  and  mine,  for 
rae  to  animate  you  by  solicitations.  I 
entreat  you  at  once  to  persuade  the  Swiss 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  me  ;  then 
come  and  serve  me,  as  a  father  and  a 
friend."*  Biron  went  immediately,  and, 
with  Sancy's  assistance,  had  less  diffi- 
culty than  he  had  anticipated,  although 
two-thirds  of  them  were  Catholics.  The 
Swiss,  moreover,  agreed  to  defer  the  pay- 
ment of  their  wages  for  some  time,  as  the 
king's  finances  were  in  a  very  crippled 
state.f 

The  Catholic  nobility,  in  the  mean 
lime,  had  held  a  consultation:  some  were 
for  demanding  the  king's  immediate  con- 
version, and  others  were  satisfied  with 
his  promise  of  abjuring  within  a  given 
time.t  Some  were  desirous  of  prohi- 
biting the  exercise  of  the  reformed  reli- 
gion, while  more  tolerant  measures  were 
recommended  by  others.  They  had  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  coming  to  an  agree- 
ment upon  the  proposals  they  should 
make  to  the  king:  at  last  the  Seigneur 
D'O  was  appointed  to  speak  their  senti- 
ments. He  told  the  king  that  the  no- 
blesse were  all  willing  to  acknowledge 
him  for  their  sovereign  if  he  would  em- 
brace the  Catholic  religion;  intimated 
that  they  would  prefer  death  to  having  a 
Huguenot  for  their  king,  and  declared 
that  his  right  to  the  crown  depended  on 
his  professing  the  ancient  faith:  he  also 
added,  that  there  was  no  fear  of  alienating 
the  Huguenots  from  his  cause,  as  they 
would  be  contented  with  the  exercise  of 
their  religion.  This  proposition  was 
very  complimentary  to  the  loyalty  of  the 
Protestants;  but  Henry  IV.  had  too  much 
honour  thus  to  abandon  the  companions 
of  his  distress:  his  religion  was  far  from 
being  fervent — it  sat  but  lightly  on  him, 
as  his  libertine  principles  prove,  and  he 
could  then,  as  he  did  afterwards,  have 
gone  to  mass  without  many  scruples  of 
conscience — but  his  soul  was  above  a 
meanness,  even  to  obtain  a  crown.  He 
answered  the  deputation  with  spirit,  re- 

*  Ibid.  p.  185. 

t  Branlome.  vol.  IX.  p  150.  De  Thou,  liv.  97.  Dis- 
coura  de  Harlay  de  Saucy,  p.  43.  Bassompierre,  JVsur. 
Mem.  p.  49. 

t  Discours  de  Harlay  de  Sancy,  p.  51. 


OF  HENRY  IV. 

proached  them  with  their  disregard  of  the 
late  king's  dying  injunctions,  and  asked 
what  opinion  they  could  have  of  him,  to 
expect  he  could  change  his  religion  so 
suddenly  ?  Should  he  then  be  worthy  of 
their  confidence  ?  He  gave  them  to  un- 
derstand that  the  subject  should  be  ma- 
turely deliberated  in  the  states-general,  or 
in  a  national  council,  to  the  decisions  of 
which  he  would  submit.  In  the  mean 
time  he  hoped  he  should  be  supported  by 
all  Catholics  who  loved  their  country  or 
their  honour;  and  that  all  those  who 
would  not  have  a  little  patience,  had  his 
free  permission  to  retire  where  they 
pleased.* 

As  Henry  finished  speaking,  Givry 
entered,  and,  after  kissing  his  hand,  an- 
nounced the  adhesion  of  the  army,  who 
had  proclaimed  him  their  king.  "  Sire!" 
said  he,  "  you  are  the  sovereign  of  the 
brave,  and  will  be  abandoned  only  by 
cowards."|  This  circumstance  hastened 
the  decision  of  many  of  the  Catholics, 
who  had  expected  to  force  the  king  to 
make  great  concessions.  The  Dukes  of 
Montpensier  and  Angouleme  had  not 
concealed  their  ill  humour,  notwithstand- 
ing their  connexion  with  the  crown;  and 
the  latter  would  scarcely  deign  to  salute 
the  king.i  But  when  Henry's  friends 
appeared  sufficiently  numerous  to  main- 
tain his  cause,  their  difficulties  diminished, 
and  they  consented  to  acknowledge  him. 
on  condition  that  he  should  be  instructed 
in  the  Catholic  religion  within  six  months; 
that  he  should  restore  the  Romish  wor- 
ship where  it  had  been  suppressed;  that 
he  should  place  the  clergy  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  their  property;  and  that  he 
should  give  no  appointment  to  the  Hu- 
guenots: there  were  some  other  articles 
respecting  the  public  rights  and  liberties 
which  were  matters  of  course. § 

The  warmth  of  some  of  the  Huguenots 
made  the  Catholic  nobility  more  resolute 
in  requiring  a  positive  obligation  from  the 
king;  for  otherwise  they  feared  that  the 
reformed  religion  would  be  encouraged, 
to  the  destruction  of  their  church.  La 
Noue  endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  per- 
suade them  to  be  reasonable.  No  one 
could  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  Protest- 
antism; yet  he  candidly  told  the  king, 


*  D'Aubizne,  vol.  iii.  p.  185,  ct  seq. 
t  Ibid.  p."l87. 

t  Davila,  liv.  10.  §  Ibid. 


DISPOSITION  OF  HIS  FORCES. 


249 


that  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  for  him 
to  obtain  his  rights,  unless  he  became  a 
Catholic;  but  he  insisted  on  the  change 
being  made  in  a  respectable  manner,  to 
avoid  any  thing  which  might  prejudice 
those  who  had  so  long  supported  him.* 
A  number  of  zealous  and  violent  Hugue- 
nots, however,  insisted  on  his  remaining 
with  them,  and  contended  that  their  party 
was  sufficient  to  establish  him  upon  the 
throne.t  Duplessis  was  confined  to  his 
bed  at  Saumur;  but  though  he  could  not 
personally  advise  his  sovereign,  he  ad- 
dressed him  a  memorial,  accompanied 
with  a  letter;  and  both  reflect  great  credit 
upon  him,  as  a  loyal  servant,  a  skilful 
politician,  and  a  sincere  Christian.  "Many 
difficulties,"  says  he,  "  present  them- 
selves in  your  affairs,  as  your  majesty 
will  perceive  by  my  memorial:  time  will 
clear  up  a  part  of  them,  and  your  servants 
the  rest.  God,  who  has  conducted  you, 
Sire,  to  the  throne,  will  establish  you 
thereon:  only  let  your  majesty  be  grate- 
ful, and  ascribe  to  him  all  the  glory. "J 
In  the  memorial  Duplessis  writes,  "The 
Catholics  are  alarmed  for  their  religion: 
a  declaration  must  be  published  to  satisfy 
them:  the  substance  should  announce 
that  there  should  be  no  innovation  on  the 
Catholic  religion;  and  because,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Pratestants  must  not  be 
offended,  certain  expressions  must  be 
agreed  upon  to  be  used,  whenever  they 
are  spoken  of.  It  is  requisite  that  you 
should  write  to  all  the  churches,  and  to 
the  governors  of  the  places  where  the  re- 
formed religion  is  exercised,  enjoining 
them  to  conduct  themselves  more  mode- 
rately than  ever,  both  in  speech  and  be- 
haviour; to  repress  the  insolence  of  the 
populace,  and  to  be  on  terms  of  peace 
and  union  with  the  Catholics,  otherwise 
in  some  parts  there  will  be  danger  of 
scandal.  The  regulations  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  churches  and  relics,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  service,  must  be 
enforced  more  strictly  than  ever.  His 
majesty  may  be  requested  to  restore  the 
mass  at  Niort  and  other  places:  that  will 
be  a  reason  for  granting  the  request  of  the 


*  Amirault  is  indignant  that  Davila  should  thus  re- 
present La  None  as  advising  abjuration.  Yet  it  is  pro- 
bable that,  anticipating  I  he  obstinacy  of  the  League,  he 
might  regret  the  alternative  to  which  it  would  lead  ; 
and  therefore  advised  such  caution  on  the  king's  part 
aa  would  preserve  the  confidence  of  the  Huguenots. 

•f  Davila,  liv.  10. 

t  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii,  p.  1, 


Protestants,  when  they  apply  for  liberty 
of  worship."  The  memorial  recom- 
mended, also,  a  proclamation,  calling  upon 
all  good  Frenchmen  to  assist  in  punish- 
ing the  late  king's  assassination;  a  de- 
claration, offering  pardon  to  all  who 
would  submit  within  a  certain  time;  and 
a  representation  to  the  pope,  showing 
him  the  danger  to  which  he  exposed  the 
see  of  Rome,  in  irritating  and  exasperating 
him,  by  his  bulls  and  anathemas.  "The 
example  of  Henry,  King  of  England, 
may  be  proposed  to  him:  he  was  by  such 
means  placed  in  the  necessity  of  entirely 
cutting  off  the  communication  between 
the  kingdom  and  the  Roman  see.  The 
(French)  ambassadors  should  persuade 
the  princes,  at  whose  courts  they  reside, 
to  send  persons  of  distinction  to  salute 
his  majesty,  as  that  will  give  him  au- 
thority among  the  people,  &c."* 

From  the  liberal  sentiments  which  the 
preceding  memorial  conveys,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  the  writer  was  absent.  His 
paper  did  not  reach  the  king  till  after  he 
had  concluded  the  affair,  by  taking  an 
oath  to  the  conditions  already  mentioned. 
Had  Duplessis  been  present,  he  would 
have  had  sufficient  influence  over  his 
friends  to  restrain  the  eagerness  of  their 
demands,  and  much  jealous  feeling  would 
have  been  avoided  in  consequence.  A 
treaty,  founded  on  these  conditions,  was 
signed  by  the  king  on  the  4th  of  August, 
when  all  the  nobles  made  a  declaration  of 
allegiance,  with  the  exception  of  the  Duke 
of  Epernon,  and  Louis  de  L'Hopital,  Mar- 
quis of  Vitry.  Epernon  retired  to  his 
government  of  Saintonge,  with  six  thou- 
sand infantry,  and  twelve  hundred  horse- 
men;  a  reduction  which  the  king's  army 
could  ill  afford.t  On  leaving  the  camp  he 
told  his  sovereign  that  his  conscience 
would  not  permit  him  to  stay;];  but  it  is 
generally  considered  that  his  reasons 
were  altogether  selfish.  Having  enjoyed 
the  highest  distinction  under  Henry  III., 
he  could  not  consent  to  remain  in  an 
army  where  his  military  consequence 
would  be  eclipsed  by  Biron,  d'Aumont, 
and  La  Noue;  he  might  also  fear  that 
the  king  would  desire  the  loan  of  part  of 
the  immense  sums  he  was  known  to  have 
amassed. 5    Vitry  appears  to  have  acted 

*  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  4. 
t  Davila,  liv.  10. 
1  Girard,  p.  112. 

J  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Liguc,  vol.  ii.  p.  119, 


250 


REJOICINGS  OF  THE  LEAGUERS  AT  HENRY'S  DEATH. 


from  motives  really  conscientous :  he 
joined  the  party  of  the  league,  but  pre- 
viously gave  up  the  government  of  Dour- 
dan,  a  town  which  the  late  king  had  con- 
fided to  him;*  and  he  returned  to  Henry's 
support  directly  he  was  informed  of  his 
having  abjured.! 

The  king  lost  no  time  in  arranging  his 
affairs ;  his  feeling  was  for  attacking  Paris, 
but  his  forces  were  so  diminished,  that  he 
could  not  think  of  making  the  attempt.}; 
For,  after  Epernon  had  quitted  him,  seve 
ral  other  nobles  did  the  same,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  Catholic  soldiers 
went  to  their  homes.J     He  addressed 
letters  to  the  different  parliaments,  ap- 
pointed a  time  for  assembling  the  states- 
general,  and  sent  an  offer  of  accommoda- 
tion to  Mayenne,  which  was  rejected. || 
For  his  military  operations  he  consulted 
with  Biron,  d'Aumont,  La  Noue,  and 
Montpensier.    At  first  it  was  proposed  to 
retire  beyond  the  Loire ;  but  that  measure 
appearing  too  great  a  concession  to  the 
league,  it  was  resolved  that  the  army 
should  be  divided  into  three  bodies :  one, 
under  the  Duke  of  Longueville,  to  protect 
Picardy  from  the   Spaniards:  another, 
under  Marshal  d'Aumont,  to  be  a  check 
upon  Champagne;  the  third  was  com- 
manded by  the  king  himself,  in  Normandy, 
to  be  more  ready  to  communicate  with 
England.  But  before  the  forces  separated, 
the  late  king's  body  was  carried  to  Com- 
piegne  for  temporary  interment.  The 
situation  of  affairs  prevented  its  being 
carried  to  St.  Denis,  and  the  army  of  the 
league  making  preparations  for  taking  the 
field,  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost  in  cere 
monials:  the  body  was,  in  consequence, 
placed  in  the  principal  church,  without 
any  display  of  pomp.    The  king  immedi- 
ately set  out  for  Normandy,  where  he 
made  an  auspicious  commencement,  being 
joined  by  one  Rolet,  a  gentleman  of  great 
courage  and  experience:  he  immediately 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Henry,  and 
gave  him  possession  of  the  Pont-de-l'Arche, 
which  commands  the  river  three  leagues 
above  Rouen. IT 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 


Rejoicings  of  the  League  at  the  death  of  Henry  III.— 
Battle  of  Arques— Attack  on  the  suburbs  of  Paris. 


*  Perefixe,  liv.  2. 

t  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii  p.  632. 

j  It  was  proposed  to  place  the  body  of  the  murdered 
king  on  the  bridge  of  St.  Cloud:  as  the  soldiers  passed 
by  it  they  were  to  take  an  oath  to  avenge  his  death; 
and  then  set  out  to  attack  Paris.  Discours  de  Harlaij 
de  Sancy,  p.  5G. 

§  Davila,  liv.  10. 

|j  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  148.    Davila,  liv.  10. 
U  Davila,  liv.  ID.  Cayet,  liv.  1.  Perefixe,  liv.  2. 


While  Henry  IV.  was  engaged  in  dis- 
cussions with  the  Catholic  nobility,  Paris 
was  the  scene  of  the  most  fanatical  re- 
joicing.   It  has  been  said  that  the  event 
was  first  made  known  to  the  Parisians  by 
the  dying  expression  of  a  gentleman  who 
was  killed  in  a  single  combat  on  the  neu- 
tral ground.  Such  encounters  were  com- 
mon at  this  period,  while  hostile  armies 
were  near  each  other;  and  John  de  L'Isle 
Marivaut,  a  royalist,  and  Claude  de  Ma- 
rolles,  a  leaguer,  had  agreed  to  break  a 
lance  on  the  2d  of  August.*  Marivaut, 
indignant  at  the  king's  assassination,  went 
to  the  place  appointed,  with  a  hope  of 
avenging  his  sovereign  on  the  person 
whom  he  was  to  encounter :  he  was  on 
the  ground  before  the  time  agreed  on,  and 
refused  to  use  the  lances  brought,  which, 
he  said,  were  too  light.    Marolles  con- 
sented to  his  using  a  heavier  lance,  but 
kept  a  light  one  for  himself.    After  the 
ceremonies  usual  at  a  tournament,  the 
signal  was  given,  and  the  champions 
spurred  their  horses.  Marivaut's  superior 
strength  nearly  threw,  his  antagonist  from 
his  horse,  but,  being  near-sighted,  he  could 
not  wear  a  close  helmet,  and  received  a 
mortal  blow  by  Marolles'  spear  going  into 
his  eye.    He  did  not  live  fifteen  minutes 
afterwards ;  but  before  he  expired  he  said, 
"  That  even  if  he  had  been  conqueror,  he 
should  have  been  unhappy  to  have  sur- 
vived the  king,  his  master."    This  an- 
nounced to  the  league  that  Clement's 
enterprise  had  been  successful. f 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Duchess  of  Mont- 
pensier was  waiting  with  anxiety  to  learn 
the  result  of  the  measure  in  which  she  had 
taken  so  much  interest.  The  delay  of  a 
day  had  caused  her  great  uneasiness. 
She  might  fancy  the  monk  had  been  ar- 
rested and  put  to  the  torture :  and  if  the 
part  she  had  taken  in  encouraging  him 
should  be  made  known,  it  would  be 
scarcely  possible  for  her  to  be  protected 
from  the  vengeance  of  the  king,  who 


*  The  Ducde  Angouleme  speaks  of  this  duel  in  his 
memoirs:  he  describes  Marolles  as  unequalled  in  the, 
management  of  a  lance. 

f  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  258.  Brantome,  vol.  ii.  p.  73.  Jout- 
nal  de  Henri  IV. 


JOY  OF  THE  POPE  AT  HENRY'S  DEATH. 


251 


would  immediately  attack  the  city.  She 
waited  near  the  gate  leading  to  St.  Cloud, 
and  when  the  intelligence  was  brought  to 
her  she  repeatedly  embraced  the  bearer 
of  the  news.    "Ah  !  my  friend,"  said  she, 
"  is  it  indeed  so  1  is  the  tyrant,  is  the  mon- 
ster dead  ?  I  am  vexed  but  at  one  thing : 
that  before  he  died,  he  did  not  know  that 
it  was  I  who  directed  the  blow."*  The 
people  immediately  gave  themselves  up 
to  an  excess  of  joy.    Hymns  of  thanks- 
siving  were  sung  in  the  churches;  the 
Dominicans  had  a  Te  Dexxm  ;  bonfires 
were  lighted  up;  and  the  black  scarf, 
which  had  been  worn  by  the  league  since 
Guise's  death,  was  exchanged  for  green, 
the  original  colour  :|  portraits  of  Clement 
were  exposed  to  the  veneration  of  the 
public:    he  was  styled  a  saint   and  a 
martyr ;  and  all  those  who  bore  any  rela- 
tionship to  him  were  enriched  by  public 
contributions  and  alms.    His  statue  was 
placed  in  the  cathedral,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion, St.  James  Clement,  pray  for  us! 
His  mother  was  treated  with  the  greatest 
distinction :  she  was  lodged  at  the  house 
of  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  and  dined 
at  her  table.    The  Pope,  Sixtus  V.  pro- 
nounced a  studied  panegyric  on  Clement: 
he  began  his  discourse  with  a  quota- 
tion from  the  Psalms:  "  This  is  the  Lord's 
doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes:" 
he  declared  the  deed  to  be  super-human, 
as  so  glorious  a  work  could  only  be 
effected  by  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
Almighty,  and  placed  it  on  a  level  with 
the  most  remarkable  incidents  in  sacred 
history:  at  the  same  time  he  pronounced 
the  deceased  king  to  be  unworthy  of 
Christian  burial. J 

These  were  the  results  of  a  blind  feeling 
greatly  excited,  and  the  same  people  who 
then  joined  in  such  outrageous  conduct 
would,  under  a  change  of  circumstances, 
go  to  the  opposite  extreme.  But  the 
assassination  of  Henry  III.  becomes  of 
more  importance,  when  it  is  viewed  as 
the  result  of  the  papal  excommunication 
under  which  he  laboured.  The  lofty  pre- 
tensions of  the  Vatican  were  involved  in 
this  affair;  the  pope  had  declared  him  fallen 
from  his  dignity;  and  as  an  enemy  of  the 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  Davila,  Uv.  1(1.   Mem  (In  Due  d'Angnuleme,  p.  22. 

t  Ihst.des  DeVniere  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  8  Ue  Thou, 
liv.9(i.  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  0.  In  the  year  J60U 
Cardinal  D'Ossat  demanded  that  the  regular  ceremonies 
should  he  performed.— Lettres  du  Cardinal  D'Ossat,  part 
ii.  p.  109. 


church  he  might  be  put  to  death  with  impu- 
nity. The  Jesuits  have  stoutly  defended 
the  reputation  of  this  fanatic,  and  in  a 
work*  published  with  the  approbation  of 
Aquaviva,  the  general  of  the  order,  we  find 
the  following  passage:  "James  Clement 
studied  theology  in  a  college  of  his  order, 
when,  being  informed  that  he  was  per- 
mitted to  kill  a  tyrant,  he  deeply  wounded 
Henry  III.  in  the  abdomen,  with  a  poisoned 
knife.  Dreadful  spectacle !  memorable 
deed  !  and  of  rare  occurrence ;  but  by 
which  princes  may  learn,  that  the  impiety 
of  their  undertakings  will  not  remain  un- 
punished ;  that  their  authority  is  power- 
less from  the  time  their  subjects- cease  to 

revere  them  Clement  congratulated 

himself  in  the  midst  of  wounds  and  stabs, 
for  having  by  his  blood  secured  the  liberty 
of  his  country.    The  assassination  of  the 
king  obtained  him  a  great  reputation* 
Murder  was  expiated  by  murder  ;  and 
the  manes  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  slain  so 
perfidiously,  were  avenged  by  the  shed- 
ding of  royal  blood.    Thus  perished  Cle- 
ment, (lie.  eternal  ornament  of  France,\ 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years;  a  young 
man  of  a  simple  character,  and  rather 
feeble  constitution  ;  but  a  greater  power 
supported  his  courage  and  his  strength." 
The  pope's  bull  of  excommunication  which 
declared   the  monarch  fallen    from  his 
throne,  and  thus  exposed  him  to  such  an 
attempt;  and  the  decree  of  the  Sorbonne, 
which  released  the  French  from  their  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  declared  that  such  an 
act  would  be  highly  meritorious,  may  both 
be  attributed  to  the  barbarous  manners  of 
the  age  and  the  generally  enslaved  state 
of  the  human  mind.  But  the  Jesuits,  who 
are  chiefly  men  of  extensive  information, 
and  whose  life  is  professedly  contemplative 
and  devout,  stilt  avoid  any  declaration 
which  may  condemn  this  murder:  and  it 
is  wonderful,  that  the  rules  of  a  religious 
society  should  contain  an  entire  chapter 
on  regicide.     The  doctrines  which  the 
fatherg  of  this  order  taught  on  that  sub- 
ject fell  into  great  disrepute,  and  raised 
many  opponents  to  the  re-establishment 
of  the  Jesuits  after  they  had  been  expelled 
the  kingdom.    Still  they  would  not  re- 
nounce the  doctrine ;  and  Aquaviva,  their 
general,  commanded  them  not  to  affirm 
that  it  was  lawful  to  kill  a  king:  he  also 


*  Mariana. — De  rege  et  regis  institulione. 
t  SicClemens  ptriit  alcrnum  Gallia:  decus. 


252         CARDINAL  DE  BOURBON  PROCLAIMED  AS  CHARLES  X. 


forbade  any  publication  upon  regicide,  un- 
less it  had  been  examined  and  approved 
at  Rome:  the  crime  itself  was  thus  unno- 
ticed :  its  discussion  only  was  forbidden.* 

But  although  the  death  of  Henry  111. 
was  the  cause  of  unanimous  joy  in  Paris, 
there  was  a  considerable  difference  of 
opinion  about  his  successor.  The  Duchess 
of  Montpensier  persuaded  her  brother 
Mayenne  to  take  the  crown :  she  urged 
that  he  should  not  lose  so  fine  an  oppor- 
tunity of  settling  on  his  family  the  crown 
which  his  ancestors  had  formerly  worn. 
Villeroy  and  the  president  Jeannin,  how- 
ever, were  opposed  to  such  a  measure, 
and  represented  that  there  were  many 
pretenders  to  the  crown,  equally  well 
founded  in  their  claim,  and  more  able  to 
enforce  it.  Besides  which,  the  Spanish 
ambassador,  Bernard  Mendoza,  showed 
that  the  duke  would  be  opposed  by  all 
the  influence  of  his  court:  it  was  there- 
fore decided  that  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon 
should  be  proclaimed  as  Charles  X.,  which 
was  done  without  delay.t  The  cardinal 
being  old,  feeble,  and  childless,  would  not 
interfere  with  Mayenne's  future  plans; 
while  the  little  time  which,  according  to 
probability,  he  had  to  live,  would  afford 
him  a  better  opportunity  for  ultimately  se- 
curing his  object.  As  Charles  X.  was  a 
captive,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  was  in- 
vested with  the  title  and  authority  of  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  state  and  crown  of 
France,  so  that  he  had  the  full  exercise  of 
the  regal  authority  to  ensure  the  success 
of  his  ulterior  measures,  when  the  throne 
should  again  become  vacant. 

D'Aubigne  was  selected  as  the  captive's 
guardian,  in  place  of  Chavigny,  who  did 
not  possess  the  king's  confidence.  The 
Duchess  de  Retz  employed  an  agent  to 
offer  two  hundred  thousand  crowns,  or 
the  government  of  Bellisle,  if  he  would 
connive  at  the  prisoner's  escape.  The 
safe-conduct  previously  demanded  alone 
prevented  D'Aubigne  from  arresting  the 
emissary.^ 

The  parliament  of  Paris  willingly  re- 
gistered the  edict  which  recognised  the 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  to  be  king ;  but  in 
other  parts  the  conflict  of  interests  pre- 
vented the  adoption  of  any  measure.  The 


*  Comptedes  Institutions,  Sf  c.  Rendu  au  parlement  de 
Rouen,  17(>2.  p.  118. 

t  7th  August,  15811.  Davila,  liv.  10.  Villeroy,  vol.  i. 
p.  150 — 1154.    Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  D'Aubigne,  Mem.  p.  143. 


parliament  of  Bordeaux  would  not  ac- 
knowledge Henry  IV.,  but  was  persuaded 
by  Marshal  Matignon  to  abstain  from  re- 
cognising the  right  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bour- 
bon ;*  that  of  Toulouse  not  only  forbade 
the  recognition  of  Henry  of  Bourbon, 
under  pain  of  death,  but  ordered  his  ex- 
communication to  be  republished  ;f  while 
that  of  Rouen  declared  all  those  guilty  of 
high  treason  who  opposed  the  Holy 
Union. i. 

Henry  IV.  had  assembled  a  parliament 
at  Tours,  where  his  right  was  acknow- 
ledged, and  justice  administered  in  his 
name.  The  council  of  the  league  were 
indignant  at  the  existence  of  such  a  body, 
and  sent  a  herald  with  a  message  inform- 
ing them  that,  for  their  cruelty  in  punishing 
Catholics,  they  were  declared  deserters 
from  the  true  religion,  in  the  war  existing 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  heretics; 
that  they  were  therefore  considered  ene- 
mies, and  that  reprisals  and  confiscations 
would  be  proceeded  with  against  them.§ 

When  the  king  went  into  Normandy, 
his  army  was  very  small,  and  he  wished 
to  establish  himself  at  Dieppe;  as  well  for 
the  convenience  of  communication  with 
England,  as  for  the  facility  of  retiring  by 
sea  to  Rochelle,  in  the  event  of  a  defeat 
by  the  league.  On  his  way,  he  prepared 
for  attacking  Rouen,  and  committed  some 
havoc  in  the  neighbourhood^  The  alarm 
in  the  town  was  so  great,  that  Aumale 
and  Brissac,  who  had  retired  thither  with 
twelve  hundred  horsemen,  could  scarcely 
restrain  the  inhabitants  from  opening  the 
gates.  They  sent  numerous  couriers  to 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  entreating  him  to 
make  haste,  if  he  wished  to  preserve  the 
town. IT 

Mayenne  was  nearer  than  the  king  ex- 
pected ;  he  had  left  Paris  at  the  end  of 
August,  with  an  army  of  nearly  thirty 
thousand  men.  Henry  having  scarcely 
seven  thousand,  raised  the  siege  on  his 
approach  :  he  retired  to  Dieppe,  where 
he  had  already  placed  a  small  garrison, 
and  wrote  to  Longueville  and  D'Aumont 
to  join  him  with  their  forces. 

Fortunately  for  Henry  IV.  the  Duke  of 


*  Hist,  du  parlement  de  Paris,  ch.  32.  De  Thou,  liv. 

97. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  97. 

t  Hist,  des  Derttiers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 
••  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii,  p.  26. 
j  24  August,  1589. 

IT  Davila,  liv.  10.  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  257.  Due  d'An- 
gouleine,  p.  35. 


BATTLE  OF  ARQUES. 


253 


Mayenne  had  lost  considerable  time  in 
going  to  a  conference  with  the  Duke  ofPar- 
ma;  for  if  he  had  attacked  the  king  at  once, 
the  triumph  of  the  league  would  have 
been  secured.  Even  afterwards  he  em- 
ployed himself  too  long  in  taking  a  num- 
ber of  small  towns  in  the  neighbourhood, 
in  order  to  deprive  the  king  of  all  chance 
of  making  his  escape  ;  and  so  confidently 
did  he  calculate  upon  a  victory,  that  he 
sent  information  to  Spain  of  the  Beatfiais 
being  shut  up  in  a  corner,  from  whence 
he  could  not  escape  except  by  sea* 
Henry's  friends  were  very  much  con- 
cerned for  his  personal  safety ;  and  as 
every  one  expressed  his  opinions,  and 
thereby  excited  alarms,  the  king  decided 
on  taking  some  resolution  which  should 
put  an  end  to  their  uncertainty. 

A  council  of  war  was  held  on  the  5th 
of  September:  several  persons  recom- 
mended that  detachments  should  be  left 
in  the  places  they  held,  sufficient  to  pre- 
serve them  until  the  arrival  of  reinforce- 
ments; and  that  the  king  should  embark 
for  England  or  Rochelle,  a  measure  which 
would  at  once  provide  for  his  personal 
safety,  and  enable  him  to  negotiate  for 
assistance  from  abroad.  Biron's  energetic 
appeal  to  his  honour  and  character,  pre- 
served him  from  yielding  to  such  advice; 
that  nobleman  convinced  him  that  if  he 
quitted  the  soil  of  France,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  he  could  ever  return  ;  and  that 
if  he  placed  his  hopes  on  any  thing  short 
of  the  courage  and  resolution  of  his  fol- 
lowers, he  would  assuredly  lose  his  crown. 
Henry  then  decided  on  making  a  stand 
against  the  league ;  but  as  it  might  be 
extremely  inconvenient  for  his  cause  if  he 
were  blockaded  in  Dieppe,  he  took  his 
post  at  the  Castle  of  Arques,  about  a 
league  distant ;  and  as  Mayenne's  army 
had  been  joined  by  the  forces  at  Rouen 
under  the  Duke  of  Aumale,  no  exertions 
were  deemed  too  great  in  making 
trenches,  redoubts,  and  other  kinds  of  de- 
fences.! 

The  Duke  of  Mayenne  arrived  on  the 
evening  of  the  15th  of  September,  and 
took  up  his  quarters  at  a  small  village 
called  Martin  Eglise.t  separated  from 
Arques  by  the  river  Bethune.  Finding 

*  Davila,  liv.  10.  Perefixe,  liv.  2.  Mem.  de  Nevers 
vol.  ij.  p  93, 

t  Hist,  des  Derniera  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  10.  Cayet, 
liv.  1 .    Davila,  liv.  10.   Sully,  liv.  3. 
%  Or  Marunglise. 

22 


the  king's  position  very  strong  on  that 
side,  he  suddenly  attacked  the  suburb  of 
Dieppe,  called  Polet,  the  following  day. 
Chatillon  was  posted  there,  and  made  a" 
successful  sortie,  which  threw  the  assail- 
ants into  confusion.  Marshal  Biron  then 
came  to  his  assistance,  and  completely  de- 
feated them,  pursuing  them  into  the  vil- 
lage of  Martin  Eglise.* 

Every  day  produced  skirmishes  and 
attacks,  but  most  of  them  were  of  no  im- 
portance. It  was  believed  at  the  time 
that  there  was  a  division  in  the  councils 
of  the  league  ;f  their  leaders  were  so  con- 
fident of  success,  that  they  made  pre- 
mature arrangements  for  the  division  of 
the  spoil ;  and  the  distribution  of  the  va- 
rious governments  and  charges  created 
disputes  among  them,  which  were  with 
difficulty  appeased,  and  a  delay  naturally 
arose  in  their  operations.  At  length,  on 
the  evening  of  the  20th,  orders  were  given 
to  pass  the  river  after  midnight,  and  at- 
tack before  dawn  the  king's  forces  posted 
at  a  place  called  La  Maladerie,  by  taking 
which  post  there  would  be  a  greater  pro- 
bability of  attacking  Arques  with  success. 
Notwithstanding  the  superiority  of  their 
numbers,  and  the  violence  of  their  attack, 
they  were  repulsed  with  great  loss,  and 
found  themselves  immediately  attacked  on 
three  points,  by  the  king  in  person,  by 
Biron,  and  by  Chatillon. { 

Finding  it  impossible  to  gain  the  place 
by  force,  treachery  was  used.  There 
were  German  soldiers  in  each  army,  and 
those  in  the  king's  service  were  employed 
at  that  very  post.  Their  countrymen 
approached  the  trenches,  and,  on  calling 
out  that  they  wished  to  join  the  king,  were 
assisted  in  getting  into  the  fort.  They 
were  readily  believed  in  their  declarations, 
as  a  report  had  been  circulated  that  they 
wished  for  an  opportunity  to  abandon  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne,  who  did  not  pay  them. 
No  sooner,  however,  were  they  in  the  fort 
than  they  attacked  the  king's  troops. 
Biron  advanced  to  learn  the  cause  of  the 
disorder  he  observed  :  he  was  pulled  from 
his  horse  and  nearly  killed.  The  king 
also  was  engaged  in  the  conflict  almost 
alone  ;§  and  if  Mayenne  had  been  alert  at 


♦  Davila,  liv.  10.    Malhieu,  Hist,  des  guerres  cntrelcs 
maisons  de  France  et  d'Espagne,  p.  23.    Paris,  1000. 
t  Peierixe,  liv.  2. 

t  Malhieu. — Hist,  des  guerres.  &.C.,  p.  24. 
}  A  captain  of  the  Lansquenets  insolently  called  out 
to  the  king  to  surrender;  and  was  making  a  thrust  at 


254 


HENRY  BEFORE  PARIS. 


that  moment,  he  would  have  carried  all 
before  him.  When  Henry  found  himself 
struggling  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies  he 
considered  his  cause  lost,  but  persevered 
in  trying  to  rally  his  men,  who  fled  in 
every  direction.  At  last,  in  a  tone  of  de- 
spair, he  exclaimed,  "What!  are  there 
not  in  all  France  fifty  gentlemen  who 
have  resolution  enough  to  die  with  their 
king  V  Chatillon  was  then  pressing  for- 
ward to  assist  him  with  five  hundred  mus- 
keteers: he  was  .sufficiently  near  to  hear 
the  king's  appeal,  and  immediately  an- 
swered, "  Courage,  sire  !  Here  we  are, 
ready  to  die  with  you."  They  immediately 
attacked  the  treacherous  Lansquenets,  and 
drove  them  out  of  the  fort.  Night  coming 
on,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  found  he  could 
expect  to  gain  no  advantage,  and  retired 
with  his  men  into  his  own  lines,  the  king 
remaining  master  of  the  field  of  battle.* 

Several  other  attacks  were  made  both 
on  Arques  and  on  Dieppe,  but  without 
success.  In  the  mean  time  the  arrival  of 
the  Duke  of  Longueville  and  Marshal 
d'Aumont  reinforced  the  royal  army,  and 
five  thousand  men  having  been  sent  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  with  a  supply  of  ammu- 
nition, and  a  considerable  sum  of  money .t 
Mayenne  abandoned  his  design,  and 
marched  his  army  into  Picardy.  Nothing 
could  be  more  complete  than  his  disgrace, 
for  the  accounts  he  had  forwarded  to 
Paris  were  of  the  most  boasting  kind  ; 
and  the  Lansquenets  in  their  treacherous 
attack,  having  obtained  four  or  five  stand- 
ards, he  sent  them  to  the  Duchess  of  Mont- 
pensier.  She  had  a  dozen  others  made,  and 
they  were  paraded  through  the  city,  while 
a  bulletin  was  distributed,  stating  that  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne  blockaded  theBearnais 
by  land,  and  the  Duke  of  Aumale  by  sea; 
and  that  the  latter  had  defeated  the  Eng- 
lish fleet,  and  that  no  chance  remained  of 
Henry's  escape.  Couriers  brought  ac- 
counts of  his  having  offered  to  surrender 
provided  his  life  were  spared,  and  they 
announced  that  he  would  be  brought  cap- 
tive to  Paris,  to  grace  Mayenne's  trium- 
phal entry.+ 

After  such  exertions  the  king's  army  re- 


liim  with  his  sword,  when  La  Force  and  d'Angnuleme 
arrived  to  his  assistance. — Mem.  du  Due  d'Jlngouleme,  p. 
69. 

*  Pavila,  Matliieu,  Cayet,  and  others. 

f  Sir  E.  Stafford  arrived  with  tins  reinforcement  the 
23d  Sept. — Mem.  du  Due  d^AvgouUmc,  p.  73. 

%  Davila,  liv.  )0.  Cayet,  liv.  J,  p.  270.  De  Thou,  liv. 
97.  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


quired  repose,  and  both  officers  and  men 
were  in  great  want  of  many  things  for 
their  private  equipments  as  well  as  for 
service,  particularly  harness,  as  their  own 
was  nearly  destroyed  by  continued  rains 
and  violent  use.  The  spoils  of  the  routed 
army  afforded  them  a  good  supply,  and 
on  the  19th  of  October  the  king  set  out 
for  Paris  by  easy  marches.  The  royal 
army  at  this  time  was  increased  to  twenty 
thousand  infantry,  three  thousand  cavalry, 
and  fourteen  heavy  guns.  This  force 
arrived  within  a  league  of  Paris  on  the 
evening  of  the  31st  of  October,  and  was 
placed  in  the  villages  of  Issy,  Vaugirard, 
and  Montrouge;  the  king  being  resolved 
to  attack  the  suburbs  of  Paris  the  next 
morning.* 

As  the  people  had  been  deceived  by 
the  false  boastings  of  the  Sixteen  and  the 
Duchess  of  Montpensier,  they  were  by  no 
means  prepared  for  such  an  attack ;  the 
defence  which  was  made  on  the  occasion 
is  therefore  surprising.  But  the  council 
of  the  league  being  informed  of  the  king's 
approach,  called  upon  the  people  to  take 
arms,  which  every  one  did,  not  excepting 
the  clergy ;  and  they  were  soon  in  the 
same  position  as  when  the  late  king  was 
preparing  to  attack  them  three  months 
before.  Henry  divided  his  infantry  into 
three  bodies.  Biron  with  one  of  them  at- 
tacked the  faubourgs  St.  Victor  and  St. 
Marcel ;  D'Aumont  and  Thore,  with  an- 
other division,  the  faubourgs  St.  Jacques, 
and  St.  Michel;  Chatillon  and  La  Noue, 
that  of  St.  Germain.  The  cavalry  and 
artillery  were  divided  in  the  same  manner, 
to  support  each  body  of  infantry.  On  the 
signal  being  given,  the  faubourgs  were 
simultaneously  attacked:  the  assailants 
were  aided  by  a  thick  fog,  and  in  less 
than  an  hour,  they  were  masters  of  that 
part  of  Paris.f  If  the  king's  cannon  had 
been  brought  up  in  time,  the  city  itself 
might  have  been  taken ;  but  a  slowness 
in  the  movements  of  those  who  super- 
intended that  service  gave  the  citizens 
time  to  barricade  the  gates  so  well,  that 
the  idea  of  forcing  them  was  abandoned 
for  the  time.  In  this  attack  the  Parisians 
had  above  nine  hundred  persons  killed, 
and  four  hundred  were  made  prisoners. 
Chatillon  at  first  committed  great  havoc 
among  them,  being  spurred  on  by  a  wish 


*  Cajet,  liv.  1,  p.  270.  t  Ibid. p.  271. 


SUCCESSES  OF  THE  KING. 


255 


to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  father;  but 
the  king  gave  orders  to  desist  from  such 
proceedings,  and  in  less  than  two  hours 
the  place  was  as  tranquil  as  if  nothing  had 
occurred.*  The  festival  of  All  Saints  was 
uninterrupted;  and  the  Catholic  soldiers 
of  the  royal  army  assisted  at  mass  in  the 
churches. f  A  Piedmontese,  named  St. 
Severin,  was  the  most  remarkable  among 
those  who  made  a  vigorous  resistance. 
Supposing  the  assailants  would  be  occu- 
pied with  pilJage.f  he  sallied  from  the  city 
with  three  hundred  men,  and  threw  Cha- 
tillon's  party  into  confusion.  St.  Severin 
was  actively  pursuing  his  success,  when  he 
was  killed  by  a  musket  ball;  his  death 
dispirited  his  followers,  and  they  were 
almost  all  killed. 5 

In  the  mean  time  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
arrived  in  Paris ;  he  had  heard  of  the  di- 
rection taken  by  the  king's  army,  and 
changed  his  course  to  come  up  with  him. 
Henry  had  given  orders  to  destroy  the 
bridge  of  St.  Maixent  after  his  army  had 
passed,  in  order  to  arrest  Mayenne's  pro- 
gress; that  order  had  not  been  executed, 
and  the  army  of  the  league  arrived  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  1st  of  November.!!  The 
king  had  decided  on  attacking  the  city, 
but  that  event  compelled  him  to  change 
his  plan.  In  a  letter  to  Duplessis-Mornay 
he  writes,  "since  it  has  pleased  God  to  fa- 
vour me  in  this  enterprise,  I  have  deter- 
mined to  follow  it  up,  and  attack  my  said 
city,  which  I  hope  to  bring  back  to  obe- 
dience, unless  the  army  of  my  enemies,  or 
a  part  of  their  forces  enter  the  city  within 
three  days."  The  letter  contained  the 
following  postcript:  "While  signing  this 
letter,  I  am  informed  that  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne  has  just  arrived  in  the  city  with 
his  army;  so  that  being  no  longer  able  to 
force  the  city  and  the  army  together,  I  am 
resolved  to  wait  here  till  to-morrow  to  see 
what  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  will  try  to  do, 
and  the  day  after  I  will  retire  in  his  sight, 
to  see  if  he  will  undertake  what  hitherto 
he  has  not  dared  to  do.""F 

Henry  waited  accordingly  the  following 


*  Le  Grain,  liv.  5.  p.  198. 
t  Dftvila,  liv  10. 

I  The  royalists  certainly  made  a  great  booty  on  this 
occasion.  Sully  mentions  that  In;  gained  3.000  crowns, 
ami  Uavila  observes,  that  from  the  plunder  l  urmic  recut 
un  mervalleur  secours,  et  en  fat  fort  soulngee. 

i  DMnbtgne,  vol.  iii.  p.  224. 

ti  -sully,  i iv.  J.  De  Thou,  hv.  97.  Mem. de  Ta valines, 
p.  -.'0 1 . 

If  Mem.de  Duplessis,  vol.  II.  p.  39.  The  dale  of  this 
letter  has  unaccountably  been  changed  tu  the  llth,  and 
it  is  placed  accordingly. 


day  in  expectation  of  an  attack,  and  on 
the  third  he  resolved  to  abandon  the  fau- 
bourgs: still  he  waited  in  the  sight  of  the 
town,  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  ready 
to  engage  Mayenne  if  he  would  come  out. 
The  league  would  not  accept  the  challenge, 
and  the  king  set  out  for  Tours,  where  he 
had  promised  to  hold  a  meeting  of  the 
states-general.* 

Among  those  who  were  made  prisoners 
in  the  attack  on  the  suburbs  was  Bur- 
going,  prior  of  the  Dominicans :  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  defence  with  other 
monks,  who  like  him  had  taken  the  sword 
and  cuirass.  He  was  sent  to  Tours,  where 
some  time  afterwards  he  was  condemned 
to  the  punishment  of  regicides.t  He  suf- 
fered death  with  constancy,,  and  declared, 
when  exhorted  to  confess  his  crime,  "He 
had  done  all  that  he  could,  but  not  all  that 
he  would  have  done."|  His  portrait  was 
placed  anions  the  Dominican  martyrs,  in 
a  church  at  Valladolid  belonging  to  that 
order.§  A  wealthy  citizen  of  Paris,  named 
Charpentier,  a  member  of  the  council  of 
the  league,  also  fell  into  the  king's  hands. 
His  friends  in  the  city  immediately  ar- 
rested, among  others,  a  person  named 
Blanchet,  a  suspected  royalist,  and  declared 
that  his  life  should  answer  for  Charpen- 
tier's  safety.  An  exchange  had  been  ar- 
ranged :  Charpentier  had  paid  a  sum 
agreed  upon  for  his  ransom,  and  was  pre- 
paring to  return  to  Paris.  At  the  moment 
he  was  leaving,  Biron  heard  that  Blanchet 
had  been  put  to  death  to  gratify  the  popu- 
lace :||  the  marshal  instantly  went  to  the 
king,  and  insisted  on  avenging  such  a 
crime,  for  otherwise  he  would  be  deserted 
by  his  followers.  Charpentier,  in  conse- 
quence, was  ordered  to  be  hanged.1T 

The  president  Potier  de  Blancmesnil 
was  likewise  in  great  danger,  for  he  was 
suspected  of  having  sent  a  communication 
to  the  king,  that  when  he  arrived  before 
Paris,  the  royalists  would  co-operate  from 
within.  The  Sixteen  immediately  put  him 
on  his  trial,  and  were  unanimous  in  sen- 
tencing him  to  death.  The  Duke  of  May- 
enne arrived  at  the  important  moment: 
having  a  great  respect  for  that  magistratef 


*  Davila,  liv.  10. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.    According  to  De  Thou,  liv. 
98,  he  was  executed  in  February,  lo90. 
t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  228. 
<t  Journal  de  Henri  lit. 

||  20 1 h  Nov.,  15H9.  According  to  the  Journal  de  Henri 
IV. 

If  Cayet,  liv.  I,  p.  273.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  225. 


256 


HENRY  IV.  TAKES  VENDOME. 


lie  released  him  from  his  dreadful  position, 
at  the  request  of  De  Gevre  the  president's 
brother,  and  afterwards  allowed  him  to 
quit  Paris  and  join  the  king.* 


CHAPTER  XL1V. 


Henry  IV.  lakes  Vendome — Is  ar know ledged  hy  the 
senate  of  Venice — Sieges  of  Falaise  anil  Honfieur — 
Arrival  of  1  lie  Legate  Cajctan— D.fence  of  Meulan. 


When  the  king  left  Paris,  in  his  way  to 
Tours,  he  took  Estampes,  Joinville  and 
Vendome.  There  was  some  resistance 
at  the  latter  place:  after  making  a  consi- 
derable breach  with  the  cannon,  Chatillon 
and  the  Baron  de  Biront  entered  with  a 
few  soldiers,  sword  in  hand.  The  defence 
of  the  place  provoked  the  victors  to  pil- 
lage; and  as  VendGme  was  the  particular 
patrimony  of  the  Bourbon  family,  the  king 
was  more  angry  at  its  revolt.  However, 
he  proclaimed  a  pardon  for  all,  with  the 
exception  of  Benehard,  the  governor,  \vho 
had  given  up  the  place  to  the  League,  and 
C'hesse,  a  monk,  who  by  his  sermons  had 
excited  the  people  to  take  arms.  C'hesse 
was  hanged:  he  went  to  execution  with 
all  the  courage  which  fanaticism  could  im- 
part. Benehard  was  beheaded,  but  he 
displayed  great  weakness:'  he  threw  him- 
self at  Biron's  feet,  and  with  tears  im- 
plored his  life.  The  marshal  repulsed  him 
with  scorn,  saying  that  he  neither  knew 
how  to  defend  himself,  nor  to  surrender.! 

Henry  arrived  at  Tours  on  the  21st  of 
November,  when  he  was  welcomed  with 
transports  of  joy.  The  same  evening  he 
received  the  homage  of  the  Cardinals  of 
Vendome  and  Lenoncourt,  and  the  next 
day  he  had  visits  from  the  parliament,  the 
different  courts,  and  the  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical authorities,  who  congratulated  him 
upon  the  success  of  his  arms.Q  John  Mo- 
cenigo,  the  Venetian  ambassador,  also  pre- 
sented a  letter,  by  which  the  senate  ac- 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  Le  Grain,  liv.  5.  Whether 
this  event  took  place  immediately  or  some  months  After- 
wards, is  of  no  great  importance;  anil  it  is  probably  the 
admitted  correctness  of  trie  fact  itself,  which  has  caused 
it  to  remain  undiscussed.  The  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
states,  thai  he  was  anesied  on  the  3d  of  November ; 
hut  Vilieroy  (vol.  i.  p.  184)  mentions  the  arrest  of  the 
president  as  a  circumstance  that  prevented  Ins  leaving 
I'aris,  after  the  arrival  of  the  legate  Cajetan,  at  the  end 
of  Januaiy,  15U0. 

t  Charles  de  Gontant  Biron,  son  of  the  Marshal ;  the 
same  who  was  Sebeaded  in  lf>02. 

1  Hist,  des  Demiers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  13.  Davila, 
liv.  11).   Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  2?U.   De  Thou,  liv.97. 

§  Hist,  des  Verniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 


knowledged  him  to  be  King  of  France, 
apologized  for  their  delay  in  sending  the 
customary  letter  of  congratulation,  and 
ordered  their  minister  to  continue  his  func- 
tions at  the  court  of  Henry  IV.*  This 
proceeding  of  the  Venetians  was  import- 
ant to  the  royal  cause,  as  it  influenced 
many  other  powers.  The  senate  had 
early  decided  on  assisting  the  king  against 
the  league,  but  the  influence  of  the  pope 
and  the  King  of  Spain  had  been  exerted 
to  prevent  that  body  from  coming  to  such 
a  resolution.  It  was  debated  for  two  days, 
whether  the  republic  should  at  once  ac- 
knowledge Henry,  or  wait  till  other  pow- 
ers had  done  so.  When  the  decision  was 
made  known,  the  people  were  tumultuous 
in  their  joy,  and  some  resolved  on  joining 
the  king's  army.  The  inquisitors  imme- 
diately proceeded  against  such  persons  as 
encourageis  of  heretics,  and  insolently  in- 
cluded the  doge  in  their  accusation.  The 
nuncio  and  the  Spanish  ambassador  loudly 
complained  of  the  recognition  of  Henry's 
title,  in  contravention  of  the  declaration 
made  by  the  pope  and  the  cardinals.  To 
which  the  senate  replied,  "  That  the  repub- 
lic had  nothing  to  do  with  matters  of  faith, 
but  that  they  acknowledged  Henry  of 
Bourbon  to  be  the  lawful  successor  to  the 
crown  of  France,  which  no  one  could 
deny."  After  protesting  against  the  de- 
claration of  the  senate,  the  nuncio  quitted 
Venice :  the  republic,  however,  was  at  that 
time  too  flourishing  to  be  controlled  by 
the  Pontiff,  and  to  show  their  resentment, 
the  senate  put  the  inquisitors  into  prison.t 
The  public  at  the  same  time  felt  so  indig- 
nant at  the  late  king's  assassination,  that 
two  Dominicans,  being  out  of  their  con- 
vent one  evening,  were  seized  and  ill- 
treated  ;  one  of  them  was  thrown  into  the 
canal,  and  was  nearly  drowned,  and  when 
they  complained  to  the  senate  on  the  sub- 
ject they  could  get  no  redress,  being  told 
that  monks  had  no  business  to  be  out  in 
the  evenings. \ 

Jerome  Matteucci  was  nuncio  at  the 
time :  he  thought  that  the  pope  would  be 
highly  gratified  by  his  zeal  for  the  holy 
See:  but  he  was  not  aware  of  the  charac- 
ter of  Sixtus,  who  told  him,  on  his  arrival, 
to  take  the  same  horses  that  had  brought 


*  Cayet, liv.  l.p.295.    De  Thou,  liv  97 
t  Davila,  liv.  10.   Lcti,  lib.  10.  Daru,  llUl.de  denies, 
liv.  23. 
I  De  Thou,  liv  07,  p.  CO. 


» 


HENRY   ACKNOWLEDGED  BY  THE  VENETIAN  SENATE.  257 


him,  and  return  immediately  to  Venice.*  from  this  momentary  success  was  dissi- 


The  fact  was,  that  although  Sixtus  was 
obliged  to  oppose  Henry  IV.  as  a  heretic, 
he  had,  nevertheless,  a  strong  feeling  in 
his  favour;  he  admired  his  boldness,  and 
wished  him  to  become  a  Catholic,  more 
for  the  sake  of  being  able  to  acknowledge 


pated  by  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Falaise, 
which  was  defended  by  the  Count  de 
Brissac.  He  had  boasted  that  he  would 
soon  check  the  king's  progress  in  Nor- 
mandy; and  when  summoned  to  surren- 
der, he  replied,  that  he  had  made  a  vow 


him,  than  for  any  other  reason.    Besides  not  to  talk  of  capitulation  for  six  months, 

which,  the  Spanish  influence  at  Rome  had  The  king's  artillery  made  him  change  his 

become  sooverbearing,  that  Sixtus  wished  tone,  and  in  a  few  days  he  surrendered  at 

to  strengthen  the  other  powers  as  a  sort  discretion.    He  was  made  prisoner  with 


of  counterpoise:  this  caused  it  to  be  ru- 
moured that  he  and  the  Venetian  senate 
were  acting  in  concert;  that 'Albert  Ba- 


flfteen  of  his  officers.* 

After  the  surrender  of  Falaise,  all  the 
other  towns  of  Lower  Normandy  opened 


doaro,  the  Venetian  ambassador  at  Rome,  their  gates  to  the  royalists,  with  the  excep- 
had  made  overtures  to  the  pope  respecting  tion  of  Honfleur,  situated  at  the  mouth  of 
the  recognition  of  Henry's  title,  before  the  the  Seine,  and  defended  by  a  strong  gar- 
republic  discussed  the  business,  and  that  rison.  But  the  prospect  of  an  obstinate 
it  was  his  communication  of  the  Pontiff's  siege  did  not  discourage  the  king,  whose 
secret  information  which  completely  de-  affairs  had  taken  a  most  fortunate  turn, 
cided  the  senate .t  All  his  enterprises  succeeded,  and  there 
The  day  after  the  king's  arrival  at! appeared  a  great  probability  of  the  Holy 
Tours,  he  called  together  the  nobles  and  Union  being  speedily  suppressed.  Unfor- 
deputies  who  had  gone  there  to  assist  at  tunately  Henry  was  in  want  of  money;  he 
the  states-general.  He  expressed  his  deep  could  not  keep  his  forces  together,  and 
regret  at  the  renewal  of  the  war  rendering  when  plunder  was  scarce,  his  men  would 


a  postponement  necessary,  he  trusted  they 
would  approve  of  his  adjourning  the  as- 


eave  the  army  in  great  numbers  to  go 
home.f    This  impeded  his  operations. 


sembly  till  the  month  of  March,  by  which  '  and  protracted  the  war  for  several  years. 


time  he  was  in  hopes  he  should  restore 
tranquillity  to  the  country.]:  He  quitted 
Tours  after  a  stay  of  only  five  days,  and 
commenced  a  series  of  operations,  which 
were  very  successful.  He  took  Mans, 
Alencon,  Falaise,  and  other  towns,  and 
completely  destroyed  the  communications 
of  the  league,  in  several  directions.  His 


Honfleur  being  a  place  of  considerable 
importance  was  confided  to  a  commander 
on  whom  the  league  placed  great depend- 
ance;  it  was  Gerard  Berton,  a  knight  of 
Malta,  and  brother  of  the  brave  Crillon. 
He  was  reputed  to  be  inferior  in  military 
prowess  to  none  but  his  brother,  who  had 
used  every  persuasion  to  detach  him  from 


activity  was  remarkable  ;  in  less  than  two,  the  league,  but  in  vain.  The  king  was  so 
months  he  attacked  the  suburbs  of  Paris,  anxious  to  gain  him  to  his  cause  that  he 
besieged  five  or  six  considerable  places,'  offered  him  a  marshal's  baton,  which  was 

refused.  His  lieutenant  was  a  priest 
named  Truville,  a  Provencal,  who  added 
ureal  military  tact  to  a  violent  enthusiasm. 
Such  leaders  could  not  fail  of  exciting  a 
bold  spirit  among  their  followers,  and  the 
town  was  extremely  well  defended.  A 
cannon  ball  having  killed  Truville,  the 
garrison  became  a  little  disheartened;  and 
the  bursting  of  four  of  their  principal  guns 
about  the  same  time  crippled  their  means 
of  defence;  but  Berton  preserved  a  cheer- 
ful countenance,  and  encouraged  his  men 
with  the  hope  of  assistance  being  speedily 
sent  to  them.     When  that  expectation 


took  possession  of  fourteen  towns,  and 
expelled  the  enemy  from  Anjou,  Maine, 
Vendome  and  Touraine  ;  and  this  was  ef- 
fected with  an  army  strangely  composed  ; 
it  consisted  of  Swiss,  Germans,  and  many 
rustics  who  had  never  known  military 
discipline  :  his  progress  at  the  same  time 
being  impeded  by  a  cumbersome  train  of 
artillery  and  bairgage.§ 

Mayenne  took  advantage  of  the  king's 
distant  occupation  to  seize  Vincennes  and 
Pontoise.||    But  the  joy  which  was  derived 


*  Leti,  lib.  10. 
t  i  i .  lib.  10. 
t  Uavila,  liv.  10. 

9  Mern.  de  Dupleesis,  vol.  ii.  p.  41.   Hist,  des  Derniers 
Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p  14.    Davila,  liv.  10. 
I  Sully,  liv.  3.  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  205. 


*  Davila,  liv.  10.  at  the  end.    De  Thou,  iiv.97.  Hist, 
des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 
t  Perefii'i,  liv.  2. 

22* 


258 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE   LEGATE  CAJETAN. 


could  no  longer  be  kept  up  he  capitulated:  I  was  indispensable;  and  that  if  he  refused 


it  was  agreed  that  the  town  should  surren- 
der to  the  king  if  no  assistance  arrived 
within  four  days;  nothing  came  during 
that  time,  and  it  was  given  up  on  the 
twenty-first  of  January,  1590.* 

While  Henry  IV.  was  pursuing  his 
fortune  in  the  field,  his  parliament  at 
Tours  made  preparations  for  the  states- 
general  to  be  held  in  March.  Achille 
de  Harlay  had  been  liberated  from  the 
Bastille,  in  consideration  of  a  large  ran- 


they  might  be  obliged  to  come  to  terms 
with  the  King  of  Navarre.  The  pope 
consented  to  send  a  legate  to  Paris,  and 
chose  for  that  purpose  the  Cardinal  Caje- 
tan,  a  Spaniard,  who  was  to  be  accom- 
panied by  a  suite  of  prelates  and  theolo- 
gians, among  whom  was  Bellarmine,  a  Je- 
suit, celebrated  for  his  violence  in  contro- 
versy. The  legate  was  provided  also  with 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  forward- 
ing the  purposes  of  his  mission;  but  Sixtus 


som,  and  exercised  the  functions  of  chief  had  scarcely  made  his  arrangements  when 
president.  At  the  same  time  the  coun-  j  the  Duke  of  Luxemburg  arrived  on  the  be- 
cil  of  the  league  issued  orders  for  an  as-  half  of  the  royalist  Catholics.  That  no- 
sembly  of  the  states  to  be  held  at  Melun  ibleman  explained  to  his  holiness  the  rea- 
in  February. t  Some  changes  had  oc- 'sons  which  had  influenced  the  body  he 
curred  in  the  composition  of  the  revolted  represented  in  recognising  the  king's 
administration:  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons 'right  to  the  crown;  and  applied  to  him, 
bad  obtained  his  liberty  by  bribing  Du  as  the  common  father  of  all  Christians, 
Guast,  who  had  charge  of  him;  he  Was  I  for  the  means  of  establishing  peace 
appointed  chancellor;  and  Vflleroy  and  among  his  children.  Sixtus  plainly  saw 
Jeannin  were  introduced  into  the  cabinet  j  that  the  accounts  he  had  received  from 
to  counteract  the  Spanish  influence.^  the  League  were  false;  he  behaved  with 
Brisson,  who  was  the  chief  president  unusual  affability  to  the  Duke  of  Luxem- 
of  the  parliament,  was  considered  a  burg,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  royalist 
guarantee  for  the  co-operation  of  that  Catholics,  exhorting  them  to  remain  firm 
body.  The  Duke  of  Mayenne  then  de-!in  their  religion,  declaring  that  he  had  no 
clared  that,  being  appointed  lieutenant-  other  interest  than  to  see  on  the  throne  of 
general  of  the  crown  by  a  king  dulv  re-  France  a  king  who  professed  the  same 
cognised,  be  could  only  be  advised  by  a  faith  as  his  predecessors;  and  stating  that 
council  of  his  own  appointment:  and i  in  jit  was  indifferent  to  him  upon  whom  their 
consequence  dissolved  the  council  of  the 'choice  fell,  provided  it  was  not  a  heretic, 
Union.  By  this  measure  the  Sixteen  j  whom  he  could  not  consider  a  child  of 
■were  stripped  of  their  authority,  and  the  the  church.  With  that  exception  they 
Spanish  Ambassador  was  deprived  of  the  might  name  whom  they  pleased,  and  he 
aid  of  a  body  entirely  devoted  to  him. 5      wished  them  every  happiness  and  pros- 

Both  the  league  and  the  royalists  en-  perity.* 
deavoured  to  win  over  the  pope  to  their  The  agents  of  the  le.  gue  wished  to 
cause;  but  the  leaguers  had  been  more  persuade  the  pope  that  what  he  had 
expeditious  than  their  opponents.  They  heard  was  only  an  artifice  of  the  King  of 
had  sent  an  agent  to  Rome  immediately  Navarre  to  abate  his  zeal  and  gain  time; 
after  the  death  of  Henry  III.:  he  repre-  while  Sixtus,  to  be  freed  from  their  im- 
sented  that  the  Holy  Union  had  resolved  portunities,  ordered  the  legate  to  set  out 
on  having  no  other  person  for  king  than  for  France,  but  with  instructions  very 
the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  and  in  whose  different  from  those  he  had  given  at  first: 


behalf  they  would  spare  no  exertions; 
adding,  that  the  whole  noblesse  of  the 
country  was  with  them.  As  a  farther 
motive  to  decide  the  pontiff,  they  told 
him  that  to  preserve  the  ascendency  in 
the  minds  of  the  nation,  his  assistance 


instead  of  exerting  himself  to  place  on 
the  throne  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  he 
was  now  to  aim  at  the  election  of  a  Ca- 
tholic who  might  be  agreeable  to  the 
whole  nation;  and  he  was  to  try  to  bring 
back  to  the  church  all  who  had  declared 

  against  it.    Sixtus  particularly  enjoined 

him  not  to  declare  openly  against  the 
«t^aye,,liV"2,P'3'8'  ViedeC"P!on-  ™'-"-PP-84,  King  of  Navarre,  so  long  as  his  conver- 

I  Davila,  liv.  11.    Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  95. 


}  Davila,  liv.  11.  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  leO. 
$  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  OtlU. 


Davila,  liv.  11.   Leti,  liv.  10. 


CONDUCT  OF 

sion  was  possible;  and  that  he  should 
publicly  support  his  cause  immediately 
that  event  appeared  probable.  The  pope's 
commands  were  backed  by  the  advice  of 
Cardinal  Morosini,  the  grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  and  the  Duke  of  Nevers;  but 
the  legate  fancied  that  Morosini  was  en- 
vious of  his  appointment,  and  the  persons 
who  accompanied  him  created  suspicions 
of  the  other  advisers.  On  his  arrival  at 
Turin,  his  vanity  was  so  inflamed  by  the 
obsequious  behaviour  of  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
roy,  who  paid  him  great  respect,  in  hopes 
of  obtaining  support  in  his  claim  to  the 
crown,  that  he  forgot  he  was  only  a  re- 
presentative, and  assumed  the  title  of  a 
reigning  prince* 

The  legate,  however,  had  no  sooner 
set  foot  upon  the  soil  of  France  than  his 
haughty  notions  sustained  a  great  morti- 
fication. Supposing  every  thing  would 
bend  to  his  authority,  he  sent  a  message 
to  Alphonso  Ornano,  who  commanded  in 
that  part,  to  desist  from  troubling  Greno- 
ble and  Valence,  which  still  belonged  to 
the  league,  and  called  upon  him  to  aban- 
don the  king's  party  and  join  the  Union. 
That  officer  replied  in  a  style  which  dis- 
pleased the  legate,  whose  disappointment 
was  increased  when  he  arrived  at  Lyons, 
and  found  the  affairs  of  the  league  in  very 
great  confusion  ;  for  the  king  had  issued 
a  manifesto,  stating,  that  if  the  legate 
came  to  him,  he  was  to  be  treated  with 
every  respect;  but  that  if  he  joined  the 
league,  he  was  to  be  treated  as  an  ene- 
my.t  The  royalist  captains  in  conse- 
quence scoured  the  country,  and  attacked 
the  legate's  escort.  He,  finding  he  could 
expect  no  assistance  from  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  applied  to  the  Duke  of  Lorrain, 
who  readily  sent  him  a  force  for  his  pro- 
tection ;  in  this  harassed  manner  he  made 
the  journey  to  Paris,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  twentieth  of  January.  He  was  there 
received  in  a  magnificent  manner,  lodged 
at  the  episcopal  palace,  and  treated  as  a 
sovereign.}:  The  inhabitants  were  under 
arms,  and  saluted  him  by  firing  their 
pieces.  The  legate  is  said  to  have  enter- 
tained fears  lest  any  of  the  people  who 
were  averse  to  his  mission  should  have 
loaded  their  muskets  with  ball,  and  made 
a  sign  for  them  to  leave  off;  but  they, 

*  Leti,  lib.  10. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  1,  p.  283. 

t  Davila,  liv.  11.  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


'  CAJETAN.  259 

supposing  he  was  blessing  them,  in- 
creased their  firing.* 

After  the  pope's  letterf  was  read  and 
registered  in  the  parliament,  a  declaration 
was  issued,  enjoining  obedience  to  the 
Holy  See,  and  deference  to  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  legate.  The  parlia- 
ment at  Tours  immediately  passed  a  de- 
cree, commanding  the  reverse.  A  num- 
ber of  letters  from  prelates,  decisions  of 
the  Sorbonne,  and  replies  to  each,  were 
then  circulated;  and  the  legate  perceived, 
when  it  was  too  late,  that  he  had  done 
wrong  in  not  remaining  neuter:  he  could 
then  have  acted  as  a  mediator,  but  now  he 
could  only  exert  himself  for  the  league, 
which  cause  appeared  to  be  rapidly 
hastening  to  dissolution.]: 

The  diversity  of  interests,  which  at 
this  time  distracted  the  councils  of  the 
league,  promoted  the  cause  of  Henry  IV. 
beyond  expectation.  Charles  X.  was 
looked  upon  by  all  as  a  phantom;  and 
each  party  made  exertions  for  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  vacancy  which  his  death 
would  present.  If  Mayenne  could  not 
have  the  crown  himself,  he  wished  natu- 
rally to  confer  it  on  some  one  who  should 
be  indebted  to  him  for  it,  and  whom  he 
could  afterwards  influence.  The  King 
of  Spain  pretended  that  his  daughter  was 
entitled  to  it  in  right  of  her  mother, 
Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  Henrv  II. 
This  was  the  strongest  party,  as  Men- 
doza,  Philip's  ambassador,  possessed 
great  influence  with  the  Sixteen,  and  the 
leading  members  of  the  League;  the  po- 
pulace of  Paris  was  also  devoted  to  him: 
he  had  made  liberal  distributions  of  pis- 
toles, and  amused  them  with  promises 
of  large  supplies  of  men  and  money. 

The  nobility  of  the  league  were  anx- 
ious to  have  a  prince  of  ihe  house  of 
Lorrain:  they  were  accustomed  to  serve 
under  chiefs  of  that  family,  and  supported 
the  claim  of  the  Duke  of  Lorrain,  in  be- 
half of  his  son,  the  Marquis  de  Pont, 
whose  mother,  Claude,  was  second 
daughter  of  Henry  II.  His  right  could  not 
be  admitted  without  allowing  the  supe- 
rior claim  of  Philip  II.;  but  he  was  a 
Frenchman  by  birth,  and  his  family  had 
rendered  such  important  service  to  the 
league,  that  many  weie  inclined  to  sup- 


*  I.e  Grain,  liv.  4,  p  173. 
t  Dated  15th  Oct.,  1589. 
t  Davila,  liv.  11. 


260 


CONDUCT  OF  CAJETAN. 


port  him.  The  Duke  of  Savoy  urged 
his  right  to  the  crown  on  the  ground  of 
descent,  his  mother  being  the  daughter 
of  Francis  I.  His  claim  could  not  be 
opposed  to  the  two  preceding;  and  al- 
though he  was  sure  of  the  pope's  sup- 
port, he  offered  to  resign  his  pretensions 
for  the  Marquisate  of  Saluces. 

Besides  these,  there  were  other  plans 
proposed:  if  the  Duke  of  Lorrain  could 
not  obtain  the  crown,  he  demanded  Metz, 
Toul,  and  Verdun,  and  the  duchy  of  Se- 
dan. The  Duke  of  Nemours  wished  to 
establish  an  independent  sovereignty  in 
the  Lyonnais,  and  the  Duke  of  Mercosur 
in  Brittany.*  The  proposal  for  dismem- 
bering the  kingdom  served  essentially  to 
increase  the  number  of  royalists,  who 
were  at  this  time  gaining  ground  rapidly, 
on  account  of  the  success  of  the  king's 
arms,  as  well  as  from  the  report  which 
was  circulated  of  his  serious  determi- 
nation to  abjure.  The  legate  being  a 
Spaniard,  was  more  inclined  to  support 
the  interest  of  that  country,  and  felt 
alarmed  at  the  advancement  of  the  royal 
cause.  He  made  great  efforts  to  support 
the  league,  and  to  prevent  any  accom- 
modation with  the  king,  even  if  he  be- 
came a  Catholic. t 

About  the  same  time  were  published 
certain  articles,  stated  to  have  been  agreed 
upon  between  the  king  and  Mayenne,  by 
the  medium  of  Villeroy  and  BiroVi.  The 
Marquis  of  Belin  had  been  taken  pri- 
soner at  Arques,  and  was  released  by  the 
king  on  his  parole:  he  had  been  the 
bearer  of  a  proposal  for  an  accommo- 
dation, which  Mayenne  had  rejected;  but 
as  it  was  known  that  such  a  proposal  had 
been  made,  the  legate  was  inclined  to  at- 
tach importance  to  the  publication. J  At 
all  events,  he  considered  it  best  to  adopt 
measures  of  precaution;  and  on  the  10th 
of  February  the  Sorbonne  published  a 
decree,  condemning  all  thought  of  the 
possibility  of  a  reconciliation  with  the 
king,  even  if  he  became  a  Catholic.  If 
any  one,  it  is  added,  refuses  to  obey  this 
decree,  the  faculty  declares  him  perni- 
cious to  the  church  of  God,  perjured  and 
disobedient  to  his  mother,  and  finally 
cuts  him  off  from  their  body,  as  a  rotten 
limb  which  would  contaminate  the  others. 
With  the  assistance  of  this  decree,  the 

*  Davila,  liv.  11. 

t  Mem.  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  iii. 

%  Davila,  liv.  11.   Villeroy,  vol.  i  p  1GB— 176. 


legate  called  upon  the  officers  of  the  city 
and  the  captains  of  the  quarters  to  take 
an  oath  publicly,  "  That  they  would  per- 
severe in  the  holy  union;  that  they  would 
never  make  peace  nor  treaty  with  the 
King  of  Navarre;  and  that  they  would 
employ  their  property  and  their  lives  for 
the  deliverance  of  their  king  Charles 
X."* 

When  the  legate  perceived  the  impos- 
sibility of  doing  any  thing  in  behalf  of  the 
captive  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  he  handed 
over  to  Mayenne  the  three  hundred 
thousand  crowns,  to  be  employed  as  he 
thought  best  in  the  service  of  the  league. 
The  duke  had  sent  a  force  to  besiege 
Meulan  directly  after  the  taking  of  Pon- 
toise;  but  the  place  being  strong,  the  as- 
sailants could  make  no  impression :  he 
therefore  insisted  upon  the  application  of 
the  money  to  strengthening  and  extend- 
ing his  means  of  operation.  He  then  left 
Paris  to  attack  Meulan  with  his  whole 
force,  being  determined  to  take  the  town, 
as  it  was  important  for  the  supply  of 
Paris  with  provisions.!  Sully  relates,  that 
when  the  league  took  Pontoise,  he  ex- 
pected Meulan  would  be  attacked,  and 
knowing  the  importance  of  the  place  to 
the  king's  cause,  did  every  thing  he  couJd 
devise  to  reinforce  the  garrison.  At  the 
same  time  he  sent  to  the  king  for  assist- 
ance. Upon  the  repetition  of  his  request, 
Henry  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  appears 
vexed  at  being  called  away  from  some 
plan  he  was  pursuing :  "  In  consequence 
of  your  importunity,  I  am  coming  to  help 
Meulan  :  if  any  inconvenience  arise,  I  shall 
always  reproach  you  with  it."  Fortu- 
nately there  was  nothing  disastrous  that 
arose  out  of  the  circumstance:  but  it  is 
almost  to  be  wondered  at  that  it  was  so; 
for,  instead  of  going  with  a  strong  force, 
the  king  left  his  army  at  Honfleur,  and 
took  with  him  only  a  small  squadron  for 
escort.  The  enemy,  being  informed  of 
his  march,  turned  towards  him,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  go  back  to  Verneuil. 
"  It  was  not  usual,"  says  Sully,  "for  this 
prince  to  retire  before  his  enemies,  and 
he  did  not  do  so  without  great  vexation. 
In  the  first  movements  of  his  anger  he 
accused  me  of  having  exposed  him  to  the 
affront,  having  cared  less  about  his  re- 
putation than  the  preservation  of  my 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
t  Davila,  liv.  11. 


HENRY  BEFORE  MEULAN. 


261 


estates  from  pillage.  It  was  easy  for  me 
to  justify  myself;  and  that  prince,  who 
understood  the  importance  of  such  a  place 
as  Meulan,  ordered  the  rest  of  his  army 
to  join  him,  which  had  the  effect  I  had  an- 
ticipated."* 

Henry's  army  arrived  before  Meulan 
in  order  of  battle,  on  the  21st  of  February. 
He  approached  on  the  side  which  was 
attacked  by  the  Sieur  de  Rone,  who  held 
an  important  command  in  the  army  of  the 
league:  that  officer,  finding  his  force  in- 
adequate to  the  resistance  of  the  royal 
army,  crossed  the  river  in  some  boats  he 
had  ready,  and  joined  the  Duke  of  May- 
enne.  The  king  immediately  entered  the 
town,  complimented  the  garrison  on  the 
defence  they  had  made,  and  left  with 
them  a  reinforcement  of  three  hundred 
Swiss  and  two  hundred  musketeers.t 
While  Henry  was  in  Meulan,  he  wished 
to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  the  enemy, 
and  went  with  several  persons  up  the 
steeple  of  a  church.  When  they  were  up 
there,  the  besiegers  opened  a  furious  can- 
nonade upon  the  steeple,  and  so  destroyed 
the  steps,  that  they  were  obliged  to  de- 
scend by  a  rope.J  The  king  then  retired 
to  a  short  distance  from  the  town,  and 
Mayenne  thinking,  that  from  the  dispro- 
portion of  their  forces,  he  need  not  expect 
to  be  attacked,  made  a  violent  assault  upon 
the  place  on  the  following  day.  A  de- 
tachment was  sent  to  support  the  town, 
which  compelled  the  assailants  to  desist. 
His  majesty  having  provided  for  the 
safety  of  Meulan,  took  a  position  on  the 
road  to  Paris.  Mayenne  feared  lest  he 
should  be  deprived  of  a  communication 
with  the  capital,  and  decamped  on  the 
25th  of  February;  an  additional  reason 
for  which  movement  was  the  report  of  a 
tumult  at  Rouen. § 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

Battle  of  Ivry  anil  siege  of  Paris. 

After  his  failure  upon  Meulan,  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne  directed  his  steps  to- 
wards Picardy,  to  meet  the  reinforce- 
ments he  expected  from  Flanders  and 

*  Sully,  liv.  3.  Cayei,  liv.  2. 
t  Davila,  liv.  II. 
t  Sully,  liv.  3. 

6  Davila,  liv.  11.  Sully,  liv.  3.  Matliieu,  vol.  ii.  liv. 
1,  p.  24. 


Lorrain.  The  king  in  the  mean  time 
continued  his  endeavours  to  block  up 
every  avenue  to  Paris;  and  by  depriving 
the  capital  of  its  supplies  and  communi- 
cations, he  hoped  to  kindle  a  feeling  of 
impatience,  under  the  privations  which 
the  league  inflicted  upon  the  inhabitants. 
With  this  end  in  view,  he  laid  siege  to 
Dreux  at  the  end  of  February.  That 
town  was  defended  by  two  captains 
named  Falandre  and  La  Vietle,  who  were 
well  supplied  with  every  thing  requisite 
for  making  a  protracted  resistance.  Re- 
pealed attacks  were  made,  but  without  ef- 
fect; and  the  king  gave  orders  for  cannon  to 
be  brought  from  Meulan,  for  battering  the 
place.  The  people  of  Paris  were  alarmed 
at  the  account  they  received  of  the  siege 
of  Dreux,  and  feeling  already  a  great  dimi- 
nution in  their  supply  of  provisions,  they 
were  alive  to  the  apprehension  of  a  fa- 
mine, if  once  that  important  place  should 
be  taken  by  the  king.  The  legate  and  the 
Spanish  minister  attempted  to  calm  the 
public  mind,  by  the  means  of  preachers; 
at  the  same  time  they  made  use  of  every 
method  to  rouse  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  to 
activity.  Various  appeals  to  his  courage 
and  feelings  -at  last  determined  him  to 
take  the  field,  and  being  joined  by  some 
Spaniards  under  Count  Egmont,  and 
some  Germans  under  Colonel  Saint  Paul, 
he  imagined  himself  equal  to  the  contest 
with  the  king's  forces.  After  reviewing 
his  army,  he  quitted  Paris  on  the  11th  of 
March,  and  took  the  road  for  Dreux.* 

On  the  following  morning  the  king  was 
informed  that  the  army  of  the  league  was 
approaching  with  an  increase  of  force, 
this  occasioned  him  to  raise  the  siege  of 
Dreux,  and  to  give  orders  for  the  army  to 
retire  on  Nonancourt,  which  was  done  in 
great  order.  Two  individuals  who  were 
in  the  army  mention,  that  during  a  storm 
of  thunder  and  rain  which  then  took 
place,  there  were  seen  the  figures  of  two 
armies  in  the  clouds,  fighting  very  fu- 
riously. Davila  says  it  greatly  discou- 
raged the  royal  army,  who  for  the  most 
part  looked  upon  it  as  a  presage  of  their 
defeat, and  coupled  the  circumstance  with 
the  event  of  the  battle  fought  on  that  very 
spot  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  wars.! 


*  Davila,  liv.  11. 

t  At  a  time  when  the  aurora  Imrealis  was  hut  little 
known,  it  must  have  had  a  graat  effect  upon  such  an 
army. 


262 


BATTLE  OF  IVRY. 


Sully  was  with  a  detachment  at  Pacy;* 
he  distinctly  saw  two  armies  in  the  air, 
but  was  unable  to  pronounce  whether  it 
was  an  illusion  or  a  reality:  "  Yet,"  says 
he,  "  this  object  made  such  an  impression 
on  my  mind,  that  I  was  not  at  all  sur- 
prised on  reading  a  letter  which  I  received 
from  the  king  the  next  day.  He  informed 
me  that  the  Duke  of  Mayenne's  army, 
joined  by  the  Spaniards,  had  approached 
him  with  a  view  to  giving  battle."  The 
letter  finished  with  these  words:  "  I  con- 
jure you  therefore  to  come,  and  bring 
with  you  all  that  you  can,  especially  your 
company,  and  the  two  bodies  of  armed 
horsemen  I  left  with  you;  for  I  know  and 
wish  to  make  use  of  them."f 

When  the  king  relinquished  the  siege 
of  Dreux,  he  held  a  consultation  with  his 
superior  officers;  gave  them  full  explana- 
tion of  the  plan  he  proposed  to  adopt,  and 
appointed  a  general  rendezvous  at  the 
village  of  St.  Andrew,  on  the  plain  of 
Ivry.J  Henry  took  up  his  head-quarters 
at  Nonancourt,  and  his  generals  lodged 
with  their  divisions  in  the  surrounding 
places:  he  had  so  fully  expected  to  be  at- 
tacked, that  on  the  9th  of  March  he  had 
written  to  Mornay  to  hasten  his  arrival 
with  all  the  force  he  could  collect. 

At  that  time  Mornay  was  at  Chateau- 
dun,  and  by  great  exertion  he  arrived 
within  two  leagues  of  Nonancourt,  on  the 
evening  of  the  12th.§  Besides  this  rein- 
forcement, Mouy  and  Tremouille  arrived 
with  two  hundred  horsemen  from  Poitou. 
Humieres  brought  two  hundred  gentle- 
men from  Picardy,  and  Sully  with  his 
men  arrived  about  two  hours  before  the 
battle  commenced.il 

Both  armies  passed  the  thirteenth  of 
March  in  order  of  battle  on  the  plan  of 
Ivry,  but  nothing  occurred.  Mornay  re- 
lates that  there  were  some  skirmishes, 
and  a  few  blows  were  exchanged,  but  the 
day  passed  off  without  an  engagement, 
"  not  without  wonder,  as  there  was  neither 
brook,  nor  hill,  nor  barrier  between 
them. "IT  The  rain,  meantime,  fell  in- 
cessantly, and  very  much  inconvenienced 
the  army  of  the  league,  who  were  not  so 
well  quartered  as  the  royalists.  The 
whole  night,  says  Davila,  passed  in  a 

*  Paai-sur  Eure,  distant  four  leagues  from  Ivry. 
t  Sully,  liv.  3. 

\  Malhieu,  Hist  des  Oucrres,  &.C.,  p.  20. 
§  Mem.  lie  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  5C. 
||  Davila,  liv.  11.    Sully,  liv.  3. 
1f  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  56. 


continued  labour,  and  uneasiness  on  both 
sides;  large  fires  were  kindled  in  both 
camps;  sentinels  were  placed  in  every  di- 
rection, and  were  changed  by  the  maitres- 
de-camp  every  half  hour.  The  king's 
army,  however,  having  a  good  supply  of 
provisions,  and  being  better  lodged,  was 
enabled  to  take  both  refreshment  and  re- 
pose— a  thing  almost  impracticable  in  the 
camp  of  their  enemies.  Mayenne  was 
not  at  all  desirous  of  giving  battle:  he 
thought  that  by  keeping  the  king  in  the 
field,  he  would  exhaust  his  resources  and 
fatigue  his  followers.  But  Count  Egmont 
protested  against  the  Spanish  troops  being 
so  uselessly  employed;  for  as  the  Catho- 
lic king  had  stripped  the  Low  Countries 
of  their  proper  forces,  he  desired  ardently 
that  a  great  effort  should  be  made  to 
bring  the  war  to  a  conclusion.  Mayenne 
being  well  informed  of  the  prevailing 
opinion  at  Paris,  could  not  resist  Egmonl's 
wish,  especially  as  it  was  backed  by  the 
representative  of  the  legate  who  was  with 
the  army.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to 
attack  the  kins:  on  the  following;  morn- 
ing.* 

The  force  of  the  two  armies  was  very 
unequal:  the  king  had  eight  thousand  in- 
fantry, and  rather  more  than  two  thousand 
cavalry.  Mayenne  had  twelve  thousand  in- 
fantry and  four  thousand  horsemen.  They 
were  drawn  out  ready  for  action-bctween 
nine  and  ten  in  the  morning,  and  both 
parties  appeared  very  desirous  of  en- 
gaging.! On  the  preceding  day  both 
Catholics  and  Protestants  in  the  king's 
army  had  made  their  public  devotions, 
and  the  churches  of  Nonancourt  were  full 
of  the  nobles  and  gentlemen  who  went  to 
mass,  while  the  Huguenot  ministers  per- 
formed divine  service  with  their  fol- 
lowers.! When  every  arrangement  was 
made,  and  the  army  was  ready  to  charge, 
the  king  advanced  in  front  of  his  men  in 
complete  armour,  but  bare-headed,  and 
made  aloud  a  prayer  to  the  Almighty  for 
his  favour  and  protection.  When  he  had 
finished,  a  general  shout  of  Vive  le,  Roi 
was  heard,  and  the  King  then  addressed 
his  followers,  exhorting  them  to  keep  their 
ranks,  and  assured  them  that  he  was  de- 
termined to  conquer  or  die  with  them. 
"If  the  standard  fail  you,"  said  he,  "keep 
my  plume  in  your  eye;  you  will  always 

*  DavjlaTliv.  n. 

t  Matliieu,  Hist,  tics  Ouerres.  &C,  p  29. 
t  Hist  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  16. 


BATTLE  OF  IVRY. 


263 


see  it  in  the  path  of  honour  and  duty."*  ^  covered  with  blood  and  dust,  and  the 
So  saying,  he  put  on  his  helmet,  which  shouts  of  joy  which  were  given  by  the 
was  adorned  with  three  fine  white  plumes:  royalists  served  to  dishearten  their  ene- 
at  the  same  time  perceiving  that  the  wind  mies,  whose  rout  then  became  general, 
blew  direct  in  the  faces  of  the  soldiers,  The  French  and  Swiss  troops  surrender- 
and  that  in  consequence  the  smoke  would  ed;  but  the  Germans  were  nearly  anni- 
inconvenience  them,  he  gave  orders  for  hilated;  and  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  es- 
taking  a  position  more  to  the  left:  May-  caped,  by  destroying  the  bridge  after  he 
enne  perceived  the  king's  troops  in  mo-  had  crossed  the  Eure.*  The  battle  was 
tion,  and  sounded  for  a  general  charge.t  not  entirely  finished  till  the  evening,  for 
Mavenne  on  his  side  had  not  neglected  the  king's  troops  continued  to  pursue  and 
to  awaken  the  feelings  of  religion  in  the  harass  their  enemies  all  the  remainder  of 
bosoms  of  his  soldiers:  he  went  before  the  day,  chiefly  with  a  view  to  prevent 
his  army,  preceded  by  a  monk  bearing  a  their  re-assembling.  The  leaguers  lost 
crucifix,  to  remind  them  that  they  were  all  their  baggage  and  artillery^  and  almost 
about  to  fight  in  behalf  of  religion,  against  the  whole  of  their  army;  for,  besides  the 
heretics  and  their  encouragers,  the  de-| numbers  that  were  killed,  there  were  so 
clared  enemies  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  j  many  that  surrendered  after  the  battle, 
church. |  l^at  scarcely  four  thousand  made  their 

The  battle  commenced  with  a  furious  escape.  Count  Egmont,  the  Spanish 
discharge  of  artillery;  but  when  the  con- 1 general,  was  among  the  slain.t 
tending  parties  came  to  close  quarters,]  Biron  was  not  in  the  battle:  he  re- 
the  conflict  was  principally  between  thejmained  with  a  body  of  reserve,  and  as- 
cavalry  of  each  army.  The  king  had  sisted  only  in  the  pursuit.  When  he  saw 
divided  his  into  several  small  divisions,  the  king  had  been  exposed  in  the  fight, 
as  the  only  remedy  for  the  inferiority  of  he  said  to  him,  "  Ah!  Sire,  this  is  not 
his  numbers;  and  this  measure  preserved  right;  you  have  done  to  day  what  Biron 
him  from  defeat;  for  the  advantage  which  should  have  done,  while  he  has  done 
was  gained  by  the  enemy  in  one  part,  was!  what  the  king  should  do."  Indeed,  the 
balanced  by  the  result  of  other  divisions,  king's  friends  were  so  concerned  at  the 
and  a  small  body  being  more  immediately  danger  to  which  he  had  exposed  himself, 
under  the  eye  of  the  commander  was  j  that  they  entreated  him  to  be  more  care- 
rallied  with  less  difficulty.  For  a  long  ful  of  his  person,  and  to  consider  that  his 
time  the  result  of  the  battle  was  uncer-  j destiny  was  to  be  king  of  France,  and  not 
tain.  Marshal  d'Aumont  made  a  sue-  a  dragoon;  that  his  subjects  were  all 
cessful  charge,  but  the  other  divisions iready  to  fight  for  him,  but  that  they  were 
were'broken.    Momay, in  describing  the  all  lost  if  they  had  no  head  to  direct 


battle,  says,  "The  enemy  had  the  advan 
lage  so  generally,  that  France  was  on  the 
point  of  ruin."§ 


them,! 

Sully  has  given  us  a  description  of 
what  occurred  to  him  in  this  memorable 


The  grand  struggle  was  with  the  di-  battle.  He  was  in  the  king's  squadron, 
vision  commanded  by  the  king  in  person:  jand  had  to  sustain  a  most  furious  attack 
jt  consisted  of  six  hundred  horsemen,  j  from  Count  Egmont.  He  observed  that 
The  main  body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  the  Reitres,  being  of  the  same  religion, 
was  opposed  to  it:  Count  Egmont,  the  did  not  do  them  so  much  injury  as  they 
Duke  of  Nemours,  and  the  Chevalier  could  have  done,  and  often  fired  in  the 
d'Aumale  commanded:  they  had  twelve ;  air;  but  Egmont  and  the  Spaniards  fought 
hundred  lancers,  flanked  by  four  hundred  so  desperately,  that  the  advantage  was 
dragoons.1]  The  king  charged  upon  his  decidedly  in  their  favour  for  a  long  time, 
opponents:  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  Sully's  horse  was  disabled,  and  a  second 
could  not  be  recognised,  and  a  report  pre-  horse  was  killed  under  him;  he  was  at 
vailed  through  the  ranks  that  he  was  the  same  time  wounded  by  a  pistol  ball, 
killed.    But  soon  after  he  re-appeared,  and  lay  senseless  on  the  field.    When  he 


*  D-Anbign<\vnl.  iii.  p.  231. 

t  liavila,  liv.  11.    PereCix*.  liv.  2.  Cayel,  liv.  2. 

I  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Liijue,  vol.  ii.  p.  208. 

§  Men.  d€  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 

J  Jirriucbusurs  a  chevut. 


*  This  is  Cayet's  account;  but  Duplcssis  Mornay 
states  that  he  swain  across  the  river  in  disguise. — Me- 
moires,  vol.  ii.  p  58. 

|  Davila.  Mattlieu,  Duplessis  and  others. 

I  Perefixe,  liv.  2.   Cayet,  liv.  2. 


264 


CONSTERNATION  OF  THE  LEAGUERS. 


recovered  a  little,  the  armies  were  not  to 
be  seen;  and  as  he  thought  the  king's 
army  had  been  defeated,  he  prepared  his 
mind  for  the  worst.  He  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  horse,  upon  which  he  mount- 
ed, and  soon  after  observed  seven  persons 
approaching  him:  he  saw  that  one  of 
them  carried  Mayenne's  standard,  and 
expected  to  be  taken  prisoner  or  killed  by 
them.  His  surprise  was  great  when  he 
found  they  surrendered  themselves  as  his 
prisoners.  This  was  the  first  intimation 
he  received  of  the  king's  success:  he 
went  to  Rosnv  as  soon  as  he  possibly 
could,  and  was  there  received  by  Henry 
IV.  with  marks  of  great  friendship  and 
esteem.* 

The  king  remained  a  fortnight  at 
Mantes;  and  while  his  soldiers  were  re- 
posing after  their  victory  at  Ivry,  lie  re- 
ceived the  news  of  another  battle  gained 
by  his  forces  at  Issoire  in  Auvergne.t 
His  affairs  prospered  in  every  direction, 
and  it  was  unfortunate  that  he  did  not 
follow  the  advice  of  La  None,  who  re- 
commended him  to  march  at  once  upon 
the  capital,  and  crush  the  league,  before 
time  was  given  for  their  leaders  to  make 
fresh  arrangements.  \  But  the  king  was 
dissuaded  from  marching  to  Paris,  for 
which  different  reasons  have  been  as- 
signed. Some  have  thought  that  Mar- 
shal Biron  was  not  at  all  desirous  of  put- 
ting' a  period  to  his  importance,  by  finish- 
ing the  war;  while  others  attribute  it  to 
the  Huguenots,  who  feared  the  king 
might  be  persuaded  to  change  his  reli- 
gion, if  the  Parisians  received  him  on 
his  arrival.  It  was  decided  in  council 
that  the  town  should  be  blockaded.  If 
that  method  proved  successful,  the  king 
was  recommended  to  suppress  the  rentes 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  by  that  means 
deliver  the  state  from  the  payment  of  the 
late  king's  debts,  which  were  very  con- 
siderable^ 

The  news  of  the  victory  was  brought 
to  Paris  the  following  day,  by  the  Sieur 
du  Tremblay,  a  prisoner  released  on  his 
parole,  who  of  course  had  not  been  in 
the  battle,  but  being  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, was  able  to  proceed  to  the  capital 
with  the  intelligence.  He  mentioned  it 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  who  in  turn 


communicated  the  same  to  the  legate,  and 
the  Spanish  ambassador.*  They  feared 
lest  the  news  should  cause  an  insurrec- 
tion in  the  city;  and  to  prevent  any  such 
consequences,  they  resolved  that  the 
preachers  should  be  employed  to  make 
it  known  from  the  pulpits  in  a  careful 
manner.  The  Duchess  of  Montpensier 
had  been  accustomed  to  amuse  the  Pa- 
risians with  false  accounts:  among  others, 
she  had  given  out  that  at  the  first  attack 
upon  Dreux,  the  king  had  been  repulsed 
with  the  loss  of  five  hundred  men,  be- 
sides a  great  many  wounded,  and  that 
Marshal  Biron  was  not  expected  to  live. 
There  was  also  published  an  account  of 
a  battle  having  been  fought  at  Poissy,  in 
which  the  Holy  Union  had  gained  a 
great  victory,  and  that  if  the  Bearnais 
was  not  dead,  he  was  but  little  betler.t 
The  real  account  being  theiefore  so  very 
opposite,  the  preachers  used  great  ma- 
nagement in  announcing  the  unwelcome 
tidings.  Among  them,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  was  Christin  de  Nisse,  who, 
preaching  on  the  16th  of  March,  took  for 
his  text,  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  re- 
bukes and  chastens;"  and  in  his  sermon 
[he  showed  a  number  of  instances  in 
which  the  people  of  God  had  been  af- 
flicted and  tried.  Then  holding  forth  a 
letter  which  appeared  to  have  that  mo- 
ment arrived,  he  expressed  the  regret  he 
felt  that  he  had  been  that  day  a  prophet 
rather  than  a  preacher;  since  it  had- 
pleased  God  to  inform  the  Parisians  by 
his  mouth  of  the  affliction  which  was  to 
befall  them.  He  concluded  by  telling 
them,  that  after  fighting  two  days,  the 
Catholic  army  had  lost  the  battle,  and 
exhorted  them  anew  to  defend  their  reli- 
gion and  their  country.  Other  preachers 
exerted  themselves  to  prevent  the  public 
from  despairing,  and  with  great  success.;: 
The  Duke  of  Mayenne  would  not  en- 
jter  Paris,  but  remained  at  St.  Denis, 
where  he  was  visited  by  the  legate,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  the  archbishop  of 
| Lyons,  Villeroy,  and  many  persons  of 
.note:  his  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Mortt- 
'pensier,  also  went  to  console  him  in  his 
trouble,  and  consult  upon  the  best  means 
of  remedying  his  loss.§    La  Moree  was 


*  Sullv,  liv.  3. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  2.   Sully,  liv.  4. 
t  Arairacilt,  p  357. 
v  Perefixe,  liv.  2. 


Le  Grain,  liv.  5. 


*  Davila.  liv.  11.  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  18G. 
t  Hist,  iles  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 
j  Davila,  liv.  11. 

6  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  187.  Cayet,  liv.  2,  p.  344. 


DISTRESS  OF  PARIS  DURING  THE  BLOCKADE.  265 


immediately  sent  off  to  the  Duke  of  Par- 
ma, urging  him  to  come  to  the  assistance 
of  the  Union;  and  Mayenne  himself  set 
out  for  Soissons  a  day  or  two  afterwards, 
to  join  them  on  their  arrival.  The  de- 
fence of  Paris  was  in  the  interval  en- 
trusted to  the  Duke  of  Nemours;  and 
pressing  letters  were  written  to  the  pope 
and  the  King  of  Spain.  The  Parisians 
on  their  side  made  great  exertions  to 
strengthen  the  fortifications  of  the  city 
and  to  lay  up  as  great  a  store  of  both 
ammunition  and  provision  as  could  be 
done  in  their  already  blockaded  state.* 

When  the  legate  was  informed  that  the 
king's  army  had  quitted  Mantes,  and  that 
the  blockade  of  Paris  was  fully  resolved 
on,  he  made  an  etfort  to  gain  time,  in  or- 
der that  the  Duke  of  Parma  might  come 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Union.  Villeroy 
had  conferred  with  Duplessis  very  soon 
after  the  battle  of  Ivry;  but  the  object  of 
his  proposals  was  seen  through,  and  no- 
thing done.f    But  when  the  legate  him- 
self appeared  to  wish  for  an  arrangement, 
the  king  consented  to  a  conference,  which 
was  held  at  Noisy:   Biron,  Givry,  and 
Revol  attended  on  behalf  of  the  king; 
the  legate  was  accompanied  by  Gondy, 
some  Italian  bishops,  Villeroy,  and  Belin. 
The  conference  proved  absolutely  use- 
less; and  the  king  continued  his  old  plan 
of  shutting  up  every  avenue  to  Paris.j 
He  took  Melun  on  the  5th  of  April;  and 
while  there,  received  a  fresh  proposal 
from  Villeroy,  who  dwelt  at  length  upon 
the  king's  being  instructed  in  the  Catho- 
lic faith,  as  indispensably  necessary  for 
healing  the  divisions  of  the  country:  ob- 
serving, that  as  such  affairs  could  not  be 
discussed  during  the  confusion  of  war,  a 
truce  ought  to  be  concluded  to  allow  the 
subject  a  deliberate  examination.  Henry 
had  paid  great  attention  to  Villeroy's  re- 
marks upon  the  miseries  caused  bv  a  con- 
flict of  religious  opinions;  but  directly 
the  word  Iruce  was  mentioned,  he  gave 
the  speaker  to  understand  that  he  would 
not  throw  away  the  advantage  of  his  late 
victory,  by  delaying  the  execution  of  his 
projects.    Villeroy  then  returned  to  Pa- 
ris, and  the  royalists  continued  to  take 


the  different  towns  in  the  surrounding 


parts.* 

Paris  was  invested  in  the  beginning  of 
May.t  the  king's  force  was  not  sufficient 
to  storm  the  city,  but  he  expected  that 
the  miseries  of  a  blockade  would  make 
the  inhabitants  return  to  their  duty  and 
acknowledge  him  for  their  king.    On  the 
other  hand,  the  league  being  satisfied 
with  their  means  of  defence,  took  every 
precaution  for  preventing  any  thing  like 
mutiny  from  showing  itself.    The  Duke 
of  Nemours  had  caused  a  number  of  can- 
non to  be  cast,  and  the  fortifications  were 
strengthened  in  every  direction;  while 
the  Bastille,  and  other  posts  of  import- 
ance, were  confided  to  none  but  those 
who  were  too  far  compromised  in  the  re- 
bellion to  hope  for  pardon  if  the  king 
should  be  successful.    The  greatest  care 
was  taken  to  husband  the  stores  which 
were  in  the  city;  and  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  being  a  royalist  exposed  a  per- 
son to  the  certain  loss  of  his  property, 
and   frequently  to   be  hanged.  These 
precautions  enabled  the  chiefs  of  the 
league  to  maintain  their  authority  in  the 
midst  of  such  distress.    It  is,  however, 
very  doubtful  that  even  then  they  would 
have  succeeded,  if  the  preachers,  Boucher, 
Pelletier,  Lincestre,  and  others,  had  not 
preserved  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  by 
their  exhortations,  in  calling  on  the  faith- 
ful to  die,  rather  than  submit  to  a  prince 
who  was  a  heretic. j    The  money  of  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  the  influence  of  the 
princesses  and  ladies  of  the  league,  and 
the  decree  of  the  Sorbonne,§  declaring 
that  whoever  died  in  defence  of  the  city, 
would  enjoy  the  martyr's  crown,  all  com- 
bined to  create  a  spirit  of  resistance  which 
has  rendered  this  siege  unequalled  in  mo- 
dern times. 

By  the  beginning  of  June  the  provi- 
sions, although  distributed  sparingly, 
were  nearly  exhausted;  and  the  clergy 
called  upon  the  inhabitants  to  take  anew 
the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Sorbonne.  A 
general  assembly  was  held  at  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  when  all  swore  that  thev  would 


*  D.ivila,  liv.  n. 
t  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  pp.  100  et  seq. 
\  Ciiyel,  liv.2,  p.  345.  JJe  Thou,  liv.  98. 
i.  p.  201. 

23 


*  Mem.  de  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  pp.  203—118.  Davila,  lir. 
11. 

t  According  to  the  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  the  bridge 
of  Chareuton  was  taken  on  the  "in  and  the  Porte  St. 
Martin  attacked  the  12th  of  May. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.    Hist,  dcs  Rentiers  Trouble?, 
Villeroy,  vol.  vol.  ii.  p.  22. 

H  Haled  7th  May,  1500. 


( 


266 


DISTRESS  OF  THE  PARISIANS. 


die  a  thousand  deaths,  rather  than  con- 
sent to  receive  a  heretic  king.  At  the 
same  time,  to  give  more  effect,  a  grand 
procession  was  ordered,  on  which  occa- 
sion the  oath  was  renewed  at  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame.*  In  this  procession 
were  seen  all  the  ecclesiastics  in  Paris: 
William  Rose,  Bishop  of  Senlis,  marched 
at  their  head  with  a  crucifix  in  one  hand, 
and  a  halbert  in  the  other.  After  him 
came  the  Prior  of  the  Carthusians,  fol- 
lowed by  all  his  monks,  with  their  habits 
tucked  up  and  their  cowls  thrown  back, 
to  make  room  for  helmets.  The  Mendi- 
cant orders,  and  the  Capucins  followed  in 
the  same  style,  all  armed  with  such  wea- 
pons as  they  could  procure.  Hamilton, 
curate  of  St.  Cosme,  acted  as  serjeant- 
major:  he  regulated  their  halts,  and  gave 
orders  for  firing.  The  legate  could  not 
be  absent:  and  as  the  procession  passed 
before  him,  each  division  fired  a  salute: 
one  of  the  pieces  proved  to  be  loaded 
with  ball,  and  the  legate's  chaplain  was 
killed  by  his  side.  This  circumstance 
appeared  likely  to  trouble  the  public  feel- 
ing, but  the  clergy  declared  that  as  the 
deceased  was  killed  in  so  good  a  cause, 
his  soul  had  certainly  flown  to  heaven; 
and  as  the  legate  gave  his  opinion  to  that 
effect,  no  one  could  presume  to  doubt  it. 
The  march  of  the  procession  was  con- 
tinued amidst  volleys  of  musketry,  and 
singing  of  hymns  and  psalms.t 

Famine  meanwhile  began  to  assume 
a  dreadful  aspect:  the  example  as  well 
us  the  preaching  of  the  monks  pre- 
served the  people  from  despondency  for 
a  considerable  time:  they  were  every  day 
amused  with  pretended  letters  from  the 
Dukes  of  Mayenne  and  Parma,  who 
were  coming  to  raise  the  siege;  and  see- 
ing the  ecclesiastics  join  in  the  public 
labours  as  well  as  the  defence  of  the  city, 
ihey  could  not  repine  at  their  sufferings. 
But  as  the  calls  of  hunger  became  more 
pressing,  many  demanded  peace;  and  af- 
ter hanging  the  most  vehement  among 
them,  the  rest  were  invited  to  suffer  for 
the  cause  of  religion.  The  people  were 
"ratified  with  processions  instead  of  food, 
and  as  a  consolation  for  the  dying  citizens, 
the  legate  distributed  a  number  of  indul- 
gences in  urticulo  mortis.  The  ecclesi- 
astics, and  especially  the  monks,  were 


*  Maimbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Liguc,  liv.  4. 

t  Cayet,  vol.  i.  p.  3G1.   Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


well  provided  with  provisions,  and  there* 
fore  preached  patience  and  resignation  to 
a  starving  population.*    It  was  ordered 
that  all  the  store-houses  should  be  visited 
Tyrius,  the  rector  of  the  Jesuits,  demand 
ed  of  the  legate  an  exception  for  his  house 
The  provost  of  the  trades,  who  was  pre 
sent,  contended  that  the  proposal  was  nei 
ther  Christian  nor  neighbourly:  he  com 
menced  his  search  with  their  college 
They  had  a  year's  supply  of  corn,  bis 
cuit,  and  salted  meat,  and  being  under  no 
apprehension  of  wanting  food,  they  were 
the  most  zealous  of  all  the  clergy  in  im- 
pressing on  the  minds  of  the  people  how 
much  more  glorious  it  was  to  die  of  hun- 
ger than  to  acknowledge  the  Bearncris  for 
their  Kins;.    "  At  the  Capucins,"  says 
Pierre  de  l'Estoile,f  "  was  found  biscuit 
in  abundance:  in  short,  in  all  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  clergy  were  found  provisions 
more  than  was  necessary  for  half  a-year." 
The  stores  of  the  different  monasteries 
and  colleges  afforded  relief  to  the  starving 
Parisians,  but  only  a  momentary  one; 
horses,  asses,  dogs,  cats,  and  even  rats, 
were  .eaten.J    The  Duchess  of  Mont- 
pensier  was  offered  golden  chains  and 
rings  to  the  value  of  two  thousand  crowns 
for  her  dog;  which  she  refused,  saying, 
"She  should  reserve  it  for,  herself  when 
her  own  stores  were  consumed:"  one  of 
her  women  actually  died  of  hunger. § 

The  Parisians  not  only  ate  human 
flesh  in  some  cases,  but  they  ground  the 
bones  of  their  deceased  fellow-citizens, 
and  mixed  it  with  bran  and  chaff;  of 
which,  at  the  legate's  suggestion,  they 
made  a  kind  of  bread. ||  Fresh  ordinances 
appeared,  forbidding  the  least  allusion  to 
any  composition  with  Henry  of  Bour- 
bon, under  pain  of  death;  but  hunger 
compelled  the  people  to  complain,  and 
the  pulpit  was  again  found  to  be  the  most 
efficacious  means  of  quieting  their  cla- 
mours: preachers  held  up  the  host  and 
the  crucifix,  exclaiming,  "  Learn  to  die 
in  the  cause  of  a  God,  who  died  to  save 
you."K 


*  De  Thou,  Mathieu,  D'Atibigne,  Mezeray,  and  Feli- 
bien. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

J  Discours  veritable  et  notable  du  siege  de  la  Villede 
Paris,  p.  27.  This  piece,  published  under  the  name  of 
Pierre  Correio,  is  inserted  in  Villeroy,  vol.  ir. 

J  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

J  De  Thou,  liv.  99.    Davila,  liv.  11. 

IT  Hist,  de  la  Sorbonne,  vol.  li.  p.  45.  Hist,  des  Der- 
niers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


NOBLE  FORBEARANCE  OF  HENRY. 


267 


In  the  mean  time  the  king's  army  was 
greatly  augmented:  the  prospect  of  taking 
Paris  had  brought  him  numerous  compa- 
nies to  join  his  standard;  and  the  hopes 
of  plunder  made  many  of  his  officers 
persuade  him  to  attack  the  city.  But 
Henry  considered  that  Paris  was  the 
most  valuable  jewel  of  his  crown;  and 
that  it  was  not  the  interest  of  a  king  to 
suffer  so  many  innocent  persons  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  punishment  of  the  rebels, 
who  prevented  him  from  being  properly 
received  as  a  sovereign.  He  persisted  in 
the  blockade,  and  would  certainly  have 
reduced  the  city,  had  not  many  of  his 
commanders  betrayed  their  trust  in  per- 
mitting provisions  to  pass  for  large  sums 
of  money.  The  soldiers  imitated  their 
officers;  and  the  besieging  army  drained 
Paris  of  great  part  of  its  wealth,  by  ob- 
taining a  high  price  for  the  provisions 
they  sold  across  the  walls;  a  practice 
which  the  king  was  obliged  to  suffer,  as 
he  had  not  the  means  of  paying  his 
troops.* 

As  the  horrors  of  the  famine  increased, 
a  deputation  was  sent  to  the  king  for  his 
permission  for  a  number  of  aged  and  fee- 
ble persons  to  leave  the  city.  Many  of 
his  council  advised  him  to  refuse  the  re- 
quest, as  the^only  way  to  subdue  the 
town,  by  driving  the  people  to  revolt 
against  the  league  in  desperation;  but  the 
king  thought  otherwise.  "  I  am  not  sur- 
prised," said  he,  "  that  the  chiefs  of  the 
league  and  the  Spaniards  have  so  little 
compassion  on  those  poor  people;  they 
are  only  tyrants;  but  I,  who  am  their  fa- 
ther and  king,  cannot  listen  to  the  recital 
of  their  calamities  without  being  touched 
to  the  bottom  of  my  soul,  and  endeavour- 
ing to  remedy  them.  I  cannot  prevent 
those  who  are  possessed  by  the  spirit  of 
the  league  from  perishing  with  it;  but  as 
to  those  who  implore  my  clemency,  they 
cannot  help  the  crimes  of  others:  I  will 
hold  out  my  arms  to  them."  When  the 
permission  was  announced,  above  four 
thousand  persons  left  the  town,  and  cried 
out  with  all  the  strength  which  their 
wretched  condition  would  allow,  Vive  le 
Hoi.  From  that  time  the  king's  soldiers 
prevented  no  one  from  making  their 
escape.t 

*  Perefixe,  liv.  2. 

t  Perefiice,  liv.  2.  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  Discours 
(     veritables,  et  notable  du  siege  de  la  Ville  de  Pari9,  p. 


But  the  obstinacy  of  the  league  was 
unparalleled,  and  as  a  means  of  forcing  a 
capitulation,  an  attack  was  ordered  on  all 
the  faubourgs  on  the  night  of  the  24th  of 
July.  The  captains  chosen  to  conduct 
the  enterprise  acquitted  themselves  very 
well,  and  they  were  all  taken  in  less  than 
an  hour.*  Fresh  instances  were  made, 
to  induce  the  king  to  attack  the  town,  in 
which  case  he  would  have  certainly  taken 
it,  but  he  would  not  think  of  such  an  al- 
ternative while  he  could  temporise.  He 
wrote  a  letter  lo  the  Duke  of  Nemours, 
in  which  he  highly  complimented  him 
on  his  defence  of  the  town,  but  recom- 
mended him  not  to  expose  the  capital  to 
be  plundered  through  too  much  obsti- 
nacy; for  even  if  the  expected  assistance 
should  arrive,  a  battle  would  be  the  con- 
sequence, and  unless  Mayenne  had  better 
fortune  than  in  the  last  engagement,  no 
relief  could  arrive  to  the  besieged.  Ne- 
mours would  not  send  any  reply  to  the 
king,  but  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  marshals 
he  requested  him  to  tell  the  King  of  NaT 
varre  that  his  false  religion  was  the  only 
obstacle;  but  that  on  his  embracing  the 
true  faith,  he  would  be  the  foremost  in 
advancing  his  cause. 

Still,  in  spite  of  the  Duke  of  Nemours, 
Cardinal  Gondy  succeeded  in  engaging 
the  king  to  a  conference  at  the  abbey  of 
St.  Antoine,  for  discussing  the  proposals 
of  peace.  Had  the  kin?  then  announced 
his  intention  of  doing  what  he  was  afterr 
wards  compelled  to  consent  to,  the  city 
would  have  surrendered  to  him.  Henry 
considered  the  town  could  not  long  hold 
out,  and  not  supposing  the  Duke  of  Par- 
ma contemplated  rendering  the  assistance 
upon  which  the  besieged  calculated,  he 
offered  terms  which  were  favourable,  con- 
sidering their  situation;  but  which,  with- 
out being  rigorous,  made  them  appear  in- 
debted to  his  clemency  and  forgiveness: 
the  conferences,  therefore,  produced  no 
result. f 

Meanwhile  the  Duke  of  Parma  was 
informed  of  the  extremity  of  the  Pari- 
sians. It  was  on  the  5th  of  August  that 
the  king  conferred  with  Gondy,  and  on 
the  6th  the  duke  had  quitted  Valenciennes 
with  twelve  thousand  infantry,  three  thou- 


*  Davila,  liv.  11.  De  Thou,  liv.  99.  Discours  veri- 
table, &c  p.  27.   Sully,  liv.  4. 

f  Davila,  liv  11.  Cayet,  liv.  2,  p.  372.  Mem.  de  Ne- 
vers,  vol.  ii.  p.  607. 


268 


DEATH  OF  THE  CARDINAL  OF  BOURBON. 


sand  horsemen,  a  great  store  of  ammuni- 
tion, and  fifteen  hundred  carriages  laden 
with  provisions  for  the  supply  of  Paris; 
he  arrived  at  Meaux  on  the  22d.  Alex- 
ander Farnese,  Duke  of  Parma,  was  at 
this  time  one  of  the  first  captains  of  the 
age:  he  was  averse  to  quitting  his  own 
government,  to  risk  his  reputation  against 
a  prince  who  had  been  so  successful  in 
the  field.  He  also  feared  that  some  ill 
consequence  might  arise  from  his  de- 
priving the  Netherlands  of  the  principal 
part  of  the  Spanish  force.  But  Philip's 
orders  were  positive,  and  he  set  out  for 
the  relief  of  Paris.* 

The  arrival  of  the  Spanish  forces  com- 
pelled the  king  to  raise  the  siege,  to  his 
great  mortification.  The  different  cap- 
tains, by  the  expression  of  their  regret, 
seemed  to  reprove  him  for  not  taking 
what  had  been  at  his  command  for  some 
time.  The  only  thing  that  could  be  done 
was  to  leave  three  thousand  men  in  the 
faubourgs,  while  the  king  conducted  the 
rest  of  his  army  to  Chelles,  a  town  on 
the  Marne,  about  six  leagues  from  Paris; 
the  Dukes  of  Parma  and  Mayenne  being 
at  Claye,  on  the  road  from  Meaux  to  the 
capital. 

The  two  armies  were  in  presence  on 
the  1st  of  September:  the  Duke  of  Parma 
riding  out  to  reconnoitre,  is  said  to  have 
taunted  Mayenne  with  the  account  he 
had  sent,  of  the  king  having  only  ten 
thousand  men,  who  were  in  a  poor  condi- 
tion; whereas  there  were  twenty-five 
thousand  in  excellent  order  and  well 
equipped.!  The  inequality  of  their 
forces  made  the  Spanish  general  resolve 
to  avoid  an  action:  he  fortified  his  posi- 
tion, and  succeeded  in  taking  Lagny, 
which  the  king  could  not  assist  in  time, 
on  account  of  some  marshes  lying  be- 
tween him  and  the  town.  The  duke 
was  then  able  to  send  relief  to  Paris,  and 
thus  concluded  the  siege,  which  had  last- 
ed above  four  months,  and  during  which 
more  than  thirteen  thousand  persons  had 
died  of  famine.} 

After  waiting  some  days,  it  appeared 
impossible  to  bring  the  Duke  of  Parma 
to  an  engagement,  and  the  king  marched 
off  his  army;  but  being  vexed  at  the  siege 
being  raised,  and  finding  the  disappoint- 


*  Davila,  liv.  11.  Cayet.  liv.2.  Perefixe,  liv.  2. 

t  Hist,  des  DerniTS  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  23 

I  Cayet,  Sully,  D'Aubigne,  Mathieu  and  Davila, 


ment  very  general  in  his  army,,  he  re- 
solved to  try  an  attack  by  escalade  the 
following  night.  It  was  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember; between  three  and  four  thousand 
choice  soldiers  were  sent  into  the  fau- 
bourgs St.  Jacques  and  St.  Marcel  in  the 
evening,  ready  to  attack  that  part  of  the 
town  after  midnight.  The  arrival  of  those 
soldiers  had  created  an  alarm,  and  the 
tocsin  had  been  rung;  but  as  the  royalists 
remained  quiet  in  the  suburbs,  the  people 
went  home,  satisfied  that  it  wa3  a  false 
alarm.  Ten  Jesuits,  however,  resolved 
to  remain  on  the  watch  in  that  quarter, 
and  when  the  assailants  placed  their  lad- 
ders early  in  the  morning,  they  would 
certainly  have  succeeded  but  for  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  reverend  fathers.  There 
was  a  thick  fog,  and  the  royalists  had  ad- 
vanced to  the  wall,  when  a  Jesuit,  who 
was  then  performing  the  part  of  a  senti- 
nel, called  out,  To  arms',  to  arms.'  The 
soldiers  continued  to  mount,  and  the  fore- 
most were  killed  by  these  warlike  eccle- 
siastics. Some  lighted  straw  was  then 
thrown  into  the  moat,  and  the  enterprise 
was  completely  foiled.*  After  this  the 
king  withdrew  to  Senlis,  and  soon  after 
the  royal  army  separated:  the  king  re- 
tained about  his  person  a  flying  camp, 
placed  divisions  in  the  tow>is  around  Pa- 
ris, and  sent  the  rest  to  their  homes. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 


Death  of  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  and  Sixtus  V. — 
Attack  on  St.  Denis— Siege  of  Charlres— Edict  of 
Mantes— President  Jeannin  sent  to  Spain— Conspi- 
racy of  the  young  Cardinal  of  Dourbon— Siege  of 
Noyon. 

The  state  of  public  affairs  was  consi- 
derably changed  by  the  death  of  two  in- 
dividuals during  the  late  siege.  The 
Cardinal  of  Bourbon  expired  in  prison 
on  the  9th  of  May;t  his  death  was  of 
consequence  only  by  its  reviving,  with 
more  earnestness,  the  question  of  the  suc- 
cession. This  served  the  king's  cause, 
by  creating  a  conflict  of  interests,  and  by 
stirring  up  a  strong  feeling  of  jealousy 
against  the  Spaniards:  they  had  assumed 
great  importance  during  the  siege,  and 


*  Cayet,  liv.  2,  p.  381.  Davila,  liv.  11.  Discours  ve- 
ritable, &c,  p.  83. 

t  It  was  announced  in  Paris  without  the  least  mark 
of  honour  or  respect.   Cayet,  liv.  2,  p.  3C0. 


DEATH  OF  SIXTUS  V. 


269 


still  more  after  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  who  had  increased  the  number  of 
Spanish  troops  in  the  garrison. 

Sixtus  V.  died  on  the  27th  of  August. 
This  event  caused  extreme  joy  to  the 
league:  it  was  known  in  Paris  on  the  5th 
of  September;  and  when  Aubry,  curate 
of  St.  Andre-des-Arcs,  announced  it  in 
his  sermon,  he  observed — "  God  has  de- 
livered us  from  a  wicked  pope:  if  he  had 
lived  much  longer,  we  should  have  been 
surprised  to  find  the  pope  preached 
against  in  Paris:  but  it  must  have  been 
done*  Sixtus  was  indignant  at  the  pros- 
titution of  the  Catholic  religion  by  the 
leaguers,  and  had  refused  them  any  further 
help;  he  had  been  favourable  to  the  cause 
at  his  elevation  to  the  pontificate,  but  be- 
ing better  informed  as  to  their  chief  ob- 
ject, he  regretted  having  given  them  en- 
couragement. His  opinions  of  both 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  Henry  IV.  are  well 
known;  for  he  was  able  to  appreciate 
merit,  although  he  could  not  openly  de- 
clare his  sentiments.  The  Spanish  fac- 
tion, however,  perceived  the  dangerous 
tendency  of  such  policy,  and  Philip  sent 
the  Count  d'Olivarez  to  Rome,  to  sum 
mon  the  pope  to  fulfil  nis  promises  to  the 
league.  Sixtus  took  offence  at  such 
measure,  and  refused  to  see  Olivarez  a 
second  time;  neither  would  he  acknow- 
ledge him  as  an  ambassador.  From  that 
time  a  number  of  pamphlets  appeared, 
which  attacked  the  pope's  character,  and 
treated  him  as  a  heretic. f 

It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that  his 
death  should  be  attributed  to  poison:  such 
was  the  opinion  current  at  Rome;  and 
when  the  King  of  France  received  the 
intelligence,  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed, 
"  That  is  a  piece  of  Spanish  policy:" 
after  a  pause,  he  added,  "  I  lose  a  pope 
who  was  my  friend:  God  grant  that  his 
successor  may  be  like  him."i  The  Car- 
dinal Castagno  was  elected,  and  took  the 
title  of  Urban  VII.;  but  he  died  thirteen 
days  after,  and  a  long  and  stormy  con- 
clave followed:  the  college  at  last  decided 
on  choosing  Hercules  Sfrondato,  a  man 
devoted  to  the  court  of  Spain,  and  who 
was  styled  Gregory  XIV.  He  displayed 
much  zeal  for  the  league;  and  subse- 
quently devoted  to  that  cause  the  large 
sums   of    money   which    Sixtus  had 


amassed  for  carrying  on  a  war  against 
the  Turks,  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy 
Land,  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  Rome  in 
times  of  scarcity,  and  other  purposes, 
which  he  directed  to  be  maturely  delibe^ 
rated. 

Still  the  affairs  of  the  league  were  by 
no  means  prosperous.  Many  of  the  Pa- 
risians complained  that  the  Spaniards, 
under  pretence  of  assisting  them,  had 
seized  upon  the  city,  as  well  as  some 
towns  in  the  environs.  This  jealousy 
and  ill-will  made  the  Duke  of  Parma  de- 
cide on  leaving  the  city;  a  measure  to 
which  he  was  also  moved  by  the  necesr 
sity  of  his  presence  in  Flanders.  The 
chiefs  of  the  league  were  alarmed  at  be-  , 
ing  again  deserted;  and  in  order  to  detain 
the  duke,  they  announced  a  treaty  in  dis-. 
cussion  between  the  king  and  Mayenne, 
which  they  said  would  inevitably  be  con-: 
eluded  to  the  ruin  of  the  Union,  if  he 
abandoned  them.  The  Duke  of  Parma 
was  not  deceived  by  their  artifice;  and 
after  staying  a  few  days  to  rest  his  army, 
he  set  out  for  the  Netherlands,  taking  the 
route  of  Champagne,  as  the  least  proba- 
ble to  offer  any  difficulty  in  his  march.* 

The  king  in  the  mean  time  had  con- 
tinued to  intercept  the  supplies  destined 
for  Paris;  and  with  his  flying  camp  had 
unceasingly  harassed  the  league.  The 
Duke  of  Parma,  before  his  departure, 
endeavoured  to  relieve  the  city  from  this 
state  of  blockade,  by  seizing  some  of  the 
places  held  by  the  king's  troops.  He 
succeeded  in  taking  St.  Maur  and  Cha- 
renton,and  after  a  desperate  resistance  he 
gained  possession  of  Corbeil.f  The  lat-; 
ter  town  was  soon  retaken  by  escalade, 
and  when  the  king's  troops  were  informed 
of  the  cruelties  which  the  Spaniards  had 
inflicted  on  the  inhabitants,  they  were  so 
enraged  that  they  put  every  one  of  them 
to  the  sword.j 

The  Spanish  army  left  Paris  in  the  be- 
ginning of  November.  Parma's  return 
was  verv  different  from  his  march  into 
France,  for  the  king  and  Marshal  Biron 
hovered  about  him  with  a  body  of  cavalry, 
and  some  choice  infantry,  and  compelled 
his  men  to  keep  constantly  in  close  order, 
a  circumstance  which  rendered  his  halts 


*  Maimboufg,  Hist,  dc  la  Liauc,  liv.  4. 

t  Leti,  fi'u  Ui  Sisto  V.  lib.  JO. 


}  Ibid. 


*  Qavrla,  liv.  11. 

f  Mttthieu,  Hist,  des  Oucrres,  &c.    Davili,  liv.  II. 
The  siege  nf  I  'nrbeil  lasted  from  22<J  Sep'.  10  lOtb  Oct. 

t  I3ih  N  .v.  15U0.  O'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  213.  Cayet, 
liv.  2,  i>.  3d(i. 

23* 


270 


PROPOSALS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  PEACE. 


inconvenient  by  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
supplies.  The  royalists  attacked  his  rear 
at  Marie,  where  there  was  a  sharp  engage- 
ment, in  which  the  Spaniards  lost  part  of 
their  baggage.*  A  second  encounter  took 
place  four  days  after  as.  they  were  cross- 
ing the  Aisne,  with  a  similar  result.  This 
was  the  last  affair  which  occurred  be- 
tween the  parties;  for  Parma  hearing  that 


of  about  fourscore  determined  men,  dis- 
guised as  countrymen,  each  of  whom  had 
a  sack  of  flour  on  his  horse.  The  night 
of  the  20th  of  January  was  fixed  on  for  the 
execution  of  his  attempt;  but  the  chiefs 
of  the  league  having  some  secret  informa- 
tion, they  took  measures  for  preventing  a 
surprise*  Henry's  disappointment  was 
increased,  when  he  found  that  his  pro- 


the  Count  de  Nassau  was  in  Flanders,  at  ijected  attempt  had  served  as  a  pretext  for 


the  head  of  an  army  raised  by  the  assist 
ance  of  the  Queen  of  England,  he  made 
all  the  haste  he  could  in  his  retreat. 
Henry  IV.  went  no  farther  than  St.  Quen- 
lin,  where  he  made  a  short  stay.  The 
arrival  of  the  Spanish  force  had  retarded 
his  operations,  but  had  not  frustrated  his 
plans;  and  when  the  Duke  of  Parma 
quitted  France,  the  league  was  nearly  in 
the  same  condition  as  before. t 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1591,  the  Che- 
valier d'Aumale  made  an  attempt  to  seize 
St.  Denis.  He  left  Paris  in  the  night 
with  a  thousand  infantry  and  two  hundred 
horsemen,  and  succeeded  in  approaching 
the  place  without  being  discovered.  The 
water  in  the  moat  being  hard-frozen,  the 


the  introduction  of  four  thousand  Spa- 
niards, a  measure  which  the  circum- 
stance appeared  to  justify,  and  which 
the  moderate  party  could  not  oppose,  al- 
though they  were  satisfied  that  the  do- 
minion of  the  royalists  would  be  less  in- 
jurious than  that  of  foreigners. 

The  next  enterprise  formed  by  the  king 
was  the  siege  of  Chartres.  That  place 
was  obstinately  defended  for  more  than 
two  months.t  An  honourable  composi- 
tion was  granted;  and  when  the  king 
entered  the  town  he  was  harangued  by 
the  magistrates  upon  the  obedience  they 
owed  him,  according  to  the  laws  both 
human  and  divine.  "And  you  may  add 
the  cannon  /a?r,"  said  the  king,  who 


ladders  were  placed  with  ease;  and  twoispurred  his  horse  and  rode  0114 


officers,  followed  by  twenty-four  men, 
scaled  the  wall,  and  succeeded  in  breaking 
openone  of  thegates  from  within.  Aumale, 
who  was  on  foot,  entered  the  town  at  the 
head  of  his  men.  De  Vicq,  the  gover- 
nor, was  aroused  By  the  noise,  and  consi- 
dering the  town  irrecoverably  lost,  he  be- 
came desperate:  he  imagined  that  the  care- 
lessness of  his  soldiers  had  destroyed  the 
renown  he  had  acquired  in  a  long  military 
career.  He  mounted  his  horse,  and  fol- 
lowed by  only  thirty  persons,  he  ordered 
a  charge  to  be  sounded  by  two  trumpeters, 
and  galloped  upon  Aumale's  men.  The 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  the  noise  of 
the  trumpets,  made  the  leaguers  believe 
that  he  was  more  numerously  attended; 
they  were  soon  thrown  into  confusion; 
their  leader  was  killed;  and  the  assailants 
being  unable  to  rally,  were  driven  out  of! 


Directly  the  military  operations  slack- 
ened, the  contest  between  the  Huguenots 
and  the  Catholic  royalists  was  rekindled. 
There  were  many  among  the  Protestants 
who  could  not  place  any  dependence  in  a 
promise  of  toleration,  unless  it  were  se- 
cured by  the  king  himself  professing  their 
religion:  they  were  therefore  averse  to  the 
renewal  of  the  proposal  for  the  king  to 
be  instructed.  Duplessis-Mornay  was 
unquestionably  the  most  important  among 
the  Huguenots  for  learning  and  expe- 
rience, but  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
felt  so  much  alarm.  His  grand  object 
was  to  have  a  general  council,  which  meet- 
ins:  upon  unbiassed  delegations,  should 
allow  the  greatest  liberty  in  discussion. 
While  the  war  lasted  such  an  assembly 
was  impracticable;  he  therefore  drew  up 
an  ediot,  which  he  submitted  to  the  king 


*  i'oili  Nov.  ]")!I0.  Marie  is  a  small  town  in  Picardy, 
about  30  liaoues  N.E.  of  Paris. 

t  Davila,  1 1  v.  II.  Mathieu,  Hist,  dcs  Guerres,  &.C. 
l,e  Grain,  liv.  5. 

}  Davila,  liv.  12.  1 1 1> t.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii. 
I»-  5i0.   Cayel,  liv.  3,  p.  403.   Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


of  March  following  again  addressed  his 
majesty  respecting  the  proposed  declara- 


ble town  with  the  loss  of  more  than  a  hun-l  in  November,  1590;§  and  in  the  month 
dred  of  their  companions.^: 

The  king  on  his  side  would  not  remain 
inactive:  he  planned  an  attack  on  Paris, 
which  was  to  be  preceded  by  the  entry 


*  Davila,  liv.  12.  Cayul,  liv.  3.  Journal  de  Henri 
IV. 

t  From  Itnh  February  to  I9th  April,  1591.  Davila, 
liv.  I--',  p.  3j7— 104.  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  410.  Le  Grain,  liv. 
5,  p  334. 

t  Matjiien,  vol.  ii.  liv.  1,  p.  CG. 

I  Formulaire.de  la  declaration  pour  la  revocation  de 
1  edit  de  Juillel  —  Duplcssis,  vol.  ii.  p.  66. 


TWO  CATHOLIC  CANDIDATES  FOR  TIIE  THRONE.  271 


tion.  As  some  influence  had  been  used 
to  prevent  the  king  from  signing  the  edict, 
he  explained  and  justified  it  in  his  letter. 
"This  declaration,"  says  he,  "consisted 
principally  of  three  articles:  the  first  was 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  July;  the 
second,  the  re-establishment  of  the  edict 
of  pacification,  made  in  1577;  the  third, 
the  restoration  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
worship,  in  all  places  held  by  the  king  at 
the  time  of  the  truce,  permitting,  how- 
ever, the  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion 
in  the  same.  All  three  articles  to  remain 
in  force  until  his  majesty,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  shall  be  able  to  unite  all  his  subjects 
in  one  faith  and  religion.  To  effect  that, 
a  general  or  national  council  should  be 
announced,  or  an  ecclesiastical  convoca- 
tion freely  and  legally  assembled  in  the 
kingdom,  consisting  of  the  most  holy  and 
learned  persons  of  Christianity,  and  to 
which  his  majesty  could  submit  his  opi- 
nions."* It  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
Duplessis-Mornay  was  by  no  means  in- 
tolerant: he  was  willing  to  allow  the  Ca- 
tholics the  same  liberty  that  he  desired 
himself;  but  in  all  that  concerned  the 
papacy  he  was  inflexible.  Soon  after 
the  siege  of  Chartres  he  addressed  a  me- 
morial to  the  king,  containing  advice  as  to 
the  form  he  should  use  in  writing  to  the 
pope,  and  calling  upon  him  to  be  cau- 
tious in  making  use  of  the  terms  holy  fa- 
ther, vicar  of  Christ,  <$-r.;  for,  said  he, 
the  words  might  be  represented  very  dif- 
ferent from  their  intended  meaning,  and 
cause  considerable  trouble.t 

The  Catholics  in  the  king's  party  were, 
however,  of  too  much  importance  to 
allow  the  papal  influence  to  be  neglected; 
and  during  the  protracted  conclave,  which 
ended  in  the  election  of  Gregory  XIV., 
the  Duke  of  Luxemburg,  being  obliged 
to  return  from  Rome  to  France,  left  a  let- 
ter containing  a  full  account  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  kingdom,  which  was  to  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  successful 
candidate.  The  Spanish  influence  divert- 
ed Gregory  from  his  design  of  replying 
to  it,  and  the  duke  wrote  a  second  letter 
from  Chartres,|  m  which  he  repeated  the 
arguments  which  he  had  previously 
adopted  to  detach  the  pope  from  the 
league.    He  reminded  him  of  an  expres- 


*  Duplfssis,  ML  it-  p.  81. 
t  Ibid.  p.  87. 

{  Dated  6th  April,  1591.  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  118.  Mem. 
de  Nevtre,  vol.  ii.  p.  529. 


sion  which  he  had  used  in  conversation 
J  with  him  before  his  elevation — "  That  it 
was  necessary  that  the  King  of  France 
\  should  be  King  of  France,  and  the  King 
of  Spain  of  Spain;  as  the  grandeur  of 
one  would  serve  as  a  barrier  to  the  other's 
ambition."  But  it  was  in  vain  that  so 
many  illustrious  families  of  the  French 
noblesse  entreated  him  to  act  as  a  father 
^o  the  nation:  he  was  indebted  to  Spanish 
influence  for  his  election,  and  was  per- 
suaded to  pay  attention  to  a  letter  which 
had  been  previously  addressed  to  him  by 
the  sixteen.*  He  wrote  a  warm  letter  in 
reply  to  his  beloved  sons,  which  conferred 
upon  them  his  apostolical  benediction,  and 
announced  that  his  nephew,  Hercules 
Sfrondato,  Duke  of  Montemarciano,  was 
ready  to  join  them  with  men  and  sup- 
plies.t  A  week  afterwards  Landriano 
was  appointed  nuncio:  he  set  out  for 
Paris  furnished  with  a  monitoire  de- 
nouncing further  ecclesiastical  vengeance 
upon  the  princes  and  nobles  who  followed 
the  king's  party.i  The  parliaments  of 
Tours  and  Chalons  attacked  the  monitoire 
with  spirit:  they  passed  decrees,  condemn- 
ing the  document  to  be  publicly  burned, 
and  pronouncing  severe  penalties  against 
any  persons  that  might  obey  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  nuncio,  who  was  ordered  to 
be  arrested  wherever  he  could  be  found. § 
About  the  same  time  the  king  held  a 
council,  composed  of  the  most  eminent 
men  of  his  party  of  all  professions:  after 
due  deliberation  he  published  two  edicts- 
one  annulling  all  the  acts  which  the 
league  had  forced  upon  the  late  king;  the 
other  renewing  his  promise  to  maintain 
the  Catholic  religion,  although  he  could 
not  avoid  showing  his  resentment  to  the 
conduct  of  the  pope.  "  We  declare  and 
protest,"  says  the  king,  "that  we  desire 
nothing  more  earnestly  than  the  convoca- 
tion of  a  free  and  holy  council,  or  some 
notable  assembly,  competent  to  decide 
upon  the  differences  respecting  the  Ca- 
tholic religion,  &ct"J 

The  parliament  of  Paris,  and  of  the 
other  places  belonging  to  the  league, 
published  edicts  condemning  and  annul- 
ling those  of  the  royalists,  and  the  Nuncio 

*  Dnti  il  24th  F.  bruart.  1.591   Ci.yet,  liv.  3,  p.  411. 

t  Letter  dated  I2lh  May.  llnd,  p,  431. 

(  Monitoire,  dated  20th  May.  Cayet,  p.  429.  Ville- 
roy,  vol.  i.  p.  277. 

i!  Itavila,  1 1 v.  12.  Hist,  des  Derniera  Troubles,  vol.  ii. 
p.  2d.   Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  452.    Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  430. 

||  Da  ted  Mantes,  4Ui  July,  1591.  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  448. 


272 


DIVISIONS  AMONG  THE  LEAGUE. 


Landriano  went  to  an  assembly  at 
Rheims,  where  the  best  means  of  pro- 
moting the  object  of  his  mission  were 
discussed.  Mayenne  recommended  mo- 
deration; but  the  ecclesiastics,  with  blind 
zeal,  paid  no  attention  to  his  advice,  and 
Landriano  issued  orders  for  depriving  of 
their  employments  all  the  clergy  who  ad- 
hered to  Henry  IV.  When  it  appeared 
that  no  benefit  resulted  from  this  measure, 
the  assembly,  which  was  presided  by 
Cardinal  Pelleve,  decided  on  making  an 
application  to  Philip  of  Spain,  for  his  as- 
sistance to  maintain  the  king  who  should 
be  elected  at  the  approaching  states-gene- 
ral. The  president  Jeannin  was  charged 
with  the  mission.*  He  went  to  Madrid, 
and  represented  to  his  Catholic  majesty 
the  necessities  of  the  league,  the  extreme 
danger  which  threatened  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion, and  the  immortal  glory  which  he 
would  obtain  from  preserving  it  in  France, 
by  sending  assistance.  Philip  was  willing 
to  help  the  league,  provided  he  could  serve 
his  own  purpose  at  the  same  time,  and 
informed  Jeannin  that  his  intention  was 
to  marry  his  daughter  Isabella  to  the 
Archduke  Earnest,  establish  them  on  the 
throne  of  France,  and  give  them  the 
Netherlands  as  a  dowry:  he  contended 
that  the  Infanta  being  the  grand-daughter 
of  Henry  II.  was  much  nearer  to  the 
crown  than  the  Bourbons;  and  that  the 
house  of  Austria,  being  then  made  so 
deeply  interested,  would  send  reinforce- 
ments sufficient  to  enable  them  to  free  the 
country  from  the  Prince  of  Beam  and  the 
heretics.! 

Jeannin  would  not  cause  the  King  of 
Spain  to  think  that  such  a  measure  would 
meet  with  decided  opposition  from  the 
chiefs  of  "the  league,  but  made  some  cur- 
sory remarks  upon  the  Salic  law,  without 
however  destroying  his  hopes;  by  that 
means  he  obtained  the  promise  of  exten- 
sive help  both  in  men  and  money.  On 
his  return  to  France,  the  president  com- 
pletely satisfied  the  Duke  of  Mayenne 
that  he  need  not  calculate  upon  assistance 
from  Philip  II.  unless  there  were  a  pros- 
pect of  placing  the  Infanta  on  the  throne.| 
This  intelligence  created  great  distrust 
among  the  leaguers:  the  Sixteen  became 
more  violent  in  behalf  of  the  Spaniards, 


*  Davila,  liv.  12.  Villerny,  vol.  i.  pp  233  el  sej. 
t  Maimbourg.  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  liv.  4,  p.  322. 
t  Davila,  liv.  12. 


while  the  parliament  adhered  to  Mayenne, 
and  boldly  protested  against  the  election 
of  a  foreign  prince. 

By  a  singular  coincidence  there  was  at 
the  same  time  a  division  among  the  roy- 
alists: the  young  Cardinal  of  Bourbon 
(nephew  of  him  who  had  been  proclaim- 
ed king  by  the  league)  was  induced  to 
make  an  appeal  to  the  Catholicism  of  the 
royalists,  on  the  ground  of  the  king's  delay 
in  changing  his  religion.  The  time  he  had 
fixed  upon  for  making  the  effort  was  when 
a  discussion  was  to  take  place  respecting 
the  publication  of  an  edict  favourable  to 
the  Huguenots.  By  timely  information 
the  king  was  able  to  frustrate  the  entire 
plan.  The  cardinal  was  already  in  cor- 
respondence with  Mayenne,  Villeroy,  and 
others  of  the  league,  and  the  unguarded 
way  in  which  the  king  lived  at  Mantes 
induced  his  enemies  to  form  a  scheme  for 
seizing  upon  his  person.  Divisions  of 
troops  from  Paris  and  Rouen  were  to 
arrive  simultaneously  at  Mantes;  and  as 
their  attack  would  be  aided  by  the  party 
in  the  town,  they  entertained  no  doubt  of 
succeeding.  A  letter  was  addressed  to 
the  pope  with  an  account  of  the  proposed 
plan,  but  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sully, 
who  immediately  handed  it  to  his  sove- 
reign. When  the  matter  was  investigated, 
and  information  had  been  collected  by  the 
king's  friends,  it  was  laid  before  the 
council.  The  chancellor  Chivemy  took 
the  opportunity  to  exhort  the  king  to 
change  his  religion,  as  the  most  effica- 
cious manner  of  preventing  such  plots; 
but  La  Noue  observed,  that  as  the  only  aW 
lies  that  remained  true  to  his  majesty  were 
the  Queen  of  England  and  some  Protest- 
ant princes  of  Germany,  such  a  measure 
might  prove  injurious  to  his  cause:  he 
admitted  that  such  a  change  must  be  made 
in  the  end;  but  as  the  King  of  Spain  and 
the  pope  had  been  making  great  exertions 
to  assist  the  league,  it  would  be  very  in- 
judicious to  take  any  steps  which  might 
deprive  the  royal  cause  of  the  assistance 
of  the  Huguenots  Biron  was  of  the 
same  opinion,  and  the  king  took  no  fur» 
ther  notice  of  the  affair  than  to  let  the 
conspirators  see  they  were  discovered. 
He  sent  for  the  cardinal,  and  in  his  pre? 
sence  completed  the  plans  he  had  in  con- 
templation. The  edict  in  favour  of  the 
Huguenots  was  published  without  oppo- 
sition; and  the  Count  de  Soissons,  who 


HENRY  JOINED  BY  THE  EARL  OF  ESSEX. 


273 


had  been  concerned,  was  deprived  of  his 
governments  of  Poictou  and  Touraine: 
those  charges  were  conferred  upon  the 
Prince  of  Conty,  who  was  not  in  the 
secret;  the  contemplated  attack  upon 
Mantes  was  of  course  abandoned  directly 
it  was  known  that  the  king  was  informed 
of  it* 

The  Cardinal  of  Bourbon  at  once  re- 
linquished all  idea  of  the  enterprise:  his 
confidants  Bellozane  and  Du  Perron  were 
won  over  to  the  king's  interests;  and  from 
the  apparent  sincerity  of  his  reconciliation 
with  Henry  IV.,  it  has  been  contended 
that  he  was  not  really  concerned  in  the 
plot,  but  that  his  name  was  made  use  of 
to  promote  the  designs  of  others,  who  de- 
ceived him  into  a  compliance  with  their 
measures. 

While  these  schemes  occupied  the  ac- 
tive men  of  both  parties,  the  relative  po- 
sitions of  the  king  and  the  league  had 
been  materially  altered  by  different  cir- 
cumstances which  had  occurred  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  in  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom;  and  as  the  royalists  could  now 
look  forward  to  a  happy  conclusion  of  the 
war,  they  were  less  likely  to  engage  in 
such  schemes,  which  became  more  diffi- 
cult to  execute,  and  offered  less  chance 
of  impunity  in  case  of  detection. 

Lesdiguieres,  who  commanded  for  the 
king  in  Dauphiny,  took  possession  of 
Grenoble,  and  expelled  the  troops  of  the 
league  from  that  province,  before  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  could  send  any  aid.  The 
Duke  of  Montpensier  had  been  equally 
successful  in  Normandy,  and  the  Prince 
of  Conty  had  obtained  great  advantages 
in  Poictou. t  Turenne,  who  had  been 
sent  to  request  some  assistance  from 
Queen  Elizabeth,  was  also  on  his  road  to 
join  the  king's  army.J  When  the  appli- 
cation was  made  to  that  princess,  she  was 
in  hopes  of  obtaining  some  equivalent  for 
the  services  which  she  could  not  avoid 
rendering  to  the  opponent  of  Philip  II., 
her  chief  enemy:  she  dwelt  upon  the  ne- 
cessity of  her  traders  having  a  port  in 
France  to  compensate  for  Calais,  which 
she  said  had  been  usurped  by  the  Duke 
of  Guise.  Turenne  adroitly  parried  her 
demand,  by  showing  that  an  alienation  of 

*  Ravila,  liv.  12.   Sully,  liv.  4.  De  Thou,  liv.  101 
t  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  20.  Cayet, 
liv.  9. 

t  His  instructions  and  commission,  dated  Gisors,  Oc- 
tober, 1590,  are  to  be  found  in  Villeroy,  vol.  iv. 


any  part  of  the  kingdom  would  deprive 
the  king  of  a  great  number  of  his  friends, 
which  would  injure  his  cause  much  more 
than  her  assistance  would  benefit  him. 
Turenne  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  loan  of 
a  hundred  thousand  crowns,  and  the  pro- 
mise of  six  thousand  men  to  be  sent  to 
Brittany.  From  London  the  envoy  went 
to  Holland,  where  he  obtained  of  the 
States-general  three  thousand  men,  and  a 
promise  to  support  them;  and  in  Germany 
he  raised  four  thousand  cavalry  and  eight 
thousand  infantry,  with  which  he  arrived 
at  Vandy  in  Champagne  in  September, 
1591* 

As  soon  as  the  king  knew  that  the  fo- 
reign levies  were  on  the  road,  he  decided 
on  leaving  Mantes  to  go  to  meet  them; 
and  taking  the  route  of  Picardy,  he  laid 
siege  to  Noyon  towards  the  end  of  July. 
The  league  made  several  efforts  to  relieve 
the  place,  both  by  attempts  to  throw  in 
reinforcements,  and  by  creating  a  diver- 
sion by  attacking  other  places,  but  with- 
out success;  for,  after  sustaining  a  furious 
cannonade,  the  garrison  proposed  to  ca- 
pitulate.t  The  king  offered  them  very 
easy  terms,  requiring  from  them  only  a 
contribution  of  thirty  thousand  crowns. 
The  little  town  of  Pierre-fonts  next  en- 
gaged his  attention;  and  while  there  he 
was  joined  by  the  Earl  of  Essex,  who 
had  been  sent  to  his  assistance  with  four 
thousand  infantry ,  and  five  hundred  horse- 
men: the  earl  was  accompanied  by  sixty 
gentlemen  of  distinction.^ 

The  league,  however,  had  some  suc- 
cesses and  advantages:  the  Duke  of  May- 
enne  succeeded  in  taking  Chateau-Thierry; 
Guyonville,  a  leaguer,  took  Mirebeau  in 
Burgundy:  the  royalists  were  repulsed 
before  Lamballe  in  Brittany;  and  Honfleur 
was  surprised  and  retaken  by  the  league. 
The  English  forces  had  been  sent  to  Brit- 
tany as  Elizabeth  had  promised,  and  the 
Prince  of  Dombes  and  La  Noue  having 
joined  them,  the  siege  of  Lambelle  was 
commenced.  The  attack  was  so  violent 
that  the  besieged  had  decided  on  aban- 
doning the  town,  to  retire  into  a  strong 
fort  at  hand;  but  La  Noue  received  a 
mortal  wound,  which  so  raised  the  hopes 
of  the  garrison,  that  they  repaired  the 

*  Davila,  liv.  12.   Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  438. 
t  17th  August,  1591. 

t  31st  August  Davila,  liv.  12.  Cayet,  liv.  3.  Hen- 
ry's letter  to  Elizabeth,  thanking  her  for  her  kindness 
is  inserted  in  Villeroy,  vol.  iv.  p.  249. 


274 


IMPORTANT  SERVICES  OF  TURENNE. 


breach,  and  compelled  the  royalists  to 
raise  the  siege.*    This  event  grieved  all 
the  royalists,  who  had  great  confidence 
in  the  tried  courage  and  probity  of  La 
Noue.    The  loss  of  such  a  captain  was 
also  felt  more  sensibly,  as  about  the  same 
time  the  Count  de  Chatillon  died  of  a  dis- 
order caused  by  the  great  fatigues  he  had 
undergone :  his  talents  and  firmness  gave 
great  reason  for  supposing  he  would  have 
equalled  his  father,  and  his  death  was  la- 
mented by  both  Catholics  and  Protestants.t 
On  the  fifteenth  of  August  preceding, 
the  young  Duke  of  Guise  had  made  his 
escape  from  the  castle  of  Tours,  where  he 
had  been  imprisoned  since  his  father's 
death.     Some  persons  have  thought  it 
was  connived  at  through  bribery  ;  others, 
that  the  king  was  desirous  of  letting  him 
loose  upon  the  league  to  create  a  fresh 
party  among  them.    He  succeeded,  how* 
ever,  in  descending  from  the  castle  wall 
by  the  help  of  a  knotted  rope,  carried  se- 
cretly into  the  castle,  and  having  by  a  ma- 
noeuvre fastened  a  door  between  him  and 
his  guards.    His  escape  was  discovered 
immediately;  but  good  horses  had  been 
brought  to  the  entrance  of  the  town,  so 
that  he  could  not  be  overtaken.}  Great 
rejoicings  were  made  on  the  occasion ; 
and  in  a  letter  from  the  Sixteen  to  Philip, 
the  circumstance  is  alluded  to,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  massacre  of  the  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, to  show  how  propitious  the  month 
of  August  had  been  to  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion.}   But  the  arrival  of  a  popular  prince, 
by  creating  fresh  interests,  evidently  weak- 
ened the  league,  and  impeded  their  ope- 
rations.   Davila||  unequivocally  describes 
the  duke's  escape  from  prison  as  a  trouble 
for  the  Duke  of  Mayenne ;  VilleroylT  men- 
tions that  from  the  time  that  the  leaguers 
were  joined  by  Guise,  they  treated  May- 
enne with  disdain. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 


Murder  of  the  President  lirisson  and  others— Siege  of 
Rouen. 


*Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  4G7.  Davila,  liv.  12.  De  Thou,  liv 
101,  p.  398.  La  Noue  was  removed  to  Moncontour, 
where  he  died  4th  August,  1591. 

t  Francis  de  Coligny,  Count  de  Chatillon,  and  Ad 
miral  of  Guyenne,  died  8th  October,  1591,  in  the  35th 
year  of  his  age. 

t  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  283.  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  De 
Thou,  liv.  101.  Cayet,  liv.  3. 

«  Villeroy,  vol.  iv.  p.  257.  |,  Book  12. 

IT  Mem.  d'Etat,  vol.  i.  p.  291. 


Paris  continued  to  be  so  much  incon- 
venienced by  the  king  having  possession 
of  most  places  around,  that  Mayenne 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Parma,  entreating 
him  to  return  into  France  and  relieve  the 
Union.  The  Spanish  general  sent  word 
in  reply,  that  he  had  not  sufficient  force  to 
carry  on  the  war  in  Flanders,  and  that  he 
could  do  nothing  without  orders  from 
Spain;  but  that  he  would  aid  the  cause  to 
the  extent  of  his  power,  and  remitted  to 
Paris  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand 
florins,  which  was  the  only  thing  he  could 
do  for  the  league.* 

In  addition  to  this  disappointment  they 
received  an  account  of  the  defeat  of  the 
army  under  the  Duke  of  Montemarciano, 
which  the  pope  had  sent  to  their  assist- 
ance. Although  the  supply  had  been 
granted  in  the  spring,  a  considerable  time 
had  elapsed  before  the  levy  was  completed 
and  ready  to  march  ;  and  Montemarciano 
did  not  reach  the  frontier  of  Dauphiny  till 
August,  when  he  was  attacked  by  the 
royalists  under  Lesdiguieres.  A  dispute 
then  arose  between  the  duke,  Peter  Caje- 
tan,  his  lieutenant,  and  the  Archbishop 
Matteucci,  his  commissary-general,  which 
ended  in  Cajetan's  withdrawing  from  the 
army  with  part  of  the  troops.  This  was 
followed  by  several  other  desertions,  and 
before  Montemarciano  arrived  at  Verdun, 
which  was  appointed  for  a  rendezvous,  an 
epidemic  disease  had  arisen  and  made 
great  ravages  in  his  ranks.t  At  Verdun 
he  was  joined  by  the  Dukes  of  Lorrain 
and  Mayenne,  and  a  division  of  Spanish 
troops.  The  Jesuits  were  deeply  interest- 
ed in  the  success  of  this  army,  and  four 
of  their  members  accompanied  it,  in  order 
that  they  might  attend  to  the  militant  af- 
fairs of  the  church,  as  well  as  its  spiritual 
concerns.}. 

While  the  leaguers  were  disappointed 
on  one  hand  by  the  inefficiency  of  this  re- 
inforcement, they  were  alarmed  on  the 
other  by  the  accounts  they  received  of  the 

*  Cavet,  liv.  3,  p  439. 

t  Davila,  liv.  12.   Cayet,  liv.  3,  p  477 

t  Adilitis  i|iiatnor  e  societate  sacerdotibus,  qui  mili- 
tibus  sacra  procurarent.  Historic  Sucietatis  Jesu,  Sf-c, 
auctore  Josepuo  Jcvencio,  lib.  xvi.  p.  365.  Rouii, 
J710. 


DIVISIONS  AMONG  THE  LEAGUE. 


275 


advance  of  an  army  from  Germany  to  join 
the  king.  Turenne,  it  has  been  men- 
tioned, had  been  employed  to  procure 
those  levies,  and  arrived  with  them  to- 
wards the  end  of  September.  When  the 
king  reviewed  them  in  the  plain  of  Vandy, 
in  Champagne,  they  consisted  of  sixteen 
thousand  men  and  four  pieces  of  artillery. 
They  were  commanded  by  the  Prince  of 
Anhalt.*  The  service  which  Turenne  had 
rendered  the  royal  cause  was  so  import- 
ant, that  the  king  interested  himself  in  con- 
cluding his  marriage  with  Charlotte  de  la 
Marck,  heiress  of  the  house  of  Bouillon. 
That  lady  had  been  sought  in  marriage 
by  the  Duke  of  Lorrain  for  his  eldest  son  ; 
but  the  late  Duke  of  Bouillon,  her  brother, 
had  by  his  will  forbidden  her  to  marry  a 
Catholic,  and  it  was  in  vain  to  hope  to  set 
aside  such  an  injunction,  as  all  the  Pro- 
testant princes  of  Germany  would  have 
exerted  themselves  to  maintain  it.t  By 
this  marriage  he  became  Duke  of  Bouillon, 
by  which  title  he  was  subsequently  styled  ; 
and  about  the  same  time  he  was  elevated 
to  the  rank  of  a  marshal.}  On  the  eve- 
ning of  his  wedding,  when  the  king  had 
retired  to  rest,  Turenne  set  out  with  a 
body  of  choice  soldiers,  and  surprised  Ste- 
nay,  a  town  belonging  to  the  Duke  of 
Lorrain,  who  sent  troops  to  recover  the 
place,  but  in  vain.j  Henry  was  highly 
pleased  at  the  event,  and  replied,  when  he 
•was  told  of  it,  "  Venire.  Saint  Gris .'"  "  I 
would  often  conclude  marriages,  and  soon 
get  possession  of  my  kingdom,  if  the  par- 
ties would  make  me  such  presents."|| 

The  arrival  of  the  Germans  made  such 
an  addition  to  the  king's  force  that  he  re- 
solved to  execute  a  plan  which  he  had 
meditated  for  a  considerable  time:  it  was 
the  siege  of  Rouen,  and  for  that  purpose 
he  set  out  for  Normandy  at  the  end  of 
October,  having  divided  his  army  into  four 
bodies  in  order  to  keep  his  enemies  in  a 
state  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  point  of  his 
attack.  He  took  one  division  to  Noyo'n; 
Montpensier,  with  another  took  the  route 
of  Crecy  in  Brie ;  Nevers  remained  at  Ver. 

*  -JOiti  September.  1591.   Cayet.  liv.  3,  p  480. 

t  Marsollier.  ffigt  de  Due  de  Bouillon,  vol.  ii.  p.  38. 

t  The  marriage  look  place  lllh  October,  1591,  but  lie 
dirt  not  lake  the  oalh  as  Marshal  till  15tli  March,  1592. 
In  a  letter  of  th.it  date  lo  Duplessis  Morn  ay,  he  men- 
lions  that  objections  had  been  made  to  his  appointment 
on  account  of  his  religion.  The  delay  which  occurred 
between  his  nomination  and  final  reception  as  Marshal 
accounts  for  the  incongruities  between  some  of  the 
French  historians. 

o  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  482. 

||  De  Bury,  Hilt,  dc  Henry  IV.  vol.  ii.  p.  124. 


vins,  which  the  king  had  taken  a  few  days 
previously,  and  the  Baron  de  Biron  passed 
by  St.  Quentin  into  Normandy* 

All  this  time  the  councils  of  the  league 
were  agitated  by  divisions  and  animosi- 
ties: there  had  always  been  a  few  parties 
distinguished  from  each  other  by  the  de- 
gree of  zeal  which  they  displayed  respect- 
ing their  connexions  with  the  court  of 
Madrid,  and  Mayenne's  authority  had 
been  odious  to  many  of  them  ever  since 
his  suppression  of  the  council  of  the  Union; 
but  the  enlargement  of  the  young  Duke  of 
Guise  created  a  fresh  division  of  interests. 
Some  encouraged  his  ambition  in  order  to 
set  up  a  rival  to  Mayenne;  while  others, 
being  satisfied  that  none  but  a  native 
prince  could  ever  be  accepted  by  the  na- 
tion for  their  king,  proposed  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  complicated  state  of  affairs, 
and  at  once  serve  the  league  and  the  King 
of  Spain,  by  elevating  Guise  to  the  throne, 
and  marrying  him  to  the  infanta,  daughter 
of  Philip  II.  To  effect  this  the  Sixteen 
addressed  a  letter  to  that  king,  informing 
him  how  desirous  they  were  to  be  under 
his  government,  and  under  that  of  his  pos- 
terity, and  entreating  his  Catholic  majesty 
to  choose  a  son-in-law  whom  they  would 
all  obey  and  receive  as  their  sovereign. 
Father  Claude  Mathieu,  a  Jesuit,  was  the 
bearer  of  this  epistle,  which  was  signed  by 
the  principal  leaguers  and  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne.  But  Chazeron,  a  royalist,  and 
governor  of  the  Bourbonnais,  intercepted 
this  letter,  and  sent  it  to  his  master,  who 
afterwards  sent  it  to  Mayenne;  by  which 
means  the  breach  between  him  and  the 
Sixteen  was  increased  beyond  all  chance 
of  accommodation.t 

From  that  time  the  active  leaguers 
were  busy  in  creating  a  violent  opposi- 
tion to  Mayenne  and  his  party,  which 
comprised  all  those  who,  notwithstanding 
their  hatred  to  the  king  and  to  the  Hugue- 
nots, were  still  imbued  with  too  much 


*  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  482. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  504.  The  accounts  of  this  letter 
differ  very  much  as  to  the  date.  In  Vilbroy  (vol.  iv.  p. 
253)  it  is  dated  20lh  September,  1001  ;  De  Thou  (liv. 
102)  gives  the  date  20th  November,  but  which  is  evi- 
dently an  error,  as  the  -preceding  month  (August)  is  al- 
luded to  as  being  so  very  favourable  to  the  Union  ; 
Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  505,  gives  the  2d  of  September ;  anil 
Arnauld  in  pleading  against  the  Jesuits,  in  1504,  de- 
scribes it  as  dated  the  2d  of  November.  The  authen- 
ticity of  the  letter  has  never  been  questioned,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  first  letter  being  intercepted,  a  second 
was  sent  with  a  later  date.  This  idea  is  supported  by 
the  Journal  de  Henri  IV.;  for  the  writer  alludes  to  Ma- 
Ihieu's  mission  in  Septemtier  (p.  181,)  and  mentions  the 
letter  further  on  (p.  205,)  as  dated  20th  November. 


276 


DIVISIONS  AMONG  THE  LEAGUE. 


national  feeling  to  consent  either  to  the 
dismemberment  of  France  or  its  sub- 
jection to  a  foreign  prince.  The  Sixteen 
had  the  populace  at  their  command,  and 
to  inflame  them  it  was  given  out  that 
Mayenne  had  augmented  their  contri- 
butions solely  to  enrich  himself.  The 
Spanish  minister  encouraged  the  party 
who  were  for  placing  themselves  under 
the  government  of  his  master;  as  also  did 
Sega,  Bishop  of  Placentia,  the  pope's  le- 
gate, whose  functions  ceasing  on  the 
death  of  Gregory  XIV.,  had  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  the  Spanish  faction.* 

As  Mayenne  was  not  then  at  Paris, 
the  Sixteen  sent  four  deputies  to  him  at 
Rheims  to  demand  certain  changes,  and  to 
make  complaints  against  some  of  the  par- 
liament, particularly  the  president  Bris- 
son.  At  their  first  interview,  Mayenne 
received  them  haughtily,  but  afterwards 
he  spoke  to  them  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  conciliate  their  feelings,  which  he  per- 
ceived were  already  too  much  irritated. 
He  told  them,  that,  as  the  enemy  was  on 
the  alert,  he  could  not  then  attend  to 
such  business ;  and  recommended  them 
not  to  make  any  changes  at  that  time,  as 
their  own  cause  would  suffer  from  the 
advantage  it  would  give  their  enemies. 
On  the  return  of  the  deputies  to  Paris,  the 
Sixteen  expressed  great  indignation  at 
the  duke's  conduct,  and  came  to  a  resolu- 
tion to  take  the  government  of  the  town 
into  their  own  hands.  Inflammatory  re- 
ports were  as  usual  the  means  resorted  to 
for  making  the  people  turbulent;  and  the 
parliament  being  as  odious  to  them  as 
the  duke,  they  blackened  both  by  giving 
out  that  the  Catholic  religion  was  betrayed 
by  Mayenne,  and  that  the  parliament  was 
making  every  effort  to  give  up  the  city  to 
the  King  of  Navarre. f 

It  was  not  long  before  an  opportunity 
offered  for  executing  their  violent  resolu- 
tion. An  attorney  named  Brigard  had 
written  a  letter  'o  his  uncle,  a  royalist, 
residing  at  St.  Denis1,  and  sent  the  letter 
by  a  servant.  As  all  persons  who  quitted 
Paris  on  that  side  were  strictly  searched 
at  the  barriers,  the  servant  did  not 
escape,  but  nothing  was  found  on  his 
person:  he  had,  however,  a  bottle  in  his 
hand,  which  was  broken,  and  by  that 
means  the  letter  was  found.    The  trou- 


*  Davila,  liv.  12.  Gregory  XIV  died  15th  Oct.  1591. 
t  Davila,  liv.  12,  p.  473. 


bled  state  of  the  times  made  every  one 
adopt  a  mysterious  style  of  communica- 
tion, and  the  leaguers  were  satisfied  that 
Brigard  had  turned  royalist,  and  imme- 
diately took  him  to  prison.  His  death 
was  loudly  called  for,  but  the  president 
Brisson  declared  Brigard  innocent,  and 
he  then  contrived  to  escape  from  Paris; 
the  Sixteen  were  highly  incensed  on  the 
occasion,  and  immediately  held  a  con- 
sultation for  avenging  themselves  on  the 
president.  There  were  great  difficulties 
in  the  execution  of  the  plan,  which  was 
generally  approved,  and  their  meeting 
was  adjourned  several  times;  at  last 
Bussy-le-Clerc  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
signatures  of  a  number  of  the  council  to 
a  blank  paper,  under  pretence  of  a  new 
formule  of  the  oath  to  be  taken  by  the 
Union,  which,  however,  he  could  not 
obtain  without  violence  to  some,  who 
complained  at  being  so  treated.*  Thus 
furnished,  Bussy  held  another  meeting  of 
his  friends,  who  were  the  most  violent 
men  of  the  time:  Crome,  a  counsellor; 
Hamilton,  curate  of  St.  Come;  Pelletier, 
curate  of  St.  James,  and  others:  the  blank 
paper  was  filled  up  with  a  sentence  of 
death  against  the  president  Brisson,  and 
a  like  fate  for  Larcher  and  Tardif,  coun- 
sellors.t 

Brisson  was  informed  that  his  life  was 
in  danger,  for  assassins  had  been  hired  to 
murder  him  and  five  others  in  their 
houses;  and  he  who  was  to  kill  the  pre- 
sident, while  he  pretended  to  consent  to 
the  proposal,  sent  him  word  to  lose  no 
time  in  leaving  Paris:  he  even  undertook 
to  convey  him  in  safety  to  St  Denis. 
The  president  thanked  him  for  his  ad- 
vice, but  would  not  leave  the  city.  On 
the  morning  of  the  15th  of  November,  as 
he  was  proceeding  to  the  Palace  of  Jus- 
tice, he  was  arrested  on  the  Pont  St. 
Michel,  and  conducted  to  the  Chatelet, 
where  his  sentence  of  death  was  read  to 
him  without  any  form  of  trial.  Crome 
asked  the  president  if  he  was  not  in  cor- 
respondence with  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  why  he  had  not  sentenced  Brigard  to 
death  :  to  the  first  question  he  answered, 
"No!"  to  the  other,  "That  he  had  been 
acquitted  by  a  decree  of  the  court,  and 
not  by  him  alone."    He  was  then  told 


*  Pasqtiier,  vol.  ii.  p.  483.  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p. 
620. 

+  Cayet,  liv.  3.  p.  506-509. 


MAYENNE  ENTERS  PARIS. 


277 


that  it  was  a  great  favour  that  he  would  I 
not  be  publicly  executed.*  Brisson's 
mind  was  so  imbued  with  legal  forms, 
that  he  demanded  to  be  confronted  with 
the  witnesses  who  had  deposed  against 
him.  Crome  made  no  other  answer  than 
a  burst  of  laughter.  Brisson  then  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  be  permitted  to  finish  a 
work  upon  jurisprudence,  which  was  in 
progress:  his  murderers  laughed  still 
more,  and  ordered  him  to  be  despatched.t 
He  was  soon  after  hanged  at  a  post  in- 
side the  prison.  Larcher  and  Tardif 
were  treated  in  the  same  manner,  and  the 
following  day  their  bodies  were  exposed 
at  the  Greve  on  a  gibbet,  with  a  paper 
placed  over  them,  stating  that  they  were 
traitors  and  heretics.  It  was  expected 
that  the  people  would  have  taken  an  in- 
terest in  this  affair,  but  the  public  tran- 
quillity was  not  affected  by  it.  Some 
blamed  the  deed,  and  others  shrugged 
their  shoulders ;  but  none,  not  even  the 
Spaniards,  exhibited  any  satisfaction.  The 
further  exposure  of  the  bodies  was  there- 
fore useless,  and  they  were  taken  down 
again  the  day  after,  and  delivered  to  their 
friends  for  burial.]: 

Mayenne  was  at  Laon  :  when  he  was 
informed  of  what  had  occurred  in  Paris, 
he  immediately  set  out  for  the  capital,  ac- 
companied by  the  Counts  de  Vaudemont, 
Brissac,  Chaligny,  and  others  with  seven 
hundred  choice  cavalry,  leaving  the  pre- 
sident Jeannin  with  the  Duke  of  Guise,  to 
watch  his  movements,  and  be  a  restraint 
upon  him:§  But  Don  Diego  d'lvarra, 
who  had  learned  the  cause  of  Mayenne's 
sndden  departure,  also  set  out  for  Paris  to 
be  ready  to  assist  the  partisans  of  Spain, 
if  they  were  in  any  danger.  Mayenne 
arrived  at  Paris  on  the  28th  of  Novem- 
ber, having  added  to  his  escort  two  regi- 
ments of  infantry  which  were  at  Soissons, 
and  two  hundred  horsemen  who  were  at 
Meaux.  As  he  entered  Paris  by  the 
Porte  St.  Antoine,  Boucher  addressed  him 
on  behalf  of  the  Sixteen,  who  were  al- 
ready in  a  great  consternation,  and  had 
deliberated  whether  he  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  the  city ;  they  afterwards  re- 
solved to  poniard  him,  and  one  of  them 


*  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  511-512. 

t  De  Thou,  liv.  102.  Hist,  du  Parlement  de  Paris, 
ch.  32. 

I  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  515.  Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  487.  Jour- 
nal de  Henri  IV. 
§  25th  Nov.  1591.  Davila,  liv.  12. 

24 


desired  the  honour  of  giving  him  the  first 
blow.  Boucher  happened  to  be  clear  of 
the  murder  of  Brisson,  for  he  was  at 
Soissons  at  the  time ;  but  when  he  al- 
luded to  the  subject,  Mayenne  sai^d 
"  Another  time,"  and  passed  on.* 

Diego  d'lvarra,  and  the  other  Spanish 
ministers,  waited  upon  him  directly  he 
arrived,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
avoid  showing  any  resentment  for  what 
had  occurred ;  for  although  the  proper 
forms  and  proceedings  were  wanting,  the 
act  in  itself  was  nevertheless  good,  and 
very  useful  to  the  preservation  of  religion. 
Mayenne  replied  to  them  with  mode- 
ration; but  immediately  commenced  an 
examination  of  the  force  then  in  the  city. 
He  ordered  the  different  officers  to  be  at 
their  posts,  and  the  next  morning  seized 
all  the  avenues  of  the  Rue  St.  Antoine. 
He  then  summoned  Bussy-le-Clerc  to  sur- 
render the  Bastille.  At  first  he  refused, 
but  when  he  found  that  none  of  the  po- 
pulace stirred  in  his  behalf,  and  that  the 
cannon  from  the  arsenal  was  being  placed 
against  him,  he  consented  to  give  up  the 
fortress,  on  condition  that  his  life  should 
be  spared. 

Such  excellent  arrangements  had  been 
made  by  the  provost  and  other  officers, 
in  placing  soldiers  in  the  different  streets, 
and  on  the  bridges,  that  the  town  was 
completely  under  subjection,  and  May- 
enne saw  that  he  could  easily  pursue  his 
plans  for  punishing  the  cruelty  of  the  Six- 
teen; to  which  also  he  was  urged  by  se- 
veral good  families  of  Paris,  who  en- 
treated him  not  to  suffer  such  an  act  to 
go  unpunished.  He  therefore  ordered 
Vitry  to  seize  the  most  violent  of  the  fac- 
tion, and  to  have  them  hanged.  Crome 
escaped  in  the  disguise  of  a  Spanish  sol- 
dier; but  Louchart,  Emonot,  Anroux,  and 
Ameline,  were  taken  without  any  diffi- 
culty, and  received  the  same  summary 
kind  of  execution  that  they,  had  inflicted 
on  the  president  Brisson.f 

This  display  of  firmness  restored  May- 
enne's authority;  but  the  number  of  con- 
cealed royalists  increased  very  much  in 
the  bosom  of  the  league,  and  prepared  for 
assisting  the  king's  cause,  when  his  af- 
fairs were  more  matured.    A  coolness 

*  Davila.  Iiv.jl2.  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  51(i.  Villeroy,  vol. 
i.  p.  2!I3. 

t  4th  Dec.  1591.  Davila,  liv.  12.  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  51d. 
— journal  de  Henri  IV.  p.  215-217.  Pasquier,  vol.  ii,  p. 
490.   Villeroy,  vol.  j.  p.  295. 


278 


SIEGE  OF  KOUEN  BY  THE  ROYALISTS. 


also  arose  between  the  French  and  Spa- 
nish captains,  which  impeded  their  ope- 
rations, and  prevented  their  deriving  the 
advantage  which  was  to  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  return  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma  into  France  with  another  army; 
that  measure  had  been  forced  upon  the 
King  of  Spain,  on  account  of  the  siege  of 
Rouen,  which  was  at  this  time  being 
pressed  with  vigour. 

The  Baron  de  Biron  made  his  appear- 
ance before  that  town  on  the  eleventh  of 
November;  and  being  joined  by  three 
thousand  English  under  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
he  discharged  a  culverine  as  a  sort  of  de- 
fiance. A  number  of  the  inhabitants  im- 
mediately sallied  forth,  and  attacked  the 
royalists.  After  skirmishing  for  some 
time,  they  separated  without  any  other 
result  than  the  loss  of  a  few  men  to  both 
parties.  Among  those  of  the  royalist 
party  who  were  killed,  was  Walter  De- 
vereux,  a  relative  of  Lord  Essex;  who 
being  engaged  with  Bois-rose,  a  cele- 
brated officer  of  the  league,  was  mortally 
wounded  in  the  throat  by  a  pistol-ball.* 
Biron  took  up  a  position  at  Dernetal,  a 
place  at  the  distance  of  a  league,  and 
commenced  his  operations  by  making 
himself  master  of  all  the  places  in  the 
neighbourhood ;  he  sent  parties  to  collect 
all  the  provisions  and  others  stores  that 
were  to  be  obtained  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  in  order  that  he  might  derive 
benefit  from  them  in  two  ways,  during 
the  blockade  of  Rouen ;  his  men  would 
not  be  taken  from  the  siege  to  seek  for 
such  supplies,  and  he  deprived  the  enemy 
of  a  great  resource.  He  took  Gournay, 
Caudebec,  and  other  places;  found  large 
stores  of  grain  at  Louviers,  and  was  well 
supplied  with  tents  from  Caen.f 

Hitherto  the  league  had  been  in  sus- 
pense respecting  the  king's  operations, 
for  although  it  was  considered  certain 
that  Rouen  would  ultimately  be  attacked, 
it  was  thought  that  Rheims  would  first 
occupy  the  royalists,  and  the  siege  of  that 
place  was  generally  expected.  But  the 
appearance  of  Biron  with  his  forces,  put 
an  end  to  all  doubt,  and  preparations  were 
made  for  promoting  the  defence  of  the 
town.  Andrew  de  Brancas-Villars,  the 
governor,  was  a  man  of  most  determined 
bravery :  he  was  admiral  of  the  league, 
and  in  all  that  party  there  was  scarcely 


*  Cayet;t,  liv.  3,  p.  501. 


t  Davila,  liv.  12. 


any  individual  who  was  better  qualified 
for  the  task  which  was  before  him.  He 
lost  no  time  in  collecting  provisions  and 
ammunition,  and  expelled  from  the  town 
all  persons  who  were  suspected  of  being 
favourably  inclined  to  the  king.  By  the  in- 
fluence of  Bauquemart,  president  of  the  par- 
liament, the  inhabitants  were  made  to  swear 
that  they  would  denounce  all  who,  by 
word  or  deed,  supported  the  King  of  Na- 
varre. Monks  and  priests  were  em- 
ployed to  animate  the  people  by  their  dis- 
courses; and  insolent  letters  addressed  to 
the  king  were  published  as  a  means  of 
encouraging  a  spirit  of  hatred  to  his  per- 
son. Such  exertions  were  made  in  con- 
sequence of  the  governor's  orders,  that 
within  a  fortnight  he  received  within  the 
city  fifty  pieces  of  artillery,  a  great  quan- 
tity of  ammunition,  and  a  reinforcement 
of  soldiers.* 

The  destiny  of  Rouen  was  remarkable : 
in  the  first  civil  war  it  had  sustained  a 
memorable  siege  in  the  cause  of  the  re- 
formed religion  ;  on  this  occasion  a  more 
obstinate  and  more  successful  defence 
was  maintained  against  the  king,  solely 
because  he  had  been  educated  a  Pro- 
testant. The  influence  of  the  league  had 
been  so  powerful  there,  that  the  Hugue- 
nots were  completely  subdued:  the  par- 
liament also  was  so  zealous  for  the  Union, 
that  on  one  occasion  they  condemned  to 
death  some  royalist  prisoners,  and 
passed  a  decree,  declaring  that  all  fol- 
lowers of  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  all 
who  refused  to  acknowledge  Charles  X. 
were  guilty  of  high  treason.t 

The  king  did  not  arrive  till  the  end  of 
the  month,  but  in  the  interval  several 
sorties  and  skirmishes  had  been  made. 
With  a  man  of  the  character  of  Brancas- 
Villars  this  was  a  thing  of  course,  but 
Lord  Essex  felt  indignant  at  such  a  kind 
of  warfare :  his  notions  of  chivalry  were 
very  exalted,  and  he  sent  a  letter,  calling 
upon  the  besieged  to  come  out  and  fight 
in  the  open  plain.  Villars,  in  reply,  gave 
permission  to  the  Chevalier  Picard  to  meet 
him  alone,  or  with  any  number  of  men 
that  might  be  agreed  upon  ;  but  the  high 
notions  of  the  English  earl  were  nettled 
by  the  proposal,  and  he  immediately  sent 


*  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  501.  Davila.  liv.  12.  Hist,  des 
Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

t  7th  April,  1590,-Hist.  des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol. 
ii.  p.  19. 


BRAVERY  OF  THE  BESIEGED. 


279 


Villars  himself  a  challenge  to  fight  in  any 
way  he  might  think  proper.    After  stating 
that  he  had  in  his  army  many  persons  of 
the  same  quality  as  Picard,  he  added, 
"  But  if  you  will  fight  on  horseback  or  on  j 
foot,  I  will  maintain  that  the  king's  quar-  j 
rel  is  more  just  than  that  of  the  league ;  { 
that  I  am  better  than  you ;  and  that  my ! 
mistress  is  fairer  than  yours.    And  if  you 
will  not  come  alone,  1  will  bring  with  me 
twenty  persons,  all  of  whom  shall  be 
equal  to  the  rank  of  a  colonel ;  or  sixty, 
the  least  of  whom  shall  be  a  captain." 
Villars  knew  his  duty  as  a  general  too  | 
well  to  accept  such  a  challenge,  and  in  \ 
reply  expressed  his  willingness  to  meet 
the  earl,  when  Mayenne  had  arrived  to  I 
take  the  command  of  the  town.    "  Not 
wishing,  however."  said  he,  "  to  fail  in  re- 
plying to  the  conclusion  of  your  letter,  by 
which  you  declare  yourself  better  than ; 
me,  I  tell  you  that  you  have  lied,  and  that ( 
you  lie  every  time  you  attempt  to  main- 
tain it.    And  as  to  the  comparison  of 
your  mistress  with  mine,  I  believe  you  are  j 
not  more  correct  in  that  than  in  your  other 
other  assertions;  at  all  events,  it  is  not  a| 
subject  that  I  think  much  about  at  pre- 
sent."* 

A  herald  was  sent  into  Rouen  on  the 
part  of  the  king,  calling  upon  the  inhabi- 
tants to  return  to  their  obedience  by  ac- 
knowledging him.  An  assembly  was 
held  in  the  city  to  consider  what  answer 
should  be  returned ;  and,  on  the  2d  of 
December,  the  herald  was  dismissed  with 
only  a  verbal  communication.  He  was 
desired  to  tell  his  master  that  the  people 
of  Rouen  were  all  resolved  to  die,  rather 
than  acknowledge  a  heretic  for  their 
king;  and  that  they  had  not  less  spirit  to 
maintain  their  ancient  religion,  than  the 
Calvinists  had  displayed  in  support  of 
their  heresy.  A  solemn  procession  was 
then  made,  when  an  oath  was  publicly 
administered  in  unison  with  that  message.! 

The  siege  was  then  proceeded  with  in 
a  spirited  manner,  but  nothing  could 
damp  the  enthusiasm  which  animated  the 
garrison  of  Rouen.  Their  sorties  were 
bold,  frequent  and  successful.  Every  day 
produced  some  display  of  that  chivalrous 
bravery  which  characterized  this  age :  the 
inhabitants  were  aware  of  the  importance 
of  their  town  to  the  Union ;  and  were  en- 


*  Cayet,  liv.  3,  p.  503. 


t  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  12. 


couraged  by  the  certainty  that  something 
would  be  done  by  their  partisans  towards 
raising  the  siege.  Indeed  the  army  of  the 
league  was  then  on  the  road  to  help  them, 
and  that  intelligence  excited  the  king  to 
more  vigorous  attacks  ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  Villars  feeling  a  wish  to  have  all  the 
honour  of  beating  off  so  formidable  an 
enemy,  made  more  determined  sorties 
than  before. 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  December 
that  the  king  was  informed  of  the  return 
of  the  Duke  of  Parma  into  France,  and 
that  he  was  on  his  way  to  raise  the  siege. 
Henry  had  already  sent  a  letter  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  informing  her  of  his  situation  ; 
but  on  learning  that  the  enemy  was  ac- 
tually approaching,  he  despatched  Du- 
plessis-Mornay  to  make  a  more  powerful 
appeal  to  her  on  behalf  of  the  Protestant 
cause.  At  Dieppe,  Duplessis  met  a  mes- 
senger, sent  by  Elizabeth  to  order  the  im- 
mediate return  of  Lord  Essex.  That  was 
discouraging,  but  he  pursued  his  journey, 
and  arrived  in  London  on  the  4th  of 
January,  1592.  For  ten  days  he  was 
occupied  in  making  application  for  assis- 
tance, but  without  effect,  although  he  had 
the  good  wishes  and  interest  of  the  lord 
treasurer  Burleigh.  The  queen's  conduct 
was  founded  on  caprice :  she  wanted  her 
favourite  Essex,  and  obstinately  refused 
to  grant  the  assistance;  but  afterwards, 
when  her  commands  were  obeyed,  and 
Essex  had  returned  to  England,  she  con- 
sented to  send  over  a  reinforcement  to 
the  king* 

A  few  days  after  the  king  had  de- 
spatched Duplessis,  he  was  joined  by  Count 
Philip  of  Nassau,  who  arrived  with  a 
Dutch  fleet,  having  on  board  three  thou- 
sand infantry,  some  artillery  and  ammu- 
nition.! This  was  a  great  assistance  to 
the  besiegers,  who  were  then  enabled  to 
batter  the  town  from  the  river;  but  the 
courage  of  the  besieged  appeared  to  in- 
crease with  the  vigour  of  the  attack,  and 
their  destructive  sorties  were  incessant. 
Villars  discovered,  that  besides  the  attacks 
of  the  royal  army  he  had  to  guard  against 
internal  treason  :  he  learned  that  there 
were  concealed  royalists  in  the  town;  and 
after  a  vigilant  investigation,  aided  by  the 
mancsuvres  of  a  lawyer  named  Mauclerc, 


*  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  134,  et  seq. 
t  3d  January,  1592.    Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  10.  Sully, 
liv.  4. 


280 


ADVANCE  OF  PARMA  ON  HENRY. 


"0 


who  pretended  to  be  a  royalist,  a  plot  was 
detected  for  opening  one  of  the  gates  to 
the  king's  forces.  Three  persons  named 
by  Mauclerc  were  seized,  tortured  and 
hanged.  To  deter  others  from  joining  in 
any  similar  scheme,  a  new  edict  was  pub- 
lished, ordering  the  same  punishment  for 
any  who  were  concerned  in  such  plots, 
and  offering  large  rewards  to  all  who  in- 
formed against  them.* 

Meanwhile  the  king  had  received  intel- 
ligence that  the  Duke  of  Parma  had 
quitted  La  Fere  in  Picardy,  having  left 
behind  his  heavy  ordnance,  which  showed 
that  he  meant  to  proceed  at  once  to 
Rouen,  without  employing  his  time  before 
any  town  in  possession  of  the  royalists. 
He  immediately  wrote  to  Duplessis-Mor- 


harass  them  as  they  approached.  With 
this  object  in  view  he  quitted  Rouen  on 
the  twenty-ninth  of  January* 

He  advanced  to  Folleville,  a  village  on 
the  borders  of  Picardy,  before  he  could 
learn  the  route  by  which  the  enemy  was 
advancing:  but  being  informed  they  were 
in  that  quarter,  he  sent  parties  to  look  out, 
while  he  was  similarly  employed  with  a 
body  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  horse- 
men. The  king  had  proceeded  thus  about 
a  league,  when  Laverdin,  who  was  by  his 
side,  discovered  a  body  of  Spanish  sol- 
diers near  some  trees:  they  were  about 
to  charge  upon  them,  when  a  large  body 
of  cavalry  came  up  and  a  skirmish  ensued, 
which  ended  by  the  leaguers  falling  back 
upon  their  main  body ;  the  king  also  with- 


nay,  informing  him  of  the  circumstance,  |  drew  to  Berteville.f  This  rencontre 
with  a  view  of  making  some  impression '  was  followed  by  another  a  few  days  after 
upon  Elizabeth,  by  an  account  of  his  des-  j  near  Aumale,}:  when  the  king  fell  in  with 
perate  situation.  In  a  postscript  he  added,  |  the  picquets  of  the  league,  at  a  time  when 
that  his  opinion  was  confirmed  by  an  in-  he  was  accompanied  by  only  two  hundred 
tercepted  letter  from  Mayenne  to  Villeroy:  light  horse,  and  about  three  hundred  gen- 
"If,"  says  Henry,  "the  queen  -at  once  tlemen.  The  sight  of  a  few  soldiers  ap- 
sendsme  the  aid  which  you  are  employed  i  peared  insignificant  to  the  king's  party, 
to  solicit,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  combat  my  j  and  no  one  expected  they  would  offer 
enemies  without  raising  the  siege,  and !  any  resistance :  but  presently  the  enemy's 
trust  God  will  grant  me  the  victory,  main  body  appeared,  marching  in  the 
Still,  according  to  the  reports  they  circu-  most  compact  order;  a  measure  which 
late,  their  force  is  very  great.  I  address  the  Duke  of  Parma  had  adopted  to 
her  (.the  queen)  a  word  on  the  conse-  prevent  a  surprise  which  he  considered 


quences  dependent  upon  my  success,  not 
only  to  myself,  but  also  to  all  Christen- 
dom. ;,t 

The  united  forces  of  the  league  amount- 
ed to  eighteen  thousand  infantry  and  five 
thousand  cavalry:  the  Dukes  of  Parma 
and  Mayenne  had  marched  to  Peronne, 
where  a  consultation  was  held  respecting 
their  future  plans:  they  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed direct  to  Rouen,  and  throw  in  some 
supplies  if  they  could  not  succeed  in 
raising  the  siege.f  The  king's  expecta- 
tions of  assistance  from  England  were 
sadly  damped  by  the  letters  he  received 
from  Duplessis-Mornay,  who  stated  that 
Elizabeth  persisted  in  refusing  the  sup- 
plies. 5  He  decided  in  consequence  on 
leaving  the  principal  part  of  his  army  be- 
fore the  town,  under  the  care  of  Marshal 
Biron;  while  he  set  out  with  the  elite  of 
his  cavalry  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy  and 


*  7th  January,  1592.    Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  14. 
t  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 
j  Cayet,  !iv.  4,  p.  18. 

$  This  letter  was  dated  lOtli  January,  1592.  Mem. 
de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  152. 


probable  on  account  of  the  king's  in- 
trepid character  and  venturesome  dispo- 
sition. In  a  very  short  time  the  king's 
party  was  surrounded  by  two  troops  of 
dragoons  (arquebiisiers  a  cheval)  who 
commenced  a  fire  upon  them.  Most  of 
the  gentlemen  were  without  their  helmets : 
they  fought  with  great  resolution,  and 
maintained  their  ground  until  a  division 
of  infantry  came  from  the  army  to  support 
their  companions.  A  retreat  then  became 
necessary,  especially  as  a  great  many  of 
the  king's  party  were  killed  ;  but  as  it  was 
known  that  the  king  was  there,  and  the 
leaguers  called  out  to  each  other  what  a 
prize  was  in  their  reach,  they  made  stili 
greater  exertions  to  prevent  his  escape. 
The  danger  to  which  Henry  was  exposed 
on  this  occasion  was  very  great;  and  be- 
sides losing  a  great  many  of  his  followers, 
he  was  himself  wounded  by  a  musket- 
ball.    The  fortunate  arrival  of  some  roy- 


*  Davila,  liv.  12. 

t  Davila,  liv.  12.  Sully,  liv.  4,  p.  56. 
1  4th  February, 1592. 


ADVANCE  OF  PARMA  ON  HENRY. 


2S1 


alist  troops  assisted  his  retreat;  but  after 
all  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  of  the  party 
could  have  escaped,  had  not  the  Duke  of 
Nevers  advanced  with  a  strong  division 
of  cavalry.  It  was  greatly  to  be  feared  that 
this  affair,  which  was  much  magnified  by 
report,  would  cause  confusion  and  alarm 
in  the  army  before  Rouen ;  and  in  conse- 
quence it  was  desirable  that  every  possi- 
ble impediment  should  be  placed  to  delay 
the  enemy's  march.  As  the  small  town 
of  Neufchatel-en-Bray  was  in  the  direct 
road,  a  defence  of  that  place  might  detain 
the  Duke  of  Parma  a  short  time,  and  allow 
the  king  to  take  further  measures.  Givry 
was  in  consequence  posted  in  Neufchatel 
with  seven  hundred  men :  the  king  re- 
tired to  Dieppe  to  repose  for  the  benefit  of 
his  wound,  which  was  not  very  serious ; 
and  the  Duke  of  Nevers  returned,  with 
the  rest  of  the  division,  to  the  camp  before 
Rouen.* 

The  Duke  of  Parma  had  the  reputation 
of  being  the  most  cautious  general  of  his 
time:  he  always  avoided  an  engagement 
when  he  could;  and  carefully  provided 
for  a  retreat  whenever  he  entered  a 
country  occupied  by  an  enemy.  He 
would  not  therefore  leave  Neufchatel  be- 
hind him  in  the  hands  of  the  royalists,  and 
summoned  Givry  to  open  the  gates  on  the 
eleventh  of  February.  The  town  offered 
so  little  means  of  defence,  that  a  refusal  to 
surrender,  which  was  the  consequence, 
appeared  an  affront  to  the  duke ;  to  resent 
it,  he  brought  up  his  artillery  and  opened 
a  cannonade.  Givry  had  been  ordered 
to  act  according  to  circumstances,  and 
not  waste  the  lives  of  those  who  were 
with  him :  he  accordingly  capitulated  as 
soon  as  a  breach  was  made,  and  obtained 
very  honourable  terms.f  This  affair  de- 
tained the  duke  only  four  days,  but  that 
was  of  great  service  to  the  king  ;  for  the 
army  of  the  league  had  no  means  of  ob- 
taining provisions  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  as  parties  of  cavalry  were  out  to 
intercept  their  convoys,  the  stock  which 
was  carried  with  them  began  to  diminish 
sensibly.}:  Besides  which,  the  duke  was 
informed  that  the  king  was  again  in  the 
field  with  a  strong  force  ready  to  attack 

*  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  149.  Davila,  liv.  12.  Cayel, 
liv.  4.  De  Thou,  liv.  102    Sully,  liv.  4. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  4.  p.  20.  Davila,  liv.  12.  Sully,  liv.  4, 
rather  blames  Givry  for  not  holding  out  longer.  Ma- 
thieu,  vol.  ii.  liv.  ],  p.  102,  says,  "the  place  could  he 
forced  in-an  hour." 

{  Davila,  liv,  12. 


him  :  the  movements  of  the  army  were 
therefore  made  with  extreme  caution,  as 
it  approached  the  neighbourhood  of  R»me. 
Parma  and  Mayenne  were  both  satisfied 
that  they  could  do  nothing  to  relieve  the 
place,  without  risking  a  general  engage- 
ment :  they  held  a  council  of  war,  and  re- 
solved on  preparing  to  attack  Dieppe  as  a 
diversion.*  This  decision  created  mur- 
murs in  the  army  of  the  league ;  and  the 
French  nobles  complained  of  the  Duke  of 
Parma  for  not  advancing  on  several  oc- 
casions, when  by  so  doing  he  might  have 
put  an  end  to  the  war.t  Parma  on  his 
side  pressed  Mayenne  so  closely  to  pro- 
mise the  crown  of  France  to  the  Infanta, 
that  he  and  many  of  the  nobles  were 
ready  to  treat  with  the  king  if  he  would 
but  abjure.}  The  king,  meanwhile,  was 
hovering  about  the  leaguers,  and  kept 
them  in  constant  alarm.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  had  intelligence  that  the  Duke  of 
Guise  had  taken  possession  of  Cures,  a 
small  town  within  a  few  miles  of  Dieppe. 
He  was  then  at  Bachy,  a  distance  of  seven 
leagues ;  and  having  appointed  a  rendez- 
vous not  far  from  Bures  for  the  rest  of  his 
army,  he  set  out  with  two  thousand  ca- 
valry, two  thousand  Reitres,  five  hundred 
dragoons,  and  as  many  foot-soldiers,  to 
be  ready  to  assist  him,  if  attacked  in  the 
woody  country  through  which  he  had  to 
pass.  His  couriers  fell  in  with  a  small 
party  of  the  enemy,  and  a  skirmish  en- 
sued, when  some  of  the  leaguers  were 
killed ;  several  were  also  taken  prisoners, 
among  whom  was  the  Count  de  Chaligny. 
brother  of  the  Duke  of  Mercoeur  and  of 
the  Queen  Dowager.  The  fugitives  re- 
turned into  Bures,  and  gave  an  alarm; 
otherwise  a  considerable  number  of  per- 
sons of  rank  would  have  been  captured. 
Guise's  baggage  and  standard  fell  into  the 
king's  hands;  and  all  in  the  town  who 
made  any  resistance  were  put  to  the 
sword,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred. 
The  Duke  of  Bouillon  and  the  Baron  de 
Biron  pursued  the  fugitives  to  a  consi- 
derable distance. § 

A  letter  containing  an  account  of  this 
affair  was  sent  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  when 
the  king  made  another  appeal  for  assist- 
ance. "  Believe  me,  madam,"  says  Henry, 
"if  I  had  but  this  favour  from  you,  I  would 


*  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  21. 

t  Davila,  liv.  12.  J  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  3)9. 

§  17th  Feb.  15112.  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  Itf-J. 
De  Thou,  liv.  1U2. 


24* 


282 


RETREAT  OF  PARMA. 


soon  give  an  account  of  these  folks,  and 
make  them  glad  to  get  back  in  safety  to 
look^ after  their  own  affairs;  but  you  must 
consider  that  I  have  to  continue  the  siege 
of  Rouen,  which  I  will  not  abandon,  at  the 
same  time  that  I  keep  the  field  against 
them.  We  are,  madam,  in  that  position, 
that  the  armies  look  at  each  other,  and 
would  have  engaged  already  if  they  had 
as  much  resolution  to  help  Rouen,  as  I 
have  to  continue  the  siege,  and  carry  it 
before  them."  Henry  concluded  by  ob- 
serving, that  she  could  not  suffer  so  great 
an  undertaking  to  be  abandoned,  for  want 
of  such  trifling  assistance,  and  when  it 
was  on  the  point  of  succeeding*  But  the 
queen  would  not  yield  to  any  importunity, 
and  a  lapse  of  two  months  occurred  before 
a  reinforcement  was  sent.j 

All  this  time  Villars  continued  to  defend 
the  city  with  success.  Being  well  in- 
formed by  spies  of  the  state  of  the  royal 
army,  he  made  arrangements  Tor  a  gene- 
ral sortie,  when  the  king's  entrenchments 
were  attacked  at  once  on  three  different 
points.  The  royalists  were  taken  una- 
wares, and  became  an  easy  prey :  Bois- 
rose,  who  conducted  a  division  in  the 
sortie,  penetrated  to  the  park  of  artillery, 
drove  away  the  Lansquenets  placed  near 
it,  carried  off  five  pieces  of  cannon,  and 
spiked  two  others.  Marshal  Biron  was 
then  at  Dernetal:  he  was  soon  informed 
of  the  affair,  and  immediately  hastened  to 
the  camp.  The  sortie  had  been  made  at 
seven  in  the  morning,  and  for  two  hours 
the  leaguers  had  carried  all  before  them. 
Biron's  arrival  compelled  them  to  retreat; 
but  they  effected  it  in  excellent  order,  not 
having  lost  more  than  forty  men,  while 
the  royalists  had  above  five  hundred  men 
killed,  besides  some  made  prisoners.}. 

The  news  of  this  exploit  compelled  the 
Duke  of  Parma  to  make  an  effort  to  re- 
lieve the  town,  especially  as  he  received  a 
letter  from  Villars,  informing  him  that  the 
royalists  had  begun  to  press  the  siege 
more  vigorously,  in  order  to  efface  the 
effects  of  their  late  misfortune.  A  rein- 
forcement of  eight  hundred  men  was 
thrown  into  Rouen  on  the  8th  of  March, 
which  being  reported  to  the  king,  brought 


*  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 

t  Its  arrival  ia  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  Duplessis- 
Mornay,  dated  16tli  April,  1592. — Memoires,  vol.  ii.  p. 
197. 

t  26th  Feb.  1592.  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  21—25.  Mem.  de 
Tavannes,  p.  140. 


him  back  again  to  the  camp  in  a  few  days, 
when  he  prepared  for  still  greater  efforts 
against  the  place.  Within  ten  days  a  very 
considerable  breach  was  made  in  the 
wall,  and  Villars  wrote  to  Mayenne  that 
he  should  be  obliged  to  capitulate  unless 
he  were  relieved  early  in  the  ensuing 
month.*  At  this  time  the  king's  army 
experienced  a  considerable  reduction,  by 
a  number  of  persons  going  to  their  homes ; 
and  the  Dukes  of  Mayenne  and  Parma 
were  aware  of  that  circumstance,  as  well 
as  of  the  absence  of  several  parties  sent 
out  for  fresh  levies :  they  therefore  took  an 
opportunity,  when  the  king  had  gone  in 
the  direction  of  Dieppe  to  make  a  forced 
march  and  relieve  Rouen.  They  arrived 
there  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  April, 
and  the  royalists  were  unable  to  prevent 
their  entering  the  town,  which  they  did 
the  next  day,  and  a  Te  Deum  was  sung 
on  the  occasion.! 

This  unexpected  reinforcement  occa- 
sioned great  joy  among  the  leaguers ;  but 
its  advantages  were  very  trifling;  for 
their  supply  of  provisions  was  so  small, 
that  the  dukes  were  unable  to  relieve 
Rouen  in  that  respect.  Parma  wished  to 
follow  up  his  advantage  by  attacking  the 
king;  but  Mayenne  persuaded  him  to  lay 
siege  to  Caudebec,  where  they  would  find 
large  stores  of  grain,  and  by  taking  that 
place  they  would  lay  open  the  passage  of 
the  river.} 

Caudebec  was  invested  on  the  24th  of 
April,  and  surrendered  three  days  after. 
This  conquest  cost  the  Duke  of  Parma  a 
severe  wound  by  a  musket-ball:  he  was 
besides  unable  to  keep  possession  of  the 
place  many  days,  for  the  king  had  sent 
for  the  garrisons  out  of  all  the  neighbour- 
;  ing  towns,  and  having  by  that  measure 
;  gained  an  addition  of  three  thousand 
I  horsemen,  and  twice  as  many  infantry,  he 
was  able  to  blockade  completely  the  army 
of  the  league.     Skirmishes  took  place 
every  day,  but  the  royalists  gradually  en- 
J  croached  on  their  enemies'  position.  The 
j  leaguers  at  the  same  time  were  suffering 
greatly  from  the  want  of  provisions,  and, 
to  add  to  their  disasters,  the  king  succeed- 
ed in  cutting  off  a  division  of  their  light 
cavalry  quartered  at  Ranson,  on  which 
occasion  a  large  quantity  of  baggage,  plate, 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  26—27.    Davila,  liv.  12. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  29.   Peiefixe,  liv.  2. 


THE  LEAGUE  TAMPER  WITH  HENRY. 


263 


and  money  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  roy- 
alists. In  such  a  condition  escape  was 
very  difficult ;  decampment  by  night,  or 
fighting  his  way  through  the  ranks  of  his 
opponents,  were  the  only  alternatives  of 
the  Duke  of  Parma ;  and  on  the  night  of 
the  22d  of  May  he  succeeded  in  trans- 
porting his  entire  army  across  the  Seine 
by  means  of  a  number  of  boats  and  pon- 
toons sent  down  from  Rouen  the  previous 
evening. 

Directly  the  king  was  informed  of  this 
movement  he  hastened  to  the  Pont  de 
PArche,  but  Parma  was  too  far  advanced 
to  allow  him  any  chance  of  success  if  he 
pursued  him :  the  duke  made  the  greatest 
possible  haste,  recrossed  the  Seine  at  St. 
Cloud,  and,  without  entering  Paris,  pur- 
sued his  march  incessantly,  until  he  ar- 
rived at  Chateau  Thierry*  It  has"  been 
insinuated  that  Marshal  Biron  was  the 
cause  of  the  Spanish  army's  successful 
evasion  from  the  king's  grasp;  his  son,  the 
Baron  de  Biron,  proposed  to  prevent  the 
enemy's  passing  in  the  direction  of  the 
river,  if  the  king  would  intrust  him  with 
a  division  of  the  army.  The  marshal  pre- 
vented the  adoption  of  the  proposal,  but 
was  nevertheless  exceedingly  angry  with 
his  son  for  thinking  of  such  a  thing;  and 
asked  him  with  an  oath,  "  If  he  wished  to 
send  them  all  back  to  grow  cabbages  at 
Biron"!"  He  afterwards  told  him  that 
such  an  enemy  should  never  be  ruined 
entirely,  for  the  king  would  then  have  but 
little  consideration  for  his  captains,  as  their 
services  would  be  no  longer  necessary .t 

The  siege  of  Rouen  was  in  reality  at 
an  end,  but  hostile  operations  were  still 
continued  in  the  neighbourhood ;  and  as 
the  possession  of  Q,uiIleboeuf  by  the  king's 
troops  rendered  great  vigilance  necessary 
for  fear  of  a  sudden  attack,  Villars  deter- 
mined to  make  himself  master  of  that 
place.  For  that  purpose  he  obtained 
some  reinforcements  from  Mayenne,  who 
returned  to  Rouen,  having  accompanied 
the  Duke  of  Parma  as  far  as^Charenton. 
The  siege  of  Quillebceuf  was  begun  on 
the  4th  of  July,  and  was  conducted  by 
Villars  himself.  The  Count  de  Thorigny, 
Crillon,  and  a  few  gentlemen  threw  them- 
selves into  the  place  to  assist  Bellegarde, 
who  was  the  temporary  governor ;  but  at 


*  Cayet,  Davila,  Mathieu,  De  Tliou,  and  Brantome, 
ZHscours  sur  Its  belles  retrailes. 
f  Perelue,  liv.  2.   Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  164. 


that  time  he  had  not  more  than  si::ty  men 
with  him,  and  they  were  unprovided  with 
the  requisites  for  sustaining  a  siege.  The 
gentlemen  took  with  them  considerable 
quantities  of  provisions  and  ammunition  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  vigour  with 
which  the  place  was  attacked,  they  re- 
pelled two  assaults,  after  which  the 
leaguers  desisted  and  returned  to  Rouen.* 

The  king  was  then  besieging  Epernay, 
in  Champagne,  and  was  unable  to  send 
relief  to  Q,uilleboeuf ;  but  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters he  stated,  that  knowing  Crillon  was 
there,  he  felt  no  uneasiness ;  a  compliment 
of  the  most  flattering  kind  to  that  offieer, 
which  was  the  more  gratifying  from  so 
warlike  a  prince.  Epernay  surrendered 
in  the  beginning  of  August:  that  siege  cost 
the  life  of  Marshal  Biron,  whose  head  was 
struck  off  by  a  cannon-ball  as  he  was  re- 
connoitring.t 

From  Epernay  the  king  went  to  St. 
Denis,  where  he  again  renewed  his  plan 
of  blockading  Paris :  but  soon  after  hear- 
ing that  the  Duke  of  Parma  was  making 
preparations  to  enter  France  with  another 
army,  he  went  into  Picardy  to  be  ready  to 
attack  him  on  his  march.  The  Duke  was 
at  Arras,  to  meet  some  deputies  and  col- 
lect his  forces;  and  while  there  he  died.}. 
The  wound  he  had  received  at  Caudebec 
had  materially  injured  his  constitution, 
and  contributed  to  hasten  his  death.  That 
event,  and  the  urgent  recommendation  of 
Duplessis,  induced  the  king  to  proceed  to 
Tours,  where  his  presence  was  necessary 
in  consequence  of  some  negotiations  under 
discussion. ^ 

During  the  year  1592,  different  parts  of 
France  had  been  the  scenes  of  warfare 
and  hostilities,  producing  different  results 
in  their  operations.  In  June  the  Prince 
of  Conty  was  completely  defeated  before 
Craon,  by  the  Duke  of  Mercceur;||  and 
'afterwards,  in  the  month  of  December,  he 
|  was  obliged  to  raise  the  siege  ofRochfort.H 
Lesdiguieres,  in  an  opposite  quarter,  main- 
tained a  long  campaign  against  the 
leaguers  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  during 
which  Antibes  was  taken  and  retaken,  and 


*  Cayet,  liv.  4.  Davila,  liv.  12.  Vie  tie  Crillon,  vol. 
ii.  p.  113. 

i  Brantome,  vol.  ix.  p.  150.  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  41.  Sully, 
liv.  5. 

t  2d  December,  1592. 

}  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  290. 

|(  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  35.  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  272.  De 
Thou,  liv.  103. 
If  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  289. 


284 


NEGOTIATION  FOR  A  PEACE. 


the  war  was  subsequently  carried  into 
Piedmont.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Duke  of 
Epernon  in  Provence,  Antibes  once  more 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  royalists ;  and  the 
leaguers,  under  the  Duke  of  Joyeuse, 
were  defeated  at  Villemur.*  About  the 
same  time  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  gained  a 
victory  over  Amblize,  Grand  Marshal  of, 
Lorrain,  who  was  besieging  Beaumont,  a 
small  town  near  Sedan.  The  attack  from 
without  being  seconded  by  a  sortie  from 
the  town,  the  besiegers  were  completely 
routed,  and  their  leader  and  seven  hun- 
dred men  killed.t  Bouillon  afterwards 
took  Dun,  a  small  town  on  the  Meuse,  but 
not  without  exertion,  as  it  was  very  well 
defended. 


CHAPTER  XLVII/ 

Negotiation  for  a  peace — Assembly  of  the  States-gene- 
ral at  Paris — Conference  at  Suresne— Abjuration  of 
Henry  IV. 

The  Duke  of  Parma's  death  discon- 
certed the  measures  of  Philip  II.,  who  had 
also  the  mortification  of  finding  that  his 
party  was  losing  ground  in  France;  for, 
notwithstanding  the  military  operations  of 
the  year  1592,  negotiations  had  been  car- 
ried on  between  Duplessis-Mornay  and 
Villeroy.  At  the  end  of  March,  Fleury 
delivered  to  Duplessis  a  letter  from  the 
president  Jeannin  to  Villeroy,  containing 
the  substance  of  what  was  required  of  the 
king  by  the  nobles  of  the  league.  They 
were  resolved  to  conclude  a  peace  with 
fhe  king  on  his  promising  to  become  a 
Catholic,  and  authorized  Villeroy  to  treat 
upon  that  basis  :|  but  as  they  did  not  de- 
sire any  haste  which  might  hurt  the  king's 
character,  they  proposed  that  he  should 


*  15th  Oct.  1592.  Cayet,  Iiv.  4,  p.  95  etscq.  De  Thou, 
liv.  103. 

t  8th  Oct.  1502.  Cayet,  liv.  4.  p.  C8— 70.  I)e  Thou, 
liv.  103.  Marsollier,  Hist,  de  Due  de  Bouillon,  vol.  ii.  p. 
51—53. 

t  The  terms,  as  related  by  Villeroy,  were  as  follow:— 
The  king  to  engage  to  be  instructed  for  his  conversion, 
and  to  declare  his  intention  to  support  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic religion.  The  exercise  of  that  religion  to  be  re- 
stored wherever  it  had  been  suppressed,  and  the  clergy 
to  be  restored  to  their  former  privileges.  If  it  were 
right  to  tolerate  the  exercise  of  any  other  religion, 
there  should  be  allowed  no  greater  privilege  than  ex- 
isted in  1585.  Every  thing  that  had  occurred  since  the 
death  of  the  Guises  to  be  forgotten,  and  no  inquiry  to 
be  made  respecting  any  circumstance  excepting  certain 
cases  reserved  in  preceding  edicts,  in  which  the  king's 
death  was  not  to  be  made  a  pretext  for  troubling  inno- 
cent persons.  The  memory  and  character  of  the  Car- 
dinal and  Duke  of  Guise  to  be  restored,  but  without 
hurting  that  of  the  late  king,  &c,  &.c.—Mcm.  d'Etat. 
vol.  i.  p.  343—346. 


privately  treat  with  the  pope  for  a  few 
months  respecting  a  reconciliation,  to 
effect  which  they  would  secretly  lend  their 
influence  and  assistance.  The  treaty  was 
not  to  be  made  public  until  the  king  was 
ready  to  declare  himself;  for  which  they 
assigned  as  a  reason,  that  they  would  not 
give  the  king  of  Spain  a  pretext  for  being 
their  enemy.  Duplessis  informed  his  mas- 
ter that  he  did  not  like  the  propositions : 
"  It  appears  to  me,"  says  he,  in  a  report 
on  the  subject  *  "  that  they  only  desire  a 
conference,  in  order  to  pacify  those  of  their 
party  who  cry  out  for  peace,  by  showing 
that  it  is  not  their  fault  that  it  is  not  made." 
But  a  few  days  after  he  had  an  interview 
with  Villeroy,  when  the  proposal  was 
drawn  up  to  be  communicated  to  his  ma- 
jesty. To  reconcile  the  pope  with  Henry, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  desolating  wars 
which  afflicted  France,  appeared  then  the 
chief  desire  of  the  party  which  had  sent 
Villeroy;  for,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  de- 
spatch, Duplessis  stated, "  that  no  objection 
was  made  to  the  reformed  religion  remain- 
ing according  to  the  existing  edicts."! 

It  seems,  however,  that  Mayenne  was 
not  inclined  to  a  pacification;  for  Villeroy, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  observes,  "  I  think 
that  M.  de  Mayenne  ought  at  once  to  ac- 
cept the  peace,  and  that  if  he  does  not,  he 
will  curse  the  lost  occasion ;"  and  farther 
on,  he  adds,  "  It  is  very  strange  that  May- 
enne should  write  to  the  towns  of  his 
party,  that  the  king  is  not  inclined  for 
peace,  for  there  is  no  occasion  for  it."| 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause, 
the  negotiation  was  suddenly  broken  off; 
and  Villeroy,  either  to  preserve  himself 
from  the  imputation  of  inability,  or  to  give 
vent  to  his  hatred  of  the  Huguenots,  has 
announced  to  the  world,  that  Duplessis 
made  public  what  they  had  agreed  to 
keep  secret,  and  thus  prevented  the  con- 
clusion of  the  treaty.^  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  informed  that  the  discussion  was 
so  far  advanced,  that  the  king  in  full  coun- 
cil gave  orders  to  draw  up  an  edict 
founded  thereon;  but  that  Biron,  d'Au- 
mont,  and  others,  being  jealous  that  Du- 
plessis, a  Huguenot,  should  be  intrusted 
with  the  affair,  and,  fearing  lest  the  treaty 
should  be  concluded  without  the  king*s 

*  Dated  28th  March,  1502.  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii. 
p.  224 

+  Dated  4th  April,  1502.   Ibid,  p  236. 
%  Mem.de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  246. 
^  Villeroy,  vol.  i.  p.  366-7. 


THE  PEOPLE  DERIDE  THE  LEAGUE  PARLIAMENT. 


285 


conversion,  they  availed  themselves  of  the 
first  opportunity  which  presented  itself  for 
breaking  it  off.*  Mayenne  himself  soon 
afforded  them  an  occasion,  by  sending  pri- 
vately a  stipulation  for  the  government  of 
Bugundy,  for  himself  and  his  heirs,  with 
other  extravagant  demands  for  his  family. f 

The  rupture  of  the  negotiations  did  not 
prevent  the  number  of  the  king's  friends 
in  Paris  from  increasing ;  and  towards  the 
end  of  the  year  they  found  themselves  so 
powerful,  that  they  openly  proposed  to 
send  to  the  king  for  the  purpose  of  request- 
ing freedom  for  their  trade.!  Mayenne 
succeeded  in  overruling  the  proposition ; 
but  the  strength  of  the  politiques  was  ex- 
hibited, and  the  known  force  of  their  party 
materially  affected  the  subsequent  affairs 
of  the  league  in  Paris. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  that 
the  Duke  of  Mayenne  issued  a  proclama- 
tion convoking  the  states-general  ;§  a 
measure  which  was  pressed  upon  him  by 
the  Sixteen,  by  the  Spanish  minister,  and 
by  Pope  Clement  VIII.,||  whose  legate, 
Cardinal  Sega,  also  published  an  exhor- 
tation to  all  the  Catholic  royalists,  by 
which  they  were  called  upon  to  desert 
the  king,  and  join  the  assembly  for  choos- 
ing a  prince  of  the  true  faith.  IT  The 
States  did  not  meet  till  the  25th  of  January, 
1593,  when  the  deputies  went  in  proces- 
sion to  Notre-Dame  to  hear  mass,  and  a 
sermon  against  Henry  IV.  and  the  Salic 
law.** 

The  principal  personages  collected  on 
this  occasion  were  so  destitute  of  every 
thing  calculated  to  command  respect,  that 
the  mere  assembling  of  the  States  excited 
the  derision  of  the  people  at  large.  Some 
royalists  promoted  that  feeling  by  the  pub- 
lication of  satirical  pieces,  which  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  hitherto  credulous  popu- 
lace. The  Salyre  Menippee  is  familiar  to 
all  who  have  any  acquaintance  with  the 
history  of  this  period :  it  was  the  chief  of 
those  works  which  appeared  at  this  time ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  ludicrous  de- 


*  Mem.  (ie  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  248. 
t  Vie  de  Duplessis-Mornay,  p  175. 
t  Cayet,  liv.  4,  p.  73. 

§  Dated  December,  1592;  registered  and  published 
15th  January,  1593.    Villeroy,  vol.  vi.  p.  167—191. 

]|  Hyppolite  Aldobrandini,  a  Florentine;  he  was 
elected  30th  January,  1592.  Innocent  IX.  (Fachinetto,) 
who  isucceeded  Gregory  XIV.,  lived  only  two  months 
after  his  elevation  to  the  pontificate. 

J  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  11G.   Villeroy,  vol.  vi.  p.  192— 

**  Hist,  de  la  Ligue,  vol.  ii.  p.  357. 


scription  which  it  contains  of  the  states- 
general,  it  is  less  a  satire,  in  itself,  than  a 
satirical  detail  of  facts.  The  known  cha- 
racters of  two  of  the  leading  ecclesiastics 
who  figured  in  the  assembly  was  a  more 
severe  libel  on  the  cause  than  any  inven- 
tion could  be.  Dr.  Rose,  bishop  of  Senlis, 
was  a  fanatical  and  debauched  priest :  he 
preached  assassination  and  the  necessity 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  seduced  the 
daughter  of  the  president  Neuilly,  who 
addressed  herself  to  him  for  confession ; 
while  Espinac,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  his 
compeer,  was  publicly  known  to  live  in 
incest  with  his  sister.*  The  characters  of 
Cardinals  Pelleve  and  Sega,  and  the  de- 
portment of  the  inferior  clergy,  were  quite 
in  unison  with  the  interested  ambition  of 
the  Lorrain  princes  and  their  adherents ; 
and  the  nation  at  last  discovered  that  their 
civil  wars  had  been  fomented  and  carried 
on  for  the  benefit  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  to  promote  the  temporal  interests  of 
the  pope ;  and  that  the  principal  actors  in 
the  affair  were  so  destitute  of  patriotism 
and  justice,  that  they  joined  in  oppressing 
the  nation,  in  order  to  obtain  the  recom- 
pense which  was  held  up  to  their  view  in 
those  quarters. 

The  election  of  a  king,  by  the  states- 
general,  would  have  been  very  injurious 
to  the  cause  of  Henry  IV. ;  he  therefore 
went  with  his  court  to  Chartres,  to  be 
more  ready  to  act  according  to  circum- 
stances. The  first  days  of  the  assembly 
were  passed  in  matters  of  ceremony ;  and 
before  the  deputies  were  able  to  decide 
upon  the  proper  mode  of  proceeding, 
while  they  were  canvassing  the  claims  of 
various  parties  supposed  to  be  entitled  to 
the  honour,  a  messenger  arrived  with  an 
address  from  the  Catholic  royalists,  pro- 
posing a  conference  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Paris,  as  the  best  means  of  restoring 
peace  to  the  country.t  When  the  mes- 
sage was  made  known,  the  legate  declared 
that  it  was  not  only  unworthy  of  a  reply, 
but  that  the  person  who  brought  it  de- 
served punishment :  he  at  the  same  time 
pronounced  it  to  be  full  of  heresy.J  The 


*  Hist,  de  la  Sorbonne,  vol.  ii.  p.  72.  Mayenne  made 
great  interest  with  Clement,  VII  I.  to  obtain  acardinal's 
hat  for  Espinac;  out  that  pontiff  would  not  consent, 
and, told  D'  Ossat  that  Espinac's.bad  reputation  en  mo- 
tidre  des  femmes  was  the  reason. — Lcttres  de  Cardinal 
d'Ossat,  part  2,  p.  149-    Edit,  in  folio,  1624. 

t  Dated  Chartres,  27th  January,  1592—3.  Cayet,  liv, 
5,  p.  118.   Villeroy,  vol.  vi.  p.  213. 

t  Villeroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 


286 


HENRY  ABJURES  PROTESTANTISM. 


Sorbonne  were  zealous  in  their  exertions 
to  prevent  the  proposal  from  being  ac- 
cepted ;  and  the  legate,  the  Spanish  minis- 
ter, and  the  Sixteen  were  indefatigable  on 
the  occasion.  The  furious  Pelletier,  in  a 
sermon,  declared  that  the  conference 
would  be  the  greatest  misfortune  which 
could  befall  religion.  But  Villeroy  and 
Jeannin  had  sufficient  influence  to  have 
the  subject  taken  into  consideration  * 

The  reply  to  the  address  of  the  royalist 
Catholics  was  a  month  under  discussion  : 
at  last  the  assembly  decided  that  they 
would  not  treat  directly  or  indirectly  with 
the  King  of  Navarre,  or  any  other  heretic, 
upon  religious  points;  but  that  they 
would  confer  with  the  Catholics  of  his 
party,  upon  the  means  of  restoring  peace 
to  the  nation ;  the  whole  of  the  discussion 
to  be  under  the  sanction  of  the  legate.  A 
letter  was  in  consequence  written  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1593,  and  sent  to  the 
royalists  at  Chartres.  Other  letters  passed 
between  the  parties,  and  at  last  the  village 
of  Suresne  was  fixed  upon  as  the  place  of 
conference.! 

The  arrival  of  the  Duke  de  Feria,  with 
extraordinary  powers  from  the  King  of 
Spain,  encouraged  the  fanatical  party  in 
their  opposition  to  a  conference ;  but  the 
general  feeling  could  not  be  suppressed, 
and  deputies  from  both  parties  met  at  the 
appointed  place,  on  the  23d  of  April.J  It 
is  well  known  that  this  conference  ended 
in  the  abjuration  of  Protestantism  by 
Henry  IV. ;  and  to  detail  the  substance  of 
what  passed  at  the  numerous  meetings 
would  be  as  tedious  as  it  would  be  use- 
less. Repeated  adjournments  took  place; 
and  the  king  being  desirous  of  conferring 
every  respect  upon  so  important  a  pro- 
ceeding, invited  a  considerable  number  of 
ecclesiastics  to  meet  him  at  Mantes.  The 
clergy  of  the  league  were  invited  as  well 
as  the  royalists.  "  I  have  resolved,"  said 
the  king  in  his  letter,  "  in  order  if  possible 
to  remove  every  scruple  in  their  obedience 
to  me,  on  account  of  the  difference  of 
my  religion,  to  receive  instruction  respect- 
ing the  causes  of  the  schism  which  is  in 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

+  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  Cayet,  liv.  5,  in  loc.  Ville 
roy,  vol.  vi.  pp.  224  el  setj. 

X  Villeroy,  vol.  vi.  p.  230.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
Gth  and  7th  volumes  of  this  work  is  occupied  with  ac- 
counts of  the  conference  of  Suresne.  They  were  not 
composed  by  Villeroy,  but  have  been  added  to  his  col- 
lection. 1  believe  they  were  publisaed  at  the  time, 
under  the  title  of  Journal  de  la  Conference  de  Suresne. 


the  church*  The  news  of  this  proceed- 
ing spread  an  alarm  among  the  Protest- 
ants, which  was  not  dispelled  by  a  pro- 
clamation, summoning  their  deputies  to 
attend  at  Mantes  on  the  20th  of  July.f 
Duplessis,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Servin, 
laments  that,  as  the  king  was  resolved  on 
being  instructed,  he  did  not  invite  the  Pro- 
testant ministers  to  meet  the  Catholic  pre- 
lates, for  it  will  be,  said  he,  arma  sine  pul- 
vere.\  And  in  a  letter  to  another  person 
he  writes,  "  I  do  not  perceive  that  the 
bishops  are  called  to  enter  into  any  argu- 
ment, and  therefore  the  truth  will  be 
neither  examined  nor  defended  ;  but,  if  it 
is  for  a  mere  matter  of  form  that  the 
assembly  is  convoked,  the  affair  being 
already  decided,  as  it  is  said  ;  it  would  be 
too  great  a  scandal  to  truth  to  place  it  in 
discussion  where  it  should  prevail,  only  to 
make  it  yield  as  vanquished. "§ 

The  conference  had  naturally  produced 
a  truce  between  the  contending  parties; 
but  the  king  suspected  that  the  Spaniards 
were  availing  themselves  of  the  opportu- 
nity, to  press  more  diligently  the  election 
of  the  Infanta,  as  the  probable  conver- 
sion of  the  king  would  render  it  impos- 
sible, if  it  were  not  effected  immediately. 
Great  efforts  were  also  made  by  that 
party  to  increase  their  force,  and  obtain 
supplies  for  Paris.  Henry  was  then  in- 
duced to  renew  hostilities,  and  took  Dreux 
towards  the  end  of  June.|| 

The  league  was  perplexed  at  the  loss  of 
Dreux,  which  was  almost  their  only  remain- 
ing town  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris; 
and  many  of  their  party  were  wavering, 
in  consequence  of  a  report  that  the  king 
would  certainly  abjure  before  long :  it  was 
therefore  urgent  to  bring  the  assembly  to 
some  decision,  which  was  accordingly 
pressed  by  the  Spanish  agent.  On  this 
occasion  the  parliament  resumed  its  inde- 
pendence: with  a  spirit  of  patriotism  which 
the  fate  of  Brisson  could  not  daunt,  they 
passed  a  decree  declaring  the  Salic  law 
inviolable,  and  protested  against  the  elec- 
tion of  a  king  by  the  States.1T    The  presi- 

*  Dated  18th  May,  1593.   Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  179. 
f  This  proclamation  was  dated  25th  May,  1593. 
i  Letter  dated  31st  May.    Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii. 
p.  314. 

$  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p.  324. 
y  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  205.    Mem.de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii .  p. 
33. 

IT  This  decree,  dated  30th  June,  1593,  gave  great  of- 
fence to  the  Duke  of  Mayenne ;  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Lyons  went  into  a  violent  passion  on  account  of  it.— 
Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  030. 


HENRY  ABJURES  PROTESTANTISM. 


287 


dent,  Lemaitre,  was  ordered  to  remon- 
strate with  Mayenne  against  any  treaty 
being  made  to  transfer  the  crown  of  France 
to  a  foreign  prince,  under  the  pretext  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  to  call  upon  him  to  bring  about 
a  peace,  as  soon  as  possible,  on  account 
of  the  extreme  necessity  of  the  people. 
But  though  so  often  foiled,  the  Spanish 
agents  would  not  desist :  they  continued 
their  exertions  to  have  the  Duke  of  Guise 
and  the  Infanta  placed  upon  the  throne, 


place  him  beyond  the  reach  of  censure  for 
a  want  of  firmness.  The  Protestant  theo- 
logian may  blame  his  abjuration  in  as  un- 
qualified a  manner  as  the  popish  ecclesi- 
astic bestows  his  approbation;  but  it  is  to 
be  borne  in  mind  that,  by  becoming  a 
Catholic,  Henry  IV.  was  enabled  to  restore 
a  national  existence  to  France,  and  pos- 
terity has  ennobled  his  name  by  the  title 
of  the  Great.  Happily  the  rights  of  con- 
science are  now  so  fully  admitted,  that  no 


But  nothing  could  preserve  their  filling 'one  presumes  to  question  the  sincerity  of 


influence  when  the  ceremony  of  publicly 
abjuring  Protestantism  had  taken  place  at 
St.  Denis.*  The  king  had  long  been 
satisfied  that  unless  he  joined  the  Romish 
church,  he  must  pass  his  whole  life  in 
warfare,  which  would  waste  his  country 
with  fire  and  sword.  Many  other  cir- 
cumstances concurred  in  influencing  him 
to  change  his  religion;  his  favourite  mis- 
tress, Gabrielle  d'Estres,  wished  to  see  the 
country  pacified,  as  the  only  means  by 


another's  opinions :  we  are,  therefore, 
bound  to  abstain  from  inquiring  whether 
this  king's  convictions  were  real  or  pre- 
tended ;  and  thus  extend  to  his  memory 
a  privilege  which  could  not  exist  while  he 
lived,  on  account  of  the  general  prevalence 
of  bigotry  and  prejudice. 

Yet  without  pretending  to  blame  the 
act,  we  may  lament  the  sad  necessity, 
which  drove  him  to  abjure.  The  different 
Huguenots  of  distinction  who  have  left 


which  her  prospect  could  be  realized  of  behind  cthem  memoirs  or  letters,  agree 
being  married  to  the  king.  An  expression  j  that  the  king  was  fond  of  easing  his  con- 
has  been  currently  attributed  to  him  which  [science  by  the  project  of  a  national  coun- 
is  extremely  probable :  when  hisHugue-  cil  for  reuniting  the  parties  by  cleansing 
not  friends  were  entreating  him  not  to! the  Roman  church  of  those  unscriptural 
abandon  them,  he  is  said  to  have  an- j  practices  and  doctrines  which  justified  the 
swered,  "Ventre  St.  Grin!  Paris  is  well ;  dissent  of  the  Huguenots.  Circumstances 
worth  a  mass."  But  the  Catholics  in  [never  permitted  the  realization  of  that  pro- 
general  declare  this  to  be  an  invention  of'ject ;  and  such  is  the  force  of  example, 
the  Huguenots,  who,  being  vexed  at  losing  [  that  within  a  few  years  every  family  of 
so  illustrious  a  chief,  were  determined  to! distinction  had  returned  to  the  Catholic 
make  it  appear  that  in  his  heart  he  had  church.  The  loss  of  their  protectors  ren- 
not  forsaken  them.  The  sincerity  of  his  dered  the  Huguenots  an  easy  prey  to  their 
conversion  has  in  consequence  been  enemies;  and  the- recompense  obtained 
strenuously  insisted  upon  by  their  oppo-;for  their  services  to  Henry,  was  only  an 
nents.  Cayet,  who  also  abjured  the  Pro- j  additional  motive  to  excite  his  successors 
testant  religion,  takes  great  pains  to  show] to  oppress  them. 

that  even  while  the  king  was  avowedly1  As  a  cloak  to  their  ambitious  designs, 
a  Huguenot,  he  sincerely  believed  in  the ! the  Jesuits  and  all  the  ultramontane  fac- 
doctrine  of  the  real  presence.^  We  have,  [tion,  whether  commissioned  from  Rome 
however,  his  majesty's  letter  to  the  fair  j  or  Madrid,  had  protested  that  they  were 
Gabrielle,  written  on  the  evening  before  I  actuated  solely  by  a  desire  to  preserve  the 
his  abjuration,]:  which  shows  that  he  did 'unity  of  the  faith,  by  protecting  religion 


not  renounce  the  faith  in  which  he  had 
been  educated  without  some  repugnance; 
much  more,  indeed,  than  he  would  have 
felt,  if  he  been  so  satisfied  upon  the 
doctrines  of  the  church  of  Rome:  "To- 
morrow," says  he,  "  I  take  the  peril- 
ous leap."    His  situation  as  sovereign 


from  the  design  of  a  prince  who  had 
abandoned  their  church.  But  no  sooner 
did  the  King  of  France  consent  to  become 
a  Roman  Catholic,  than  the  legate  evinced 
great  displeasure, and  announced  that  any 
ecclesiastic  who  might  go  to  see  Henry  of 
Bourbon,  who  called   himself  King  of 


and  common  parent  of  a  suffering  nation  France,  would  be  deprived  of  his  bene- 
 —   fice,  and  incur  the  censures  of  the  church.* 

•  25th  July,  1593.  I  

t  Cayet,  liv.  5,  pp.  148—222. 

;  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  vol.  i.  p.  472.  Edit.  Cologne. 


*  Leltre  de  Monsieur  le  LDsat  aux  CatholiqueB  d6 
<  Fiance,  dated  23d  July,  1593.  Villeroy,  vol.  vii.  p.  84. 


288 


MAYENNE  MAKES  HIS  PEACE  WITH  THE  KING. 


The  gates  of  Paris  were  shut,  and  the 
people  prohibited  from  going  to  St.  Denis: 
but  the  attempt  was  useless,  and  multi- 
tudes went  to  witness  a  ceremony,  which 
was  to  put  an  end  to  the  public  calami- 
ties.* 

Joy  so  publicly  testified,  convinced  the 
Duke  of  Mayenne  that  his  power  was 
nearly  at  an  end.  From  this  time  the 
king  was  spoken  of  in  terms  of  respect, 
and  the  titles  Henry  of  Bourbon,  King  of 
Navarre,  or  the  Bernais,  were  discontinued 
by  all  except  the  most  fanatical  members 
of  the  league.  The  preachers  had  recourse 
to  their  old  method  of  serving  the  cause 
by  the  most  vi  ilent  sermons,  in  which  the 
king's  abjuration  was  represented  in  very 
odious  colours.  Boucher  was  conspicuous 
among  them,  and  preached  nine  sermons 
on  the  subject,  which  were  afterwards 
printed.  He  maintained  that  the  bishops 
who  had  received  the  abjuration  were 
ministers  of  hell ;  and  that  even  the  pope 
himself  could  not  re-Catholicise  the  Bear- 
nais.f  The  people,  however,  remained 
cool,  and  the  appeal  to  their  enthusiasm 
was  no  longer  successful.  The  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  perceiving  that  his  prospects 
were  cut  off,  considered  that  as  he  must 
choose  to  submit  to  the  king  on  one  hand, 
or  on  the  other  to  his  nephew,  if  the  King 
of  Spain  succeeded  in  placing  him  upon 
the  throne,  and  being  besides  advised  by 
his  wife  to  make  peace  with  the  king 
while  he  could  obtain  good  terms,  he  con- 
cluded a  truce  in  spite  of  the  opposition 
of  the  Spaniards.}. 

An  embassy  was  despatched  to  the  pope 
to  obtain  his  absolution,  and  thus  remove 
every  scruple  which  might  remain  in  the 
minds  of  the  ecclesiastics.  This  circum- 
stance, coupled  with  the  publication  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  in  Paris,  appears  to  have 
excited  great  apprehensions  among  the 
Huguenots.  Ever  since  the  king  had 
been  joined  by  any  of  the  Catholic  no- 
bility, his  favours  had  been  almost  exclu- 
sively bestowed  upon  them  ;  and  when 
the  Protestants  knew  that  his  abjuration 
was  decided  upon,  they  chiefly  regretted 
the  loss  of  a  chief  and  a  protector.  But 
when  they  heard  that  the  absolution  was 
wanted,  they  anticipated  further  persecu- 
tions; and  their  inquiries  upon  every 


*  Cayet,  !iv.  5,  p.  2-22.   Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  Dated  31st  July,  1593.  Cayet,  liv.  5. 


point,  instead  of  allaying  their  fears, 
tended  more  to  augment  them.  Du- 
plessis,  writing  to  the  Duke  of  Bouillon, 
observes,  "In  taking  the  king's  abjuration, 
it  was  proposed  tfhat  he  should  swear  to 
make  war  against  the  Huguenots,  which 
he  refused  to  do.  This  is  a  great  bold- 
ness, to  dare  to  make  such  a  demand, 
when  he  was  barely  on  the  threshold  of 
their  door."  He  afterwards  alludes  to  the 
embassy  to  Rome,  and  expects  that  the 
king  will  obtain  absolution  "  on  condition 
of  his  revoking  the  edict  against  the  bull ; 
and,  for  penance,  he  will  be  secretly  en- 
joined to  make  war  against  the  Protest- 
ants. The  King  of  Spain  will  then  remain 
to  be  satisfied:  he  can  marry  his  daughter 
to  the  king,  by  which  the  two  interests 
will  be  blended ;  and  then  the  Philistines 
must  be  sacrificed  as  a  dowry."*  In  a 
subsequent  letter  he  mentions,  "  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Council  of  Trent,  during  a 
treaty  of  peace,  appears  to  discover  their 
intentions  sufficiently.  It  is,  in  short, 
either  to  make  the  peace  impossible  for 
the  king,  or  to  cause  a  war  to  fall  upon 
us."t 

The  absence  of  a  Huguenot  leader  be- 
longing to  the  royal  family  increased  the 
importance  of  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  who 
from  that  time  was  considered  the  head 
of  that  party;  and  his  ambition  made  him 
assist  the  fervency  of  Duplessis,  in  reani- 
mating the  zeal  of  the  Protestants.  A 
synod  had  been  convened  at  St.  Maixent 
prior  to  the  king's  abjuration;  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  made  the  Huguenots 
extremely  attentive,  and  at  that  assembly 
a  plan  was  agreed  upon  for  deputies  from 
all  the  churches  to  meet  in  the  month  of 
December,  to  petition  the  king  to  direct 
them  how  their  affairs  were  henceforth  to 
be  conducted;  to  entreat  him  to  order  a 
general  assembly  of  the  Protestants ;  and 
to  pray  that  the  truce  might  be  changed 
into  a  settled  peace.}  The  king's  autho- 
rity was  not  so  well  established  that  he 
could  dispense  with  the  support  of  his  tried 
friends  ;  he  therefore  met  their  deputies  at 
Mantes,  assured  them  that  his  conversion 
had  not  altered  his  affection  for  them,  and 
promised  to  have  their  affairs  taken  into 
consideration.  5 


*  Dated  10th  August,  1593.    Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol. 
ii.  p  336. 
t  Mem.  de  Duplessis,  vol.  ii.  p  3G7. 
t  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  364. 
5  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  259. 


BARRIERE  ATTEMPTS  THE  KING'S  LIFE. 


289 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


Barriire  meditates  an  attempt  on  the  Kine's  life— Re- 
duction uf  Paris— John  Chatel  stabs  the  King— Ba 
nishineut  of  the  Jesuits. 


Henry's  abjuration  was  no  sooner 
known,  than  a  considerable  number  of i 
persons  openly  professed  their  attachment 
to  him :  all  hope  of  destroying  his  autho- 
rity by  arms  was  therefore  at  an  end. ' 
But  the  legate  and  his  fanatical  associates 
would  not  abandon  their  design  ;  and  by 
comparing  the  present  state  of  their  affairs 
with  their  condition  when  Henry  III.  was 
advancing  against  them  with  a  formidable 
force,  they  were  led  to  take  measures  for  j 
a  similar  deliverance.    The  pulpits  had 
for  some  time  resounded  with  appeals,  I 
calculated  to  excite 'any  violent  enthusiast 
who  would  undertake  to  preserve  the) 
church  from  its  pretended  dangers.  The 
Jesuit  Commolet,  in  one  of  his  sermons, ' 
enlarged  upon  the  death  of  Eglon,  King 
of  Moab;  he  applauded  the  assassination! 
of  the  late  king,  and  described  James' 
Clement  as  sitting  among  the  angels  of 
heaven.    Having  thus  applied  the  text,  he  \ 
exclaimed,  "  We  must  have  an  Ehud  ;  we 
want  an  Ehud :  be  he  a  monk,  a  soldier,  '• 
or  a  shepherd,  it  is  of  no  consequence;' 
but  we  must  have  an  Ehud;  and  this 
blow  is  all  we  want  to  put  our  affairs  in 
the  situation  we  desire."* 

Such  sermons  were  preached  at  Lyons' 
and  other  towns,  as  well  as  at  Paris ;  and : 
among  others  who  were  moved  by  the 
appeal,  was  one  Peter  Barriere,  originally 
a  waterman  of  Orleans:  brought  up: 
among  the  lowest  classes,  he  was  extreme- ! 
]y  ignorant;  but  being  very  intrepid,  he | 
had  been  employed  by  the  late  Duke  of  I 
Guise  in  an  attempt  to  carry  off  the 
Queen  of  Navarre.  When  he  had  re- 
solved to  devote  himself  to  his  dreadful  j 
attempt,  he  addressed  the  grand  vicar  ofi 
the  Carmelites  at  Lyons  to  have  his 
opinion  respecting  his  enterprise:  the  friar) 
praised  his  courage.  A  capuchin,  of  whom  ' 
he  made  the  same  inquiry,  told  him  deci: 
dedly  that  the  work  was  meritorious,  j 
Happily  for  the  king  a  similar  consultation 
was  held  with  a  Dominican,  named  Sera- 
pin  Bianchi,  who  was  attached  to  the 


*  Plaidoyer  de  M 
de  Henri  IV. 

25 


Arnauld,  in  1594,  p.  50.  Journal 


royalist  party,  and  was  employed  as  a  spy 
by  the  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

In  order  to  be  more  sure  of  preserving 
the  king  against  the  meditated  attempt 
upon  his  life,  the  Dominican  deferred 
giving  his  opinion  till  the  following  day : 
in  the  interval  he  sent  for  a  gentleman 
named  Brancaleon,  and  told  him  to  take 
particular  notice  of  the  person  he  should 
meet.  Barriere  was  dismissed  with  an 
exhortation  to  abandon  his  plan,  and 
Brancaleon  immediately  warned  the  king 
of  his  danger. 

Barriere  proceeded  to  Paris  and  applied 
to  Aubry,  curate  of  St.  Andre-des-Arcs, 
he  being  considered  one  of  the  most  zeal- 
ous persons  of  the  league.  Aubry  told 
him  that  the  king  was  not  a  Catholic, 
although  he  went  to  mass:  he  introduced 
him  to  Varade,  the  rector  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  assured  him  that  to  kill  the  king  was 
a  great  action,  but  it  required  courage, 
and  that  he  must  previously  confess  him- 
self and  perform  his  Easter  devotions:  he 
then  gave  him  his  benediction,  and  in- 
trusted him  to  another  Jesuit  for  confes- 
sion* After  this  encouragement  Barriere 
purchased  a  double-edged  knife,  which  he 
had  pointed  and  sharpened,  and  the  nset 
out  to  kill  Henry  IV.  When  he  arrived 
at  St.  Denis,  the  king  was  hearing  mass; 
Barriere  was  awed  by  his  devotion, 
and  his  courage  failed.  He  followed  the 
king  to  various  places  and  again  received 
the  sacrament.  At  last  he  was  seized  by 
Brancaleon,  who  recognised  himatMelun, 
where  he  was  waiting  for  an  opportunity 
to  give  the  fatal  blow.  His  answers, 
when  examined,  displayed  a  sort  of  in- 
sanity, which  arose  from  his  mind  being 
bewildered  by  what  the  different  priests 
had  declared  to  him.  His  punishment 
comprised  the  worst  kinds  of  torture; 
and,  while  suffering  such  dreadful  pain, 
he  declared  that  he  expected  God  would 
have  rendered  him  invisible  after  killing 
the  king.  His  confession  was  very  ample, 
and  he  mentioned  the  names  of  his  ad- 
visers, who  were  all  priests  or  doctors  in 
theology;  indeed  there  is  not  the  least 
room  to  doubt  their  complicity  on  this 
occasion.t 


*  Jnuvency  naturally  rejects  this  version  of  the  af- 
fair. He  says  that  Varade  did  every  thins  in  his  power 
to  deter  Barriere:  but  he  was  madly  bent  upon  it,  and 
would  not  be  persuaded.  (Hist.  A'tic.  Jesu.  lib.  IS,  p  44.) 
Jourency's  account  would  appear  more  worthy  of  cre- 
dit if  Varade  had  acted  like  the  Dominican  Bianchi. 

t  Barriere  was  arrested  the  2Cth  Augu.t,  and  exe- 


290 


REDUCTION  OF  PARIS. 


The  remainder  of  the  year  was  occupied 
with  negotiations  for  the  pope's  absol  ution ; 
the  want  of  which  enabled  the  clergy  to 
declare,  that  the  abjuration  was  incom- 
plete, and  obstacles  were  thus  raised  to 
the  people's  return  to  allegiance.  But  at 
last  it  became  evident  that  the  king  was 
not  the  cause  of  the  delay,  for,  notwith- 
standing the  pope's  refusal  to  receive  his 
ambassador,  he  did  not  cease  to  solicit  a 
reconciliation.  The  Duke  of  Nevers,  who 
was  charged  with  that  mission,*  was  sur- 
prised, on  his  arrival  at  Poschiavo,  in  the 
Grisons'  country,  to  meet  the  father  Pos- 
sevin,  a  Jesuit,  who  presented  a  brief  from 
the  pope,  and  informed  him  that  he  could 
not  be  received.t  The  Duke  of  Nevers, 
however,  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  had 
several  interviews  with  Clement,  who  said 
to  him  on  one  occasion — "  Do  not  tell  me 
that  your  king  is  a  Catholic;  I  will  never 
believe  that  he  is  truly  converted,  unless 
an  angel  come  from  heaven  to  whisper  it 
in  my  ears.  As  to  the  Catholics  who  have 
followed  his  party,  I  look  upon  them  only 
as  disobedient  deserters  of  religion  and  the 
crown,  and  no  more  than  bastards  and 
sons  of  the  bondwoman.  Those  of  the 
league  are  lawful  children,  and  real  sup- 
ports and  true  pillars  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion."t 

The  first  leaguer  that  submitted  to  the 
king  was  Bois-rose,  who,  directly  he  heard 
of  his  conversion,  made  an  offer  of  his 
services,  and  gave  up  the  towns  of  Fes- 
champ  and  Lislebonne.  This  example 
was  followed  by  Vitry,  governor  of 
Meaux;  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  did  all  in 
his  power  to  retain  that  gentleman,  but  in 
vain.  As  the  truce  was  about  to  expire, 
and  there  appeared  a  probability  of  the 
war  being  renewed,  he  called  together 
the  inhabitants  of  Meaux,  who  all  agreed 
to  his  proposals ;  and,  in  consequence, 
they  proclaimed  the  king  immediately: 
Vitry  moreover  addressed  a  manifest  to 
the  league,  explaining  his  reasons  for 
leaving  them. 5 

The  impulse  being  given,  other  go- 
vernors went  over  to  the  king,  and  Poin- 
toise  was  surrendered  by  D'Alincourt. 

cuted  the  31st.  Cayet,  liv.  5.  IJe  Thou,  liv.  107. 
Journal  de  Henry  IV.    Pasquier,  vol.  ii.  p.  455. 

*  The  instructions  delivered  to  the  Marquis  de  Pisany 
by  the  Duke  of  Nevers  are  inserted  in  Villeroy,  vol.  iv. 
p.  327.  ■ 

f  14th  Oct.  1593.  Mem.  de  Nevers,  vol.  ii.  p.  405. 
i  Cayet,  liv  .5.  pp.  251—260.    Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
§  25th  Llec.  1593.   Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  272.   Journal  de 
Henri  IV.  Mem.  de  Nevera,  vol.  ii.  p.  632. 


The  loss  of  that  place  was  a  great  blow 
to  the  league,  for  they  had  no  other  town 
within  fifteen  leagues  of  Paris.  Villeroy 
immediately  advised  Mayenne  to  treat 
publicly  with  the  king,  but  he  refused ;  he 
said  he  could  not  acknowledge  him  with- 
out the  pope's  orders.  The  experienced 
statesman  perceived  that  the  cause  of  the 
union  was  irrecoverable,  and  immediately 
joined  the  royalists.  Henry  received  him 
graciously,  and  made  him  a  secretary  of 
state.* 

Soon  after,  the  city  of  Lyons  was  mas- 
tered by  the  royalists.  A  revolt  had  taken 
place  there  in  the  previous  September, 
which  arose  from  a  public  dislike  of  the 
Duke  of  Nemours,  the  governor,  who  was 
placed  in  confinement  in  a  castle.  No 
thought  of  serving  the  king  had  been  en- 
tertained by  the  leaders  in  this  affair ;  but 
the  royalists  were  thereby  enabled  to  as- 
certain their  strength,  and  from  that  time 
they  formed  plans  for  establishing  the 
king's  authority.  Mayenne  was  urged 
by  his  family  to  relieve  Nemours  from  his 
unpleasant  situation  ;  but  he  had  no  rea- 
son to  be  anxious  for  the  release  of  such 
a  rival. f  The  intrepid  defender  of  Paris 
had,  however,  great  claims  upon  the 
party,  and  a  body  of  troops  were  pro- 
mised to  be  sent  to  restore  his  authority 
in  Lyons.  This  news  determined  the 
royalists  to  hasten  the  execution  of  their 
plans;  they  sent  to  Alphonso  Ornano  for 
help,  and,  on  the  night  of  the  7th  of 
February,  they  went  through  the  streets 
calling  upon  the  people  to  join  in  their 
effort  for  liberty:  in  a  short  time  the  city 
was  barricaded  in  every  direction.  The 
archbishop  was  awakened  by  the  noise, 
and  went  to  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  where  he 
remonstrated  with  the  people  upon  their 
disobedience,  and  told  them  that  they 
ought  at  least  to  wait  till  the  pope  had 
absolved  the  king.  He  was  answered  by 
shouts  of  Five  le  Roi!  and  the  next  day 
every  one  put  on  the  white  scarf.  Bon- 
fires were  lighted,  and  every  thing  done 
to  express  the  public  hatred  of  the  league. 
The  arms  of  Spain,  Savoy,  and  Nemour9 
were  publicly  burned,  as  well  as  a  per- 
sonification of  the  league,  under  the 
figure  of  an  old  sorceress.    Te  Deum 


*  Cayet,  liv.  6,  pp.  293,  ct  seq.  Villeroy,  vol.  ii.  pp.  J07 
el  seq. 

t  In  a  conversation  with  Villeroy  lie  pretended  to 
doubt  the  fact  of  Nemours  being  in  confinement. — 
Mem.  d'Etat,  vol.  ii.  p.  89fc'. 


BRISSAC  TURNED  TO  THE  KING'S  SIDE. 


291 


was  sung,  and  public  entertainments  were 
given  to  promote  the  festivity.* 

This  event  was  highly  gratifying  to  the 
king,  who  had  found  that  his  conversion 
to  Catholicism  had  neither  diminished  the 
personal  hatred  of  his  enemies  nor  re- 
laxed the  efforts  of  Philip  II.  in  opposing 
him.  A  courier  with  despatches  from 
Mayenne  to  the  Spanish  court,  was 
seized ;  and  among  other  papers  was  a  | 
letter,  stating  that  the  communications  of! 
the  bearer  were  deserving  of  attention 
and  credit.  The  king  discerned  a  good  op- 
portunity  for  learning  Philip's  real  senti-l 
ments,  and  having  confined  the  bearer  of 
the  despatches,  sent  La  Varenne  into ! 
Spain  in  his  stead,  with  ample  instructions 
for  his  guidance.  On  his  arrival  at  Madrid, 
he  was  introduced  to  Philip,  who  informed 
him  of  all  his  plans  for  preventing  the  ab- 
solution of  the  King  of  France:  "Do  not 
fear,"  said  Philip,  "that  the  pope  will 
grant  it,  unless  the  Prince  of  Beam  him- 
self goes  to  Rome  to  demand  it ;  and  if  he 
go  there,  I  will  take  good  care  that  he 
shall  not  easily  get  back  again."  He 
afterwards  saw  the  Infanta;  and  during 
the  interview  she  expressed  a  wish  to  be 
informed  about  the  Prince  of  Beam.  Va- 
renne had  expressly  given  that  turn  to 
the  conversation,  and  produced  a  portrait 
of  Henry,  with  an  observation  upon  the 
happy  results  which  might  be  derived 
from  a  marriage  with  him.  The  Infanta 
made  no  reply,  but  kept  the  portrait. 

Varenne  concluded  his  errand  and  had 
received  the  orders  of  the  king  of  Spain  ; 
he  went  to  take  leave  of  the  Infanta  be- 
fore he  quitted  Madrid,  and,  as  he  left  the 
apartments,  he  was  secretly  informed  that 
a  courier  had  arrived  with  intelligence  of 
Mayenne's  despatches  having  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  King  of  France.  His 
situation  was  very  perilous,  for  his  ar- 
rest would  be  followed  by  an  order  for 
him  to  be  put  to  death ;  but  by  using 
great  expedition,  he  was  able  to  make 
his  escape,  and  communicate  the  impor 
tant  information  he  had  obtained.t  The 
legate  confirmed  his  report,  by  announcing 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  all  good  Catholics, 
that  the  absolution  would  never  be 
granted.i 

As  there  appeared,  therefore,  no  probabi- 


*  Cayet,  liv.  6,  p.  20P.  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

(  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  270,       J  Villeroy,  vol.  ii.  p.  113. 


lity  of  his  obtaining  the  pope's  absolution, 
and  knowing  that  without  it  he  could  not 
expect  the  submission  of  many  of  the  cler- 
gy; and  being  besides  of  opinion  that,  if  he 
were  crowned,  many  persons  would  be 
led  by  that  circumstance  alone  to  join  his 
cause,  he  decided  on  having  his  coronation 
solemnized  at  Chartres :  that  ceremony 
took  place  on  the  27th  of  February,  1594. 
The  news  of  this  event  spread  great  joy 
among  the  royalists,  who  by  this  time 
were  numerous  in  every  part  of  France. 
Mayenne  being  informed  of  the  general 
change  of  the  public  feeling,  became  fear- 
ful of  being  captured  in  the  same  way 
that  the  people  of  Lyons  had  seized  his 
brother  Nemours :  he  quitted  Paris  in 
consequence,  and  went  with  his  family  to 
Soissons  in  the  early  part  of  the  month 
of  March.* 

The  retreat  of  Mayenne  left  Brissac, 
governor  of  Paris,  at  liberty  to  make  an 
advantageous  treaty  with  the  king  for 
surrendering  the  city,  and  thus  take  a  re- 
compense for  services  unrewarded  by  the 
league.  St.  Luc,  his  brother-in-law,  was 
a  royalist ;  him  the  king  charged  with  the 
negotiation.  A  dispute  had  long  existed 
between  them  respecting  the  settlement  of 
some  property ;  St.  Luc  proposed  an  ac- 
commodation, and  the  meeting  was  only 
a  pretext  for  making  known  his  mission. 
When  they  met  at  the  Abbey  of  St.  An- 
tnine,  they  were  each  accompanied  by 
lawyers,  who  discussed  their  affairs  with 
earnestness,  while  St.  Luc  took  Brissac 
aside,  and  made  his  proposal,  which  was 
accepted.  As  it  was  necessary  to  take 
every  precaution, even  against  the  slightest 
suspicion  of  a  conference,  it  was  given 
out  that  the  lawyers  could  not  come  to  any 
decision,  and  that  they  had  parted  with 
feelings  of  great  animosity:  at  the  court, 
it  was  circulated  that  the  king  would  not 
easily  forgive  Brissac's  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  Spain.t 

On  his  return  into  the  city,  Brissac 
consulted  with  the  attorney-general  Mole, 
and  others  of  the  king's  party,  who  would 
not  join  in  the  undertaking  without  sti- 
pulations for  their  own  interests.  But 
that  circumstance  was  not  allowed  to  be 
an  obstacle;  Brissac  had  sold  himself,  and 
therefore  could  not  reproach  them  for 


*  I.e  Grain,  liv.  6.  p.  272.  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
t  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  334.   Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


292 


PARIS  OCCUPIED  BY  HENRY. 


making  a  price.    At  last  they  were  all. 
agreed,  and  arrangements  were  made  for 
executing  the  plan.    The  dawn  of  the 
22d  of  March  was  the  time  fixed  for 
opening  the  gates  of  Paris  to  the  king. 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st,  Brissac  as- 
sembled every  officer  in  whom  he  could 
confide.  The  object  of  the  enterprise 
was  then  more  fully  explained,  and  each 
was  appointed  to  the  post  he  was  to  oc- 
cupy in  its  execution.  At  the  same 
time,  it  was  by  the  greatest  hazard  that 
they  were  not  foiled;  for,  from  the  com- 
munication being  extended  to  a  great 
number,  it  at  last  reached  the  ears  of  the 
Spanish  ministers  and  the  Sixteen.  They 
sent  for  Brissac,  and  told  him  that  there 
was  a  rumour  of  Mayenne  having  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  the  king.  He  pro- 
fessed to  suppose  it  impossible;  but  at 
the  same  time  admitted  that  great  precau- 
tions were  necessary,  and  that  he  would 
immediately  go  round  the  walls,  to  see 
that  all  was  right.  Two  Spanish  cap- 
tains went  with  him;  and  as  they  had 
been  informed  he  was  in  the  plot,  they 
were  ordered  to  kill  him  directly^  they 
perceived  any  movement  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood.* 

Fortunately  the  king's  troops  did  not 
make  their  appearance  till  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  the  Spaniards  had 
quitted  Brissac,  who  went  to  reconnoitre 
directly  he  heard  the  signal:  the  gate  was 
immediately  opened,  and  the  royalists  en- 
tered the  city  in  silence;  they  immediately 
took  possession  of  the  open  places  and 
cross  roads.  A  post  occupied  by  some 
Lansquenets  was  the  only  point  at  which 
they  met  with  opposition,  and  that  was 
very  soon  overcome.  The  king's  entry 
was  quite  triumphal;  he  was  met  at  dif- 
ferent parts  by  the  public  bodies,  who 
offered  their  homage,  while  the  provost 
presented  the  keys  of  the  city.  The 
streets  resounded  with  shouts  of  Five  le 
Hoi.1  and  the  power  of  the  league  was  in 
a  moment  replaced  by  the  authority  of 
the  lawful  sovereign,  who  now  appeared 
as  generally  beloved  as  he  had  lately  been 
execrated  by  the  multitude. 

But  all  Henry's  intrepidity  could  not 
prevent  his  uneasiness,  lest  an  ambuscade 
were  placed  to  cut  him  off;  and  he  in- 
quired of  Marshal  Matignon  if  he  had 


secured  the  gate,  and  made  certain  of  re- 
treat in  case  of  need.*  Indeed,  it  is  pro- 
bable if  a  single  leaguer  had  discharged  a 
gun,  or  attempted,  in  any  manner,  to  en- 
courage his  party,  that  a  dreadful  havoc 
would  have  been  made  amongst  the  king's 
troops.  Sufficient  time  was  given  for 
complete  occupation  of  the  town;  and  the 
few  efforts  that  were  afterwards  made  to 
disturb  the  public  tranquillity  were  with- 
out effect. 

Directly  the  king  perceived  that  the 
Louvre  and  the  principal  places  were  in 
his  power,  he  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Feria 
to  demand  the  liberation  of  Colonel  St. 
Quentin,  who  had  been  put  in  prison  on 
account  of  his  supposed  royalist  opinions. 
The  duke  and  his  companion  Ibarra  were 
then  informed  that  they  were  at  liberty 
lo  retire  when  they  pleased,  provided  they 
made  no  attempts  to  resist  the  occupation 
of  all  the  posts  by  the  king's  soldiers. 
They  accepted  the  proposal,  and  left 
Paris  the  same  day  with  all  the  Spanish 
forces.  In  the  course  of  the  morning, 
the  king  went  to  Notre-Dame,  where  Tc 
Deurn  was  sung;  the  people  crowded  on 
his  passage  to  and  from  the  church,  and 
when  his  attendants  tried  to  keep  them 
off,  he  called  out,  "  Let  them  approach, 
lor  they  are  eager  to  behold  a  king  !"t 
Proclamation  of  a  general  pardon  was 
made:  had  Henry  consulted  his  own 
feelings,  he  would  not  have  shown  the 
least  resentment  to  any;  but  being  con- 
vinced that  some  examples  were  abso- 
lutely requisite,  the  most  seditious  were 
ordered  to  quit  the  city.  Even  Varade, 
the  rector  of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  insti- 
gated Barriere  to  attempt  his  life,  was 
allowed  quietly  to  depart,  in  company 
with  the  legate.  Cardinal  Pelleve  died 
of  vexation  on  hearing  of  the  event;  and 
the  furious  Boucher,  being  fearful  lest  he 
should  be  brought  to  account  for  his  in- 
cendiary sermons,  retired  with  several 
other  doctors  into  Flanders.  De  Bourg, 
the  governor  of  the  Bastille,  made  a  show 
of  resistance;  but  when  he  found  that  the 
popular  feeling  was  undivided,  he  sur- 
rendered the  fortress;  the  occupation  of 
Paris  was  then  complete.^ 

As  a  recompense  for  his  zeal  in  the 
enterprise,  the  king  promoted  Brissac  to 
the  rank  of  marshal;  Mole,  for  his  ex- 


*  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  336.   Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
%  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


t  Ibid. 


PARIS  OCCUPIED  BY  HENRY. 


293 


ertions  in  the  parliament,  was  made  pre 
sident,  and  Le  Maitre,  who  filled  a  similar 
dignity  under  the  league,  was  confirmed 
in  that  office.  These  rewards  were  an 
indication  of  the  king's  disposition  to- 
wards all  who  would  join  him;  while  the 
surrender  of  Paris  contributed  very  much 
to  bring  about  a  similar  change  in  the 
other  towns. 

The  parliament,  being  established  once 
more  under  royal  authority,  passed  a  de- 
cree, annulling  all  the  acts  and  decrees 
which  had  been  made  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  king  and  his  predecessor.*  They 
also  proceeded  to  investigate  the  conduct 
of  the  most  notorious  leaguers,  and  take 
measures  for  punishing  them.  Very  se- 
vere punishments  were  announced  for 
the  preachers,  if  taken;  but  as  they  had 
time  allowed  them  to  escape,  in  the  in- 
terval between  the  king's  return  to  Paris 
and  the  recomposition  of  the  courts,  most 
of  them  remained  abroad,  and  underwent 
the  punishment  of  exile  alone. 

But  the  Jesuits  were  found  to  have 
been,  one  and  all,  so  deeply  interested 
for  the  Spanish  party,  that  their  expulsion 
from  the  kingdom  was  considered  neces- 
sary. This  question  occupied  a  long 
time.  The  decree  of  the  university  which 
ordered  the  proceedings  for  their  banish- 
ment was  signed  by  the  faculty  without 
any  objection. t  The  parochial  clergy 
afterwards  joined  the  university,  and  the 
cause  was  tried  by  the  parliament  of 
Paris  in  July,  1549. 

This  process  has  become  memorable 
by  the  constant  reference  made  to  it  on 
every  occasion  which  has  brought  the 
Jesuits  into  collision  with  the  parlia- 
ments; and  the  charges  which  were  then 
exhibited  against  them  have  been  always 
renewed  whenever  the  public  mind  has 
been  excited  against  that  society.  A  li- 
mine Arnauld  was  advocate  for  the  uni- 
versity; Louis  Dole  for  the  curates  of 
Paris;  and  Claude  Duret  pleaded  on  be- 
half of  the  defendants.  Arnauld's  speech 
contained  much  violent  declamation:  that 
of  Dole  was  more  argumentative;  the  de- 
fence was  comprised  under  two  heads — 
one,  that  the  accusation  against  the  so- 


*  Arrest  solemnel  conlre  ce  qui  s'est  fait  |>ar  la 
Ligue,  &c.  Dated  30th  March,  15U4  Mem.  de  Nevers, 
vol.  ii.  p.  691.  The  parliament  was  recalled  from 
Tours,  by  letters  patent  dated  28th  March. 

t  Sumnta  petitionis  crat,  ut  soeietas  Jesu,  non  solum 
Parisiis,  verum  etium  universe^  regno  exlcrmiiiaretur. 
Jouvenci,  lib.  iii.  p  41. 


ciety  was  inadmissible — the  other,  an 
answer  to  the  accusation,  if  admitted.* 
The  public  feeling  was  so  much  against 
the  Jesuits,  and  the  assertions  made  by 
Arnauld  entered  so  deeply  into  t lie  ex- 
perience of  the  nation  at  large,  that  the 
proscription  of  the  order  was  fully  ex- 
pected. 

The  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  had  joined 
in  the  clamour  against  the  Jesuits,  and  it 
was  principally  in  consequence  of  their 
demand  that  the  trial  had  been  instituted; 
but  two  months  had  scarcely  elapsed  be- 
fore the  faculty  rescinded  their  former 
vote,  and  passed  a  decree  in  favour  of  the 
fathers.!  The  members  of  the  league  who 
still  remained  in  Paris  made  use  of  this 
decree  to  meet  the  accusations  which  were 
made  before  the  parliament ;  and  the 
Jesuits  remained  for  that  time  unmolested. % 

The  king  was  in  the  meantime  occupied 
in  the  field ;  and  several  towns  had  sub- 
mitted to  him.  Laon  resisted  his  forces, 
and  maintained  a  siege  for  two  months, 
in  which  Givry  was  mortally  wounded. 
Peronne,  Beauvais,  Amiens,  and  Noyon 
surrendered  soon  after;  in  November,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  between  the  king 
and  the  Duke  of  Lorrain  ;  and  in  a  short 
time  the  Duke  of  Guise  gave  in  his  adhe- 
sion, and  took  the  oath  of  fidelity.^  Every 
thing  seemed  to  announce  the  entire  pa- 
cification of  France,  by  the  general  es- 
tablishment of  the  king's  authority;  the 
league  was  dwindling  out  of  existence, 
and  its  decay  was  rendered  still  more 
rapid  by  a  quarrel  between  the  Dukes  of 
Mayenne  and  Feria,||  when  the  nation 
was  astounded  by  another  fanatical  at- 
tempt to  assassinate  the  king. 

On  the  evening  of  the  27th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1594,  Henry  arrived  at  the  Louvre 
from  Picardy,  when  he  was  surrounded 
by  a  number  of  nobles  and  gentlemen, 
who  pressed  forward  to  offer  their  con- 
gratulations on  the  favourable  state  of  his 
affairs.    A  young  man  had  glided  through. 


25* 


*  Cayet,  liv.  5,  pp.  379  et  srq.  Pl.iidoyer  de  M. 
An oi lie  Arnauld, Jtc,  12  et  13  Juillei,  lii)4. 

t  Post  maturam  dt liherationcm  d'ctnrnvit  (concio)  sc. 
quidem  censere  pntres  societatis  ,/psu,  redigendos  esse  in 
ordiiiem  et  disriptinnm  uniecrsitaiis ;  regno  autem  Qui- 
lico  esse  ncquoquam  ezpetlendos.    Jouvenci,  ut  antca. 
X  Hist  lie  la  Sorbonne,  vol.  ii.  p  147. 
§  St.  Pol,  an  intimate  friend  of  Guise,  quarrelled  with 
that  prince  fur  renouncing  his  principles,  ami  sent  for 
800  Spaniards  to  enable  In  in  to  defend  Rheims.  Guise 
heard  of  his  design,  and  forbid  it.   St.  Pol  was  haughty, 
and  Guise  ran  him  through  the  body.  Bassompierre, 
Mouv.  Mem.  p.  45. 
||  Cayet,  liv.  5,  p.  407. 


294 


A  SECOND  ATTEMPT 


AT  ASSASSINATION. 


the  crowd  unobserved,  and,  with  a  knife, 
aimed  a  blow  at  the  king's  throat.  At 
that  moment  two  gentlemen  had  ap- 
proached, making  their  salutation  by 
bending  one  knee;  and  the  king,  with  his 
usual  affability,  stooping  to  raise  them  up, 
received  the  blow  on  his  mouth.  At  first 
the  king  thought  he  had  been  struck  by  a 
silly  girl  named  Mathurine,  who  happened 
to  be  close  to  him  ;  and  he  expressed  him- 
self to  that  effect.  She  immediately  went 
to  the  door  of  the  apartment  and  declared 
that  no  one  should  go  out.  The  company 
then  looked  at  each  other,  and  a  young 
man,  whose  person  was  unknown  to 
them,  and  who  appeared  very  agitated, 
was  at  once  charged  with  the  crime.  He 
had  thrown  away  the  knife,  and  at  first 
protested  his  innocence ;  but  afterwards 
he  confessed  that  he  had  given  the  blow.* 
On  his  examination  it  was  found  that 
he  was  John  Chatel,  son  of  a  draper  ;f  that 
he  had  studied  at  the  college  of  the  Jesuits; 
and  that,  having  dreadful  alarms  of  con- 
science on  account  of  depravities  to  which 
he  had  been  addicted,  and  which  seemed 
to  preclude  all  hopes  of  God's  mercy,  he 
wished  to  expiate  a  part  of  his  crimes, 
under  the  idea  that  it  would  be  better  to 
be  damned  as  four  than  as  tight  ;i  and 
having  constantly  heard  the  king  declared 
a  tyrant  and  a  heretic,  he  thought  that 
the  act  of  delivering  France  from  his  sway 
offered  the  best  chance  of  preserving  him 
from  some  part  of  the  torments  to  which 
he  fancied  he  was  doomed.  This  misera- 
ble wretch  suffered  the  dreadful  punish- 
ment which  awaited  regicides  at  this 
period. § 

The  greatest  alarm  pervaded  Paris 
when  the  news  of  the  desperate  act  was 
promulgated :  but  when  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  the  wound  was  not  dangerous, 
-and  that  no  fears  were  entertained  of  the 
knife  having  been  poisoned,  the  public  joy 
was  unbounded:  a  Te  De<im  was  imme- 
diately sung  at  Notre  Dame. 

It  was  with  difficulty  the  populace  were 
restrained  from  taking  vengeance  on  the 
Jesuits :  their  colleges  were  surrounded 
by  soldiers ;  several  of  them  were  taken 
into  custody,  and  the  rest  removed  to 

*  Journal  rie  Henri  IV.    Sully,  liv.  7. 

t  Jouvenci  thus  speaks  of  him  :  "  I/uic  monsl.ro  vo 
v\on  atcrna  sepelievdum  oblivione,  Joannes  Castr/lits,  #c." 
No  doubt  the  society  would  he  very  happy  if  this  affair 
could  be  forgotten. 

%  Ut  quatuor  quam  ul  octo. 

I  Cayet,  liv.  6,  p.  432—435. 


other  houses.  Among  those  arrestee? 
were  Guignard,  the  rector  of  the  college ; 
Gueret,  who  had  been  Chatel's  confessor 
and  adviser ;  and  Haius,  or  Hay,  a  Scotch- 
man, who  had  been  remarkable  for  his 
zeal  against  the  king's  cause.  On  ex- 
amining the  papers  found  in  the  college, 
there  were  found  in  Guignard's  hand- 
writing, some  propositions  to  the  following 
effect:  "That  if  some  royal  blood  had 
been  shed  at  the  St.  Bartholomew,  they 
would  have  been  spared  the  evils  under 
which  they  laboured ;  that  the  act  of 
Jacques  Clement  was  heroic  and  glorious; 
that  the  crown  of  France  could,  and  must 
be  transferred  to  some  other  family  than 
that  of  Bourbon ;  that  the  Bearnais,  al- 
though converted  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
would  be  treated  more  mildly  than  he 
deserved  if  he  were  confined  in  some  se- 
vere convent,  there  to  do  penance;  that 
if  he  could  not  be  deposed  without  war,  let 
war  be  carried  against  him ;  and  if  that 
could  not  be  done,  he  should  be  put  to 
death;"  besides  others  which  were  le- 
velled against  Henry  III.  and  the  Protest- 
ant princes  of  Europe.* 

The  proceedings  which  had  occupied 
the  parliament  some  months  previous  were 
renewed  in  consequence  of  this  event,  and 
the  Jesuits  were  banished  the  kingdom  by 
the  same  decree  which  condemned  John 
Chatel  to  death. f  Guignard  was  tried  for 
his  treasonable  writings,  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  hanged  :  he  was  executed  on 
the  7th  of  January  :  his  firmness  at  the 
place  of  execution  was  astonishing,  and 
he  has  in  consequence  been  revered  as  a 
martyr  by  the  society.^ 

Numerous  inquiries  were  made  respect- 
ing the  Jesuits  in  every  part  of  the  king- 
dom ;  and  it  was  found  that  those  con- 
nected with  the  society  were  generally  in 
expectation  of  the  attempt  upon  the  mo- 
narch's life.  A  few  days  before  the  act 
was  committed,  two  Swiss  were  met  by 
some  Jesuits  at  Besancon,  on  his  road  to 
Rome,  who  told  them  that,  very  soon,  the 
King  of  Navarre  would  be  killed  or 
wounded.  The  event  was  also  looked  for 
by  the  Spanish  troops  in  Britanny,  who 
were  sent  to  aid  the  expiring  league. 


*  Cayet.  liv.  G.  p.  430. 

t  The  decree,  dated  29lh  December,  1594,  is  given  at 
length  bv  many  writers:  see,  among  others,  Fasquier, 
vol  i.  p.  320. 

%  Cayet,  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles,  Jouvenci, 
Soc.  Jesu.  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


HENRY  ABSOLVED  BY  THE  POPE. 


295 


And  from  informations  taken  at  Bourges, 
it  appeared  that  one  Francis  Jacob,  a 
scholar  of  the  Jesuits  in  that  town,  boasted 
that  he  would  kill  the  king  if  it  were  not 
already  done  by  another.* 

Before  these  statements  could  reach  the 
capital,  the  Jesuits  were  already  com- 
manded to  leave  the  kingdom ;  they  may, 
therefore,  have  been  highly  coloured  by 
the  enemies  of  the  society  to  justify  a  pre- 
cipitate decision.  To  discuss  the  merits 
of  the  often-renewed  dispute,  not  only  be- 
tween the  Jesuits  and  the  parliaments,  but 
also  their  quarrels  with  the  secular  clergy, 
would  be  foreign  to  our  subject;  but  it 
may  not  be  improper  to  remark,  that  the 
declaration  published  by  them  in  answer 
to  the  decree  for  their  banishment,  con- 
tains an  observation  which  completely 
proves  the  danger  and  confusion  which 
must  attend  their  establishment  in  any 
country  where  the  people  have  made  the 
least  advances  in  civilization.  After  ar- 
guing upon  the  bull  of  Sixtus  V.,  which 
deprived  the  king  of  his  right  to  the 
crown,  and  declaring  that  the  court  had 
usurped  the  authority  of  the  church  in 
stigmatizing  as  impious  and  heretical  the 
maxims  which  Chatel  had  imbibed,  the 
fathers  added,  "  that  lay-judges  con- 
demning ecclesiastics,  and  particularly  re- 
ligieitx,  the  immediate  subjects  of  the 
pope,  were  excommunicated."!  As  the 
society  can  increase  its  numbers  without 
any  control  from  the  government,  the  in- 
fluence of  such  a  body  refusing  submission 
to  the  civil  magistrate  necessarily  endan- 
gers the  existence  of  the  government 
itself. 


CHAPTER  L. 

Henry  absolved  by  the  Pope— Battl«  nf  Fontaine  Fran- 
rai^e — Ham  taken  <■>■  Uumieres— Capture  of  Dour- 
lens  and  C.i in ii r ay  by  the  Spaniards — Siege  of  La 
Fere  and  Calais — Assembly  nf  Notables  at  Rmirn  — 
8iege  of  Amiens— Edict  of  .Nantes— Peace  Willi 
Spain. 

The  ignorance  which  pervaded  the 
people  at  large  rendered  the  pope's  abso- 
lution requisite  for  the  establishment  of 
the  king's  authority:  and  it  is  clear  that, 
if  the  pontiff  had  already  granted  it, 
Chatel  would  not  have  felt  at  liberty  to 

*  Hist.des  Derniers  Troubles,  vol.  ii.  p  53. 
I  Cayet,  liv.  6,  p.  436. 


attempt  his  life:  his  personal  safety  was 
therefore  interested  in  concluding  the  dif- 
ference with  the  court  of  Rome.  But, 
unfortunately,  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits 
created  fresh  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the 
negotiation,  and  rendered  Clement  VIII. 
less  willing  to  consent.*  D'Ossat  was 
indefatigable  at  Rome  on  the  king's  be- 
half, and  envoys  were  sent  from  time  to 
time  with  special  powers,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose; the  pope  complained  of  the  re- 
storation of  the  edict  of  Poictiers  (1577,) 
and  of  the  banishment  of  the  Jesuits, 
which  he  said  was  to  be  followed  by  the 
expulsion  of  all  the  religious  orders  from 
France.  The  Spaniards  endeavoured  to 
confirm  him  in  such  sentiments;  and  as- 
sured him  that  Henry  would  again  be- 
come a  Huguenot,  when  he  was  in  pos- 
session of  all  power;  and  that  to  preserve 
France  to  the  holy  see,  it  was  not  worth 
while  to  risk  the  loss  of  Spain. f  Cle- 
ment had  too  much  experience  to  take  all 
their  assertions  for  granted,  and  felt  a  de- 
sire to  be  informed  of  the  real  state  of 
affairs:  he  made  inquiries  on  all  sides, 
and  put  forward  various  pretexts  for  de- 
laying his  decision,  until  he  had  received 
sufficient  information. 

He  was  soon  convinced  that  the  league 
was  no  longer  a' cause  that  he  was  in- 
terested in  defending;  and  that  the  feeling 
of  the  French  authorities  was  too  decided 
to  allow  him  much  longer  to  tamper  with 
a  king  who  had  already  displayed  un- 
common forbearance,  in  continuing  to 
solicit  a  thing  which  was  valuable  only 
because  the  multitude  were  uninformed 
respecting  it.  Early  in  1595,  a  messen- 
ger had  arrived  in  Paris  with  a  bull  from 
the  pope.  The  Bishop  of  Paris  told  the 
king  that  it  was  the  bull  for  his  absolu- 
tion. Henry,  highly  pleased  that  the 
affair  had  been  brought  to  a  conclusion, 
sent  it  to  the  parliament;  but  that  body, 
either  having  a  better  knowledge  of  Latin 
than  the  bishop,  or  being  impressed  with 
an  idea  of  its  requiring  a  careful  inspec- 
tion before  it  could  be  received,  had  it 
examined  with  due  attention;  and  it 
proved  to  be  merely  a  bull  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  jubilee.    The  court  de- 

*  When  D'Ossat  wailed  on  Clement  after  the  news 
had  reached  Rome,  the  pontiff  enlarged  very  much  upon 
the  proceedings  of  the  Parliament  nf  Paris;  he  con- 
cluded by  paying,  "  Voyez  si  e'est  la  le  moyen  d'accom- 
nwler  lea  choacs.—Lcltres  du  Card.  D'Ussat,  part  i.  p.  36, 
dated  31st  January,  J5U5. 
\  D'Ossat,  p.  66. 


296 


HENRY  DECLARES  WAR  AGAINST  SPAIN. 


clared  that  they  would  not  receive  any 
thing  coining  from  the  pope,  until  he  had 
recognised  the  king,  and  admitted  him 
into  the  church.* 

This  circumstance  was  calculated  to 
subdue  Clement's  obstinacy,  but  another 
event  was  still  more  efficacious.  Many 
of  the  king's  advisers  recommended  the 
establishment  of  a  patriarch  at  the  head 
of  the  Gallican  church.t  That  would 
have  been  as  bad  as  Huguenotism  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Vatican;  and  from  the  time 
that  Clement  received  that  intelligence, 
he  became  more  courteous  to  the  French 
envoys.  It  is  related  that  a  facetious  ob- 
servation of  Seraphin  Olivier  convinced 
the  pope  of  the  danger  which  attended 
his  refusals  and  delays.  He  had  constant 
access  to  Clement,  and  was  in  the  habit 
of  conversing  familiarly  with  him: — 
"  What  news,"  said  Clement,  "respect- 
ing the  troubles  in  France."  "  It  is 
said,"  replied  Olivier,  "  that  Clement  VII. 
lost  England  by  his  hasty  disposition, 
and  that  Clement  VIII.  will  lose  France 
by  his  dilatory  procedure. "J  The  car- 
dinals assembled  on  the  2d  of  August, 
when  Clement  addressed  them  at  length 
on  the  events  which  had  occurred  in 
France:  he  afterwards  consulted  each  of 
them  in  private,  and  found  the  majority 
were  for  giving  the  absolution. §  The 
terms  upon  which  it  was  to  be  granted 
were  sent  to  France,  and  the  king,  find- 
ing them  conformable  to  his  intentions, 
authorized  his  envoys,  D'Ossat  Du  Per- 
ron, to  accept  them.  The  ceremony  of 
absolving  Henry  took  place  on  the  17th 
of  September,  1595.l|  The  church  of 
Rome  requires  that  penitents  who,  having 
deserted  her  faith,  wish  to  be  again  re- 
ceived in  the  fold,  be  smitten  in  public 
with  rods:  the  king  was  not  there  to  un- 
dergo the  salutary  chastisement;  but  his 
representatives,  D'Ossat  and  Du  Perron, 
received  the  blows  on  their  shoulders, 
while  priests  recited  the  Miserere.^  In 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 

t  Some  lines  were  composed  on  the  occasion , begin- 
ning ; 

Pere  .taint,  France  vous  eschappe, 
Sion  fait  un  jintipape,  &c,  &c. 
t  Davila,  liv.  14. 

5  Lettres  du  Cardinal  D'Ossat,  part  i.  p.  65. 

[i  D'Ossat.  in  a  letter  of  the  same  date,  writes  "  ca 
estS  ce  matin  que  t'absolution  a  ete  donnee  au  roye 
tout  s'y  esl  passe  convenablement  a  la  dignite  de  la 
couronne."—  Lettres,  &c,  part  i.  p.  08. 

IT"  This  circumstance  has  been  the  subject  of  consi- 
derable discussion  ;  John  Botero,  an  ultramontane, 
has  given  an  account  entitled  De  Astorilate  et  potentia 
3ummi  Pontificis,  Src,  in  which  he  dwells  upon  the  fla- 


order  to  maintain  every  item  of  his  pre- 
rogative, the  pope  declared  null  and  void 
the  absolution  which  the  king  had  re- 
ceived at  St.  Denis;  and  after  a  full  con- 
fession of  heresy  had  been  read  aloud,  he 
pronounced  the  restoration  of  Henry  IV. 
to  his  title  of  Most  Christian  King.  The 
sound  of  trumpets  in  the  church  was  a 
signal  for  the  discharge  of  cannon  at  the 
castle  of  St.  Anijelo;  and  while  this  de- 
monstration of  joy  took  place  the  king's 
representatives  advanced,  and  with  great 
fervour  kissed  the  pontiffs  feet.*  The 
Spanish  faction,  unable  to  prevent  the 
ceremony,  had  done-all  in  their  power  to 
have  it  celebrated  privately .f 

This  negotiation  had  occupied  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  year,  and  in  the  inter- 
val the  king  had  been  actively  employed 
in  military  operations,  for  he  had  declared 
war  against  Spain  in  January.  The 
archduke  Ernest  published  a  reply  to 
the  king's  proclamation,  and  immediately 
took  measures  for  carrying  on  the  war 
with  vigour;  but  very  soon  after  he  died 
at  Brussels,  and  the  Spanish  government 
was  thus  deprived  of  his  services  at  a 
time  they  were  very  much  wanted.}  As 
he  had  been  led  to  expect  the  hand  of  the 
Infanta,  directly  she  was  placed  upon  the 
throne  of  France,  the  reverses  of  the 
league  produced  a  great  effect  upon  him: 
his  disappointment  preyed  upon  his  mind 
and  hastened  his  death,  the  immediate 
cause  of  which  was  an  internal  com- 
plaint. 

On  the  renewal  of  the  war,  the  relative 
conditions  of  the  parties  and  their  dis- 
tinctions underwent  a  complete  revolu- 
tion; and  the  characters  of  a  civil  war 
were  lost  in  the  strong  feelings  of  nation- 


gellation  as  a  means  of  exalting  the  church.  This  work 
was  written  in  Italian,  and  being  translated  into  La- 
tin, was  published  at  Cologne  in  1596  We  read  there, 
Pontifex  cum  fuste,  legatorum  lerga  ct  humeros  terbavit, 
(S[-c.  The  proces  verbal  which  was  puhished  by  D'Ossat 
at  the  time,  passes  over  the  event  in  silence;  stating 
that  Ihe  absolution  was  given  to  the  ambassadors 
Icmnitatihus  assnetis.  But  it  is  clear  that  the  blows,  if 
not  given  in  reality,  were  in  pretence  ;  and  the  humi- 
liation of  royalty  to  the  papacy  was  equally  great.  De 
Thou  (lib  1 13,)  complains  of  Rotero's  account  and 
especially  of  an  expression  fustibus  eqaoa*  admit  ting  at 
the  -ame  time  leviter  supplices  procuratorcs  tangtbat. 
D'Ossat  also  complains  of  the  account.  "  It  was  a  ce- 
remony," says  he,  "  which  we  felt  no  more  (ban  if  a 
fly  hail  passed  over  our  clothes;  while,  after  reading 
this  statement,  you  would  say,  that  the  marks  of  the 
blows  would  remain  on  our  shoulders  " — Lettres  du 
Card..  D  Ossat,  17th  O'  tohnr,  159B,  part  i.  p.  167. 

*  Cavet,  liv.  7,  pp.  536,  ef.se}. 

t  D'Ossat, part  i.  p.  69. 

I  Henry's  proclamation  was  dated  17th  January, 
1595;  the  archduke's  answer,  13th  February;  he  died 
21st  February,  aged  42.  Cayet,  liv.  7,  p.  483. 


HIS  SUCCESSES. 


297 


ality.  Instead  of  the  Spaniards  entering 
France  to  assist  the  league,  it  was  a  rem- 
nant of  that  faction  that  made  exertions 
to  help  the.  King  of  Spain.  The  Duke 
of  Lorrain's  levies  now  followed  the 
king's  standard  and  put  on  the  white 
scarf,  while  the  few  that  adhered  to  May- 
enne  renounced  their  own  badge,  and  as- 
sumed the  Spanish  colour,  which  was  red. 

The  king's  forces  were  making  a  regu- 
lar progress  in  the  reduction  of  a  number 
of  towns  in  various  parts  of  France. 
Beaune,  in  Burgundy,  surrendered  to 
Marshal  Biron;*  and  Vienne,  in  Dauphi- 
ny,  was  taken  by  the  constable  Montmo- 
rency. These  events  were  followed  by 
intelligence  of  the  advance  of  a  strong 
force  under  the  constable  of  Castile,  who 
had  traversed  Savoy,  and  was  already  in 
Franche-Comte,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Mayenne.  Biron  entreated  his  majesty 
to  hasten  into  Burgundy  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  this  invader.  The  king  im- 
mediately appointed  a  rendezvous  for  his 
nobility  at  Troyes,  and  arrived  in  that 
town  at  the  end  of  May.  In  a  few  days 
Biron  informed  him  that  he  had  recovered 
the  town  of  Dijon,  and  was  besieging  the 
Viscount  Tavannes  in  the  cast.le:f  but 
that  he  constantly  expected  the  arrival  of 
the  Spaniards,  who  would  advance  to  help 
their  partisans.  Henry  immediately  de- 
cided upon  a  plan  which  he  had  already 
adopted  on  several  occasions  with  tolera- 
ble success:  he  set  out  to  fall  upon  the 
advanced  posts  of  the  Spanish  army,  and 
from  that  movement  resulted  the  combat 
of  Fontaine-Francaise,  an  encounter  so 
chivalrous  and  unexampled,  that  Mathieu 
compares  it  to  a  dream,  and  observes, 
"  That,  if  it  were  not  well  authenticated, 
it  would  be  classed  among  the  romantic 
exploits  of  the  Rowlands  and  Olivers, 
and  the  four  sons  of  Aymond."| 

The  Spaniards  had  been  detained  be- 
fore Vesoul,  which  was  the  only  resist- 
ance they  experienced  in  their  approach; 
but  that  place  was  well  defended,  to  the 
great  vexation  of  Mayenne,  who  was  ea- 
ger to  relieve  Tavannes  at  Dijon.§  With- 


*  Prise  dcs  VMeset  Chas/eau  it  Beaune.  This  narra- 
tive, composed  at  the  time,  is  inserted  in  Mem.  de  la 
Lipue,  vol.  vi.  of  the  edition  by  Gonjet. 

t  Mem.  de  Tavannes,  p.  ]3'J.  Davila,  liv.  14.  De 
Tfaon,  liv.  112. 

t  Hist,  des  Guerres  enlre  les  maisons  de  France  et 
d'Espagne,  p.  35. 

{  Before  the  assistance  could  arrive  the  Viscount  Ta- 


jout  that  delay  the  king  would  not  have 
been  in  time  to  oppose  their  progress: 
I  but  having  made  choice  of  a  thousand 
horsemen,  and  five  hundred  carabiners, 
he  divided  them  into  several  companies, 
and  sent  them  out  by  different  routes, 
with  orders  to  be  at  Fontaine-Francaise 
at  a  certain  time.  He  arrived  within  a 
league  of  that  place  before  the  other  di- 
visions, being  then  accompanied  by  only 
forty  gentlemen  of  his  suite,  and  the  same 
number  of  horsemen,  who  attended  the 
Baron  de  Luz.  The  Marquis  de  Mira- 
beau,  who  had  gone  to  reconnoitre,  has- 
tened back  to  inform  the  king  that  he  had 
fallen  in  with  a  body  of  four  hundred  oi 
the  enemy,  and  that  he  believed  the  main 
body  was  at  hand.  Fortunately,  Biron 
arrived  at  that  time  with  a  division  of 
three  hundred  men;  but  before  all  the 
troops  could  arrive  at  the  rendezvous,  the 
king  found  himself  engaged  with  a  large 
division  of  the  enemy's  army:  the  assist- 
ance that  Biron  had  brought  enabled  him 
to  maintain  the  unequal  conflict;  and  the 
determined  bravery  of  his  followers,  who 
rallied  and  charged  with  great  prompt- 
ness, made  the  enemy  retreat,  for  they 
could  not  believe  that  so  small  a  body  of 
men  would  have  given  battle,  unless  they 
were  sure  of  being  supported:  the  arrival 
of  a  division  was  thought  to  be  the  whole 
army  of  the  royalists  advancing,  and 
Mayenne  and  the  Constable  of  Castile 
immediately  withdrew  their  troops  be- 
yond the  Saone.  The  king  had  not  nine 
hundred  men  with  him  at  any  time  during 
the  fight,  and  on  several  occasions  he 
charged  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry  with  less  than  a  hundred  follow- 
ers: the  enemy's  force  was  at  least  two 
thousand,  who  were  encouraged  by  the 
vicinity  of  ten  thousand  infantry.  The 
Spaniards  had  above  two  hundred  killed 
and  wounded;  the  French  lost  only  six 
persons.* 

There  appears  temerity  in  this  action 
on  the  part  of  the  king;  for,  if  he  had 
fallen  on  the  occasion,  it  is  highly  proba- 
ble that  France  would  have  been  over- 
powered by  the  Spanish  faction.  But  it 
was  observed  by  a  contemporary  that, 
whether  he  fought  or  retited,  the  danger 

valines  had  thought  it  necessary  to  retire  to  Talan 
Mem.  de  Tavannep,  p.  139. 

*  5th  June,  15115.  Cayet,  D'Aubigne,  Mathieu,  Da- 
vila, Sully,  and  Mem.  de  Guillaumc  de  Tavannes,  at  the 
end. 


298 


CAPTURE  OF  DOURLEUS  AND  CAMBRAY. 


was  equally  great.*  Indeed,  if  he  had 
not  arrested  the  enemy's  progress  as  he 
did,  Dijon  would  have  been  again  lost, 
and  a  protracted  war  would  have  been 
the  consequence.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  urged  to  retreat  before  it  was  too 
late;  but  he  observed  that  he  wanted  as- 
sistance, not  advice.  His  experience, 
moreover,  satisfied  him  that  the  enemy 
would  have  overwhelmed  him  had  he  at- 
tempted to  retreat;  and  he  was  so  con- 
vinced of  his  danger,  that  he  said  after- 
wards he  had  fought  for  his  life  rather 
than  for  victory.! 

This  check  prevented  the  Spaniards 
from  effectually  co-operating  with  their 
forces  in  the  north  of  France,  on  which 
side  they  had  always  made  their  ap- 
proaches. They  already  possessed  three 
towns  in  Picardy;  viz.,  Ham,  Soissons, 
and  La  Fere.  The  former  place  was 
taken  at  the  end  of  June  by  Humieres. 
The  garrison  very  obstinately  defended 
the  town;  and  at  last  set  fire  to  the 
houses,  in  order  to  expel  the  assailants,' 
who  had  gained  admission  by  means  of 
an  understanding  with  a  concealed  royal- 
ist. Advice  had  been  sent  to  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon  of  what  was  passing,  and  by  his 
assistance  the  place  was  mastered,  and  the 
garrison  put  to  the  sword.  Humieres 
himself  was  killed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fight,  and  it  was  the  great  attachment 
of  his  followers  to  him  that  caused  them 
to  give  no  quarter  in  their  exasperation.} 

The  Spaniards  compensated  for  this 
loss  by  taking  Castellet  and  Dourlens: 
they  besieged  the  latter  place  at  the  close 
of  July.  The  Dukes  of  Nevers  and 
Bouillon  and  Admiral  Villars  were  all 
pressing  forward  to  relieve  the  town;  and 
their  united  force  was  fully  adequate  to 
keep  in  check  the  Count  de  Fuentes,  who 
commanded  the  Spanish  army.  But  un- 
fortunately there  was  a  want  of  proper 
understanding,  by  some  attributed  to  mu- 
tual jealousy,  each  wishing  to  obtain  the 
honour  of  raising  the  siege.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  Villars  was  engaged 
with  a  force  far  superior  to  his  own,  and 
sustained  a  total  defeat.  When  it  was 
known  that  Villars  was  a  prisoner,  seve- 
ral officers  of  the  league  reproached  him 

*  Mathien,  Hist,  des  Ouerres  cntre  los  Maisons  de 
France  d'Espagne,  p.  36. 

t  Perefixe,  in  lot.  Mathieu,  vol.  ii.  liv.  1,  p.  187. 

t  Cayet,  liv.  7,  p.  502.  Hist,  des  Derniers  Troubles, 
vol.  ii.  p.  59. 


with  having  deserted  their  cause.  Sas- 
senval,  his  companion,  a  prisoner,  ad- 
dressed some  spirited  remarks  to  them 
on  the  disgrace  of  wearing  the  livery  of 
an  enemy  of  their  country.  He  was  im- 
mediately assailed  with  many  reproaches, 
and  both  Villars  and  himself  were  put  to 
death  on  the  spot.  Dourlens  surrendered 
soon  after,  when  the  Spaniards  executed 
dreadful  reprisals  upon  the  inhabitants. 
They  spared  neither  sex  nor  age,  and 
called  to  each  other  to  avenge  the  taking 
of  Ham.  More  than  three  thousand  per- 
sons were  put  to  death.* 

Fuentes  then  besieged  Cambray,  which 
he  took  after  a  resistance  of  two  months. 
His  force  was  seventeen  thousand  men, 
and  seventy  pieces  of  cannon;  but  the 
Duke  of  Reihelois,  the  governor,!  assisted 
by  De  Vic,  made  such  a  defence,  that  he 
was  preparing  to  convert  the  siege  into  a 
blockade,  when  the  people  of  the  town 
revolted,  and  opened  the  gates  to  the  Spa- 
niards. The  governor  and  his  friends  re- 
tired to  the  citadel,  and  afterwards  ob- 
tained very  honourable  terms.} 

Had  such  reverses  occurred  at  an  ear- 
lier period,  they  would  have  seriously 
prejudiced  the  king's  cause;  but  while 
these  events  took  place  in  the  north  of 
France,  the  king  received  his  absolution 
from  Rome,  and  Mayenne  treated  with 
him  for  a  general  suspension  of  hostili- 
ties^ There  was  now  very  great  hope 
of  peace  being  restored  to  this  distracted 
country;  for,  although  Mayenne's  ad- 
hesion was  not  completed  till  several 
months  later,  it  was  evident  that  the  chief 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  pacification 
were  overcome.  Still  the  king  would 
not  relax  his  operations  against  the  Spa- 
niards; and,  instead  of  remaining  idle 
during  the  winter,  sent  Laverdin  into 
Brittany,  while  he  commenced  the  siege 
of  La  Fere. || 

This  siege  lasted  six  months,^  during 
which  interval  the  king  received  the  sub- 
missions of  many  persons  of  rank,  and 
recovered  possession  of  several  towns. 

*  Sully,  liv.  7.  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  in  lor.  Cayet, 
liv  vii.  p  505—507.   D'Aubisne.  vol.  iii.  p.  3  8.  Ma- 
thieu, Hist  des  Guerres.  &c,  p.  37. 
t  Son  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers. 

t  0th  Oct.  1595.  Cayet,  liv,  7,  p.  528.  Mathieu  and 
D'Aubiene,  utantea. 

f>  Articles  dated  23d  Sept.,  1505. 
]l  Nov.,  1595.   Cayet,  Mathieu.  D'Aubigne. 
IT  It  was  the  longest  that  Henry  had  on  hand:  the 
town  was  extremely  well  fortified,  and  had  a  numerous 
garrison.  Sully,  liv.  8. 


SIEGE  OF  LA  FERE  AND  CALAIS. 


299 


Marseilles  was  regained  from  the  enemy 
almost  at  the  moment  it  was  to  be  deli- 
vered over  to  the  Spanish  government  by 
the  Consul  Casault,  who  was  in  treaty 
with  Charles  Doria  for  that  object.  Pe- 


they  alone  have  been  pierced;  but  when- 
ever your  heart  renounces  him,  that  will 
receive  the  blow."  During  the  siege  the 
king  had  a  severe  illness,  and  his  mind 
was  harassed  by  reflections  upon  his  ab- 


ter  Liberta,  who  kept  one  of  the  gates  [juration  of  the  reformed  religion.  He 
of  Marseilles,  observed  that  Casault  and  unbosomed  himself  to  D'Aubigne;  and 
Louis  d'Aix,  his  chief  confederate,  went  |  asked  his  candid  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
out  of  the  town  every  day  with  their  iject.  D'Aubigne  wished  to  introduce  a 
guards;  and,  being  desirous  of  serving  minister  who  would  be  better  able  to  dis- 
the  king,  he  resolved  to  shut  the  gates  cuss  such  matters;  but  that  could  not  be 


upon  them  when  they  were  out,  or  to  kill 
them  by  an  ambuscade  near  the  gate;  af- 
ter which  the  town  could  be  easily  mas- 
tered. He  informed  the  Duke  of  Guise 
of  his  plan,  which  was  carried  into  exe- 
cution on  the  17th  of  February,  1596. 
Casault  was  killed  by  Liberta  and  his 
brother,  and  the  town  immediately  re- 
sounded with  shouts  of  Vive  le  Roi.* 

Toulouse  was  brought  back  to  the  king's 
authority  by  Joyeuse,  who  received  the 
dignity  of  marshal  as  the  price  of  his 
submission.  The  Duke  of  Nemours, 
son  of  the  governor  of  Paris,  who  had 
died  a  few  months  previous,  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  an  edict  from  the  king; 
it  was  granted  at  the  same  time  with 
Mayenne's,  which,  however,  required 
some  discussion,  and  was  not  registered 
by  the  parliaments  without  opposition. 
He  obtained  three  towns  as  security, 
which  he  was  to  hold  for  six  years,  and 
no  charge  whatever  was  allowed  to  be 
brought  against  him  for  any  part  he  had 
taken  in  the  late  (roubles. f 

The  siege  of  La  Fere  was  an  irresist- 
ible inducement  for  D'Aubigne  to  offer 
his  services  to  the  king.  His  speeches 
at  the  synodical  meetings  had  been  very 
free,  and  the  king  had  in  consequence 
become  so  inveterate  against  him,  that  he 
declared  he  would  have  him  put  to  death 
if  he  could  take  him.  The  extreme  dan- 
ger which  presented  itself  did  not  deter 
D'Aubigne  from  going  to  the  camp;  and 
to  the  surprise  of  all,  he  was  received  in 
a  very  friendly  manner.  Henry  consult- 
ed him  in  private,  and  treated  him  with 
great  affability.  Chatel's  recent  attempt 
on  his  life  becoming  the  subject  of  con- 
versation, he  addressed  the  king  to  the 
following  effect:  "Sire!  as  you  have  as 
yet  renounced  God  with  your  lips  alone, 


♦  Hist,  lies  Dernirrs  Trouble?,  vol.  ii.  pp.  62,  et  seq. 
Cayel,  !iv.  viii.  p.  5ri>.    D'Aubigne,  vol.  lii.  p.  370. 
t  Recueil  des  Edits  de  Henri  IV. 


done  without  alarming  the  Catholics,  and 
therefore  was  not  permitted.  Henry  then 
locked  the  door  of  the  chamber,  and 
called  upon  D'Aubigne  solemnly  to  de- 
clare his  conscientious  opinions  respect- 
ing the  sin  he  had  incurred  by  changing 
his  religion.  They  conversed  together 
for  several  hours,  and  joined  in  prayer  at 
intervals:  the  king's  mind  became  more 
easy,  and  his  fears  considerably  dimi- 
nished; but  his  disorder  soon  after  began 
to  abate,  and  as  he  was  then  able  to  take 
part  in  the  active  scenes  of  government, 
he  never  renewed  the  discussion.* 

La  Fere  was  so  closely  blockaded,  that 
to  use  the  expression  of  a  contemporary, 
the  garrison  had  nothing  free  but  the  air.f 
They  supported  all  their  fatigues  and  pri- 
vations by  confident  expectations  of  relief, 
which  the  Cardinal  Albert  was  bringing 
to  them.  Although  his  education  and  pur- 
suits had  nothing  in  common  with  military 
affairs,  he  proved  himself  to  be  fully  quali- 
fied for  commanding  an'army.  He  quitted 
Brussels  with  a  declared  intention  of  re- 
lieving La  Fere;  but  instead  of  going 
there,  he  suddenly  attacked,  and  took  pos- 
session of  Calais:  Ardres  was  his  next  ob- 
ject, but  that  siege  occupied  him  a  month  ; 
and  before  he  had  finished  the  enterprise 
La  Fere  had  capitulated.^ 

The  citadel  of  Calais  held  out  some 
time  after  the  town  was  taken,  and  Henry 
sent  over  to  Elizabeth  for  assistance,  re- 
minding her  of  her  often  repeated  pro- 
mises.J  Sancy  was  first  sent,  and  after- 
wards the  Duke  of  Bouillon ;  but  as  she 
found  they  were  too  faithful  to  their  own 
king  and  country  to  allow  her  to  suppose 
that  she  would  be  permitted  to  retain  Ca- 
lais, she  told  them  that  she  would  commu- 

*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.  p.  131).  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  iii.  pp. 
37fi.  377. 

f  Matliieu,  Hirt.  des  Gur.rres,  &c. 

J  Calais  was  taken  17Ui  April,  J596.  Ardres,  23d 
May,  La  Fere  capitulated  lGth  May.  Cayet,  Mathieu, 
D'Aubigne,  and  lie  Thou. 

$  Discours  de  M.  Sancy,  pp.  98,  t9.   Villeroy,  vol.  y. 


MEETING  OF  THE  NOTABLES. 


nicate  with  their  king  through  the  medium 
of  her  own  ambassador,  Sidney.  He  in- 
formed Henry  that  the  Queen  of  England 
would  give  him  great  assistance  in  carry- 
ing on  the  war  with  Spain,  on  condition 
that  Calais,  when  retaken,  should  be  given 
up  to  her  as  a  security  for  the  sums  of 
money  she  had  advanced.  Henry  was 
indignant  at  the  proposal,  and  said,  as  he 
turned  away  from  the  ambassador,  "  If  I 
must  be  bitten,  it  may  as  well  be  by  a  lion 
as  by  a  lioness."*  Afterwards,  when  the 
Spaniards  obtained  full  possession  of  the 
town,  he  was  far  from  testifying  regret, 
but  exhorted  those  around  him  to  take 
courage,  "For  with  the  help  of  Heaven," 
said  he,  "  we  will  recover  the  place  before 
it  has  been  as  many  days  in  the  hands  of 
the  Spaniards  as  our  ancestors  suffered  it 
to  remain  years  in  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish."! 

In  order  to  obtain  the  means  of  carry- 
ing on  the  war  with  vigour  it  was  neces- 
sary to  introduce  order  into  the  state,  and 
an  assembly  of  notables  was  convoked  at 
Rouen.  The  meeting  was  opened  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1596,  when  the  king 
pronounced  a  discourse  which  has  been 
preserved  by  many  French  historians, 
who  consider  it  a  model  of  candour  and 
eloquence.  "  If,"  said  his  majesty,  "  if  I 
wished  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  an 
orator,  I  should  have  learned  some  fine 
long  harangue,  and  have  spoken  it  here 
with  great  gravity';  but.  my  desire  extends 
to  two  more  glorious  titles,  the  deliverer 
and  the  restorer  of  the  state.  For  that 
purpose  I  have  assembled  you:  you  know 
to  your  own  costs,  as  I  know  to  mine,  that 
when  God  called  me  to  this  crown,  I  found 
France  not  only  ruined,  but  almost  lost  for 
Frenchmen.  By  divine  assistance,  by  the 
prayers  and  counsels  of  my  faithful  ser- 
vants, by  the  swords  of  my  brave  and  ge- 
nerous nobles,  and  by  my  own  toils  and 
exertions,  I  have  saved  France  from  de- 
struction :  let  us  now  preserve  her  from 
ruin.  Participate,  my  dear  subjects,  in 
this  second  glory,  as  you  have  done  in  the 
first.  I  have  not  called  you  as  my  prede- 
cessors did,  to  order  you  to  approve  of  my 
wishes;  I  have  assembled  you  to  have 
your  advice,  to  place  confidence  in  your 
opinions,  to  adopt  them ;  in  short,  to  place 
myself  in  your  hands.    It  is  a  desire  that 

*  Mathieu,  vol.  ii.  liv.  2,  p.  223. 

t  De  Bury,  Hist,  de  Henri  IK,  vol.  iii.  p.  33. 


rarely  seizes  veteran  and  victorious  kings, 
but  the  ardent  love  which  I  bear  my  sub- 
jects makes  me  find  every  thing  easy  and 
honourable.  My  chancellor  will  inform 
you  more  particularly  of  my  wishes."* 

The  whole  winter  was  taken  up  with 
the  discussions  of  this  assembly.  Many 
plans  were  proposed  for  establishing  a 
good  system  of  finance ;  but  it  would  be 
some  time  before  they  could  come  into 
operation,  and  the  king  required  money 
for  carrying  on  the  war.  He  made  Sully 
his  superintendent  of  finances,  which  was 
his  readiest  way  to  restore  order  in  the 
public  accounts.  That  exemplary  man 
diminished  the  expenditure  by  proper  re- 
forms, and  procured  a  supply  of  funds  by 
turning  into  the  public  coffers  large  sums 
which  the  distracted  state  of  the  kingdom 
had  allowed  to  be  swallowed  up  by  greedy 
and  extravagant  individuals.  "  Whatever 
fraud  or  error,"  says  Sully,  "might  have 
crept  into  the  finances,  I  imagined  that 
neither  of  them  could  be  so  secret,  nor  so 
genera],  that  we  could  not  ultimately  find 
the  origin  and  the  prooft  The  old  cour- 
tiers were  alarmed  at  such  a  reform,  and 
regretted  their  supineness  in  suffering  him 
to  join  the  council.}: 

But  the  scantiness  of  his  pecuniary  sup- 
plies was  not  the  only  circumstance  that 
impeded  Henry's  government;  the  Hu- 
guenots had  renewed  their  meetings,  and 
represented  in  a  memorial  that  they  were 
entitled  to  privileges  more  extensive  than 
those  granted  by  the  edict  of  Poictiers. 
The  king  begged  them  to  defer  the  discus- 
sion of  their  claims  until  the  public  affairs 
gave  him  a  better  opportunity  of  securing 
and  defending  the  rights  and  interests  of 
all  parties.  However,  as  the  Protestants 
had  taken  up  an  opinion  that  the  king 
was  no  longer  their  friend,  every  measure 
which  bore  any  relation  to  such  an  idea 
was  highly  coloured  and  enlarged  upon  by 
the  more  zealous  members  of  their  synods; 
and  meetings  were  held  at  Vendome,  Sau- 
raur,  Loudun  and  Ch'atellerault,  in  fur- 
therance of  their  general  p!ans.§  The 
Duke  of  Mercosur,  who  still  maintained 
himself  in  Brittany,  was  encouraged  by 
the  hope  that  religious  differences  would 


*  Cayet.  liv.  8,  p.  029.    Terefixe,  liv.  2. 
t  Sully,  liv.  8. 

j  Messieurs  du  conscil  du  roi  palirent  d  la  rue  de  mon 
projet.  Sully,  liv.  8. 

$  Their  resolutions,  declarations,  and  general  pro- 
ceedings, are  given  at  length  by  Soulier,  Hist,  du  Cal- 
oanismc,  liv.  7  and  8. 


AMIENS  TAKEN  BY  STRATAGEM— RETAKEN  BY  HENRY.  301 


again  destroy  the  regal  authority,  in  which 
case  he  confidently  expected  to  establish 
an  independent  sovereignty  in  his  pro- 
vince. Other  nobles  secretly  indulged 
similar  hopes ;  and  the  king  was  fearful 
that  along  with  those  contemplated  prin- 
cipalities a  religious  republic  would  spring 
up  in  the  heart  of  his  kingdom.  He  did 
not  object  to  the  Protestants  having  privi- 
leges ;  but  he  wished  them  to  be  conferred 
by  him,  not  obtained  by  them ;  and  for 
that  reason,  he  was  careful  that  all  their 
public  acts  should  bear  the  character  of 
royal  sanction,  although  they  were  di- 
rectly in  opposition  to  his  wishes. 

The  Spaniards,  in  the  mean  time,  con- 
tinued their  operations  and  astonished  the 
king,  and  indeed  the  whole  nation,  by 
seizing  upon  Amiens  by  stratagem. 
Having  placed  a  sufficient  number  of  men 
in  ambuscade  around  the  town,  a  few 
were  sent  in  disguised  as  countrymen. 
They  were  stopped  at  the  gate,  and  asked 
various  questions.  Pretending  to  be  very 
fatigued,  they  placed  their  loads  on  the 
ground,  and  rested  at  the  gate,  until  they 
observed  some  of  their  confederates  ap- 
proaching, who  were  also  disguised  and 
conducting  a  wagon.  One  of  them  then 
took  up  his  load  to  put  it  on  his  shoulders, 
and  having  secretly  opened  the  sack's 
mouth,  he  let  fall  a  great  quantity  of  nuts 
at  the  gate.  The  guards  amused  them- 
selves in  collecting  the  countryman's  nuts; 
and  while  they  were  thus  occupied,  the 
wagon  had  arrived  within  the  gate-posts. 
One  of  the  confederates  immediately 
loosed  his  horses,  leaving  the  wagon  to 
prevent  the  gate  being  shut,  while  the 
others  fell  upon  the  guards.  The  signal 
was  then  given  to  the  Spanish  troops  in 
the  neighbourhood:  they  advanced  imme- 
diately, and  completed  the  enterprise.* 

The  possession  of  Amiens  enabled  the 
Spaniards  to  make  excursions  to  the  gates 
of  Paris,  and  it  was  imperative  that  the  re- 
covery of  the  town  should  be  immediately 
attempted.  When  the  king  heard  of  it  he 
seemed  to  reflect  upon  himself  for  devoting 
so  much  of  his  time  to  the  pleasures  of  his 
court  and  the  society  of  his  mistress.  He 
observed  with  emphasis,  "  We  have  had 
enough  of  the  King  of  France,  it  is  now 
time  to  be  King  of  Navarre ;"  and  toid  the 
weeping  Gabrielle  d'Estrees,  that  he  must 


*  Cayet,  liv.  9,  p.  I 
Thou,  liv  118. 
26 


D'Aubigne,  vol,  iii.p.  387.  De 


again  leave  her  to  undergo  the  fatigues 
and  dangers  of  another  war.* 

Sully  hastily  equipped  an  army  with  a 
good  train  of  artillery,  ammunition,  pro- 
visions, and  conveniences  for  the  sick  and 
wounded. f  But  to  obtain  funds  for  sup- 
plying this,  he  was  obliged  to  raise  fresh 
imposts  upon  edicts  which  required  to  be 
registered  by  the  parliament.  Instead  of 
money  that  body  sent  remonstrances. 
Henry  wrote  to  the  President  Harlay,  that 
those  who  defended  the  state  ought  to  be 
supported  and  provided  for.  "  Give  me 
|  an  army,"  said  the  king,  "and  I  will 
i  cheerfully  give  my  life  to  save  you  and 
(restore  France."  The  edicts  were  not- 
|  withstanding  rejected,  and  the  president 
went  to  the  king  to  represent  the  neces- 
j  sities  of  the  state.  "  The  greatest  neces- 
sity of  the  state,"  replied  the  king,  "  is  to 
be  cleared  of  its  enemies;  you  are  like  the 
fools  at  Amiens  who  refused  me  a  subsidy 
of  two  thousand  crowns  and  have  lost  a 
million.  I  am  going  to  fight  the  enemy, 
and  if  I  get  shot  in  the  head  you  will  find 
out  what  it  is  to  have  lost  your  king." 
Henry  IV.  could  not  obtain  the  registra- 
tion of  his  edicts  without  using  compul- 
sory measures:  he  effected  his  object  to 
preserve  his  dignity;  but  with  unequalled 
goodness  of  heart  he  revoked  the  edicts 
afterwards.^ 

The  king  besieged  Amiens  with  reso- 
lution and  promptitude,  and  as  the  town 
was  of  great  importance,  the  French  no- 
bility and  gentry  hastened  to  assist  their 
sovereign:  while  the  Spanish  government 
assured  Hernand  Tillo,  the  commander 
of  the  garrison,  that  he  might  depend 
upon  the  arrival  of  relief.  The  siege 
lasted  six  months,  and  produced  examples 
of  great  spirit  on  both  sides. 

Cardinal  Albert  did  not  make  his  ap- 
pearance till  September,  by  which  time 
the  town  was  reduced  to  great  extremity. 
He  brought  with  him  a  good  army,  and 
made  an  attempt  to  relieve  the  besieged; 
but  after  a  skirmish  with  the  king's  troops, 
he  drew  off  his  forces  to  Dourlens.  This 
so  dispirited  the  garrison,  that  they  im- 
mediately proposed  to  capitulate;  and  the 
king  entered  Amiens  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember^ This  event  was  a  death  blow 
to  the  expiring  league,  and  there  remained 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
t  Sully,  liv.  9. 

J  Hist,  du  I'arlement  de  Paris,  ch  38. 
§  Cayet,  Mathieu,  and  D'Aubigiie,  in  loe. 


302  EDICT  OF 


only  the  Duke  of  Mercosur  to  subdue  or 
win  over:  he  had  lately  lost  Rochfort  and 
Craon,  his  frontier  towns;  and  Dinan,  his 
stronghold,  had  been  surprised  by  the 
people  of  St.  Malo.  He  was,  therefore, 
quite  ready  to  accept  the  terms  which  he 
understood  the  king  was  willing  to  grant; 
and  when  Henry  went  early  the  follow- 
ing year  into  Brittany  to  settle  the  affairs 
of  that  province,  Mercosur  met  him  at 
Angers,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
delivered  up  all  the  places  he  held;*  he 
afterwards  obtained  an  edict  of  indemnity, 
similar  to  those  granted  the  other  chiefs 
of  the  league.f 

The  court  of  Spain  was  by  this  time 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  making 
peace  with  France,  and  persons  on  both 
sides  were  commissioned  to  discuss  a 
treaty.  The  king,  at  the  same  time,  took 
measures  for  settling  the  affairs  of  the 
Huguenots.  He  had  been  obliged  to  pur- 
chase the  submission  of  many  leaguers; 
some  with  governments,  others  with 
money:  but  the  Huguenots'  price  was  of 
a  different  description;  they  feared  that 
ultimately  they  should  become  victims  of 
the  bigotry  of  the  Catholics,  and  loudly 
demanded  securities  from  the  kinff,  as  a 
protection  from  their  enemies.  Henry 
was  not  unwilling  to  grant  their  request; 
he  remembered  that  he  had  long  been 
their  chief,  and  that  their  blood  had  been 
freely  shed  in  his  cause.  Commissioners 
had  been  previously  appointed  to  draw  up 
articles  for  them,  and  for  above  twelve 
months  the  king  had  been  solicited  to  sign 
the  edict:  this  he  refused  to  do,  alleging, 
as  his  principal  reason,  that  it  would  be 
more  satisfactory  for  him  to  grant  the 
edict  after  he  had  subdued  his  enemies 
and  was  in  full  possession  of  his  autho' 
rity:  for  then  it  could  not  be  said  that  the 
Huguenots  had  extorted  it  from  him  in  a 
time  of  need:  and,  before  the  edict  was 
signed,  he  gave  a  proof  of  his  indepen- ! 
dence  by  retrenching  some  articles  which 
did  not  please  him. J 

The  edict  of  Nantes  was  signed  on  the 
30th  of  April,  1598.  From  its  provisions 
it  appears  to  have  been  modelled  upon 
that  of  Poictiers,  and  comprised  the  con- 


*  According  to  Sully,  the  people  of  Nantes  were  pre- 
paring to  deliver  Mercosur  into  the  king's  hands.  Mem, 
liv.  9. 

t  C'ayet,  liv.  9,  p.  710.  Recueil  des  Edits  de  Henri 
IV. 

%  D'Aubigne,  vol.  iii.  p.  460. 


NANTES. 


ventions  of  Bergerac  and  Fleix.  The 
Protestants  were  allowed  the  most  ample 
liberty  of  conscience;  but  the  public  ex- 
ercise of  their  religion  was  limited  to 
certain  parts  of  the  kingdom.  They  were 
compelled  to  submit  to  the  exterior  police 
of  the  Romish  church,  by  keeping  festi- 
vals, paying  tithes,  &c.  They  were  de- 
clared eligible  to  all  offices;  their  poor 
were  to  be  received  into  the  hospitals; 
and  for  their  protection  mixed  chambers 
were  to  be  established  in  all  the  parlia- 
ments. 

The  parliament  of  Paris  refused  to  re- 
gister the  edict,  and  made  a  remonstrance 
to  the  king:  the  counsellors  expressed 
themselves  with  great  warmth,  and  de- 
clared that  they  would  not  receive  their 
new  colleagues  contemplated  in  the  edict. 
The  king  answered  them  in  an  authori- 
tative tone,  and  told  them  that  he  knew 
how  to  put  down  those  who  opposed 
him;  adding,  in  his  pithy  style,  "I  have 
climbed  the  walls,  and  can  easily  get 
over  the  barricades."*  But  the  monarch 
who  had  sent  for  the  unruly  counsellors, 
and  threatened  to  enforce  his  will,  would 
not  dismiss  them  from  his  presence  with- 
out displaying  the  feelings  of  a  common 
parent:  he  appealed  to  their  sense,  their 
patriotism,  and  their  justice,  and  by  that 
means  induced  them  to  yield  to  his  wishes. 

That  the  edict  should  meet  with  oppo- 
sition at  Paris  is  not  surprising;  but  even 
at  Rochelle,  there  was  so  much  discus- 
sion upon  the  subject,  that  several  months 
elapsed  before  it  was  received  and  ac- 
knowledged. The  more  ardent  Hugue- 
nots appear  to  have  entertained  the  pro- 
ject of  accepting  what  suited  their  views, 
and  rejecting  the  rest.  The  commis- 
sioners sent  by  the  king  to  receive  the 
adhesion  of  the  Protestants  were  Para- 
bCre,  a  gentleman  of  Poictou,  and  Martin 
Langlois,  formerly  provost  of  Paris. 
!  They  perceived  the  aim  of  the  party  op- 
posed to  the  edict,  and  Parabtre  addressed 
the  magistrates  to  this  effect: — "In  re- 
ceiving the  edict,  you  must  receive  all  its 
clauses  and  provisions.  If  you  reject 
some,  the  Catholics  will  have  the  right 
to  reject  what  displeases  them;  and  by 
the  non-execution  of  the  law,  your 
churches  will  lose  what  you  think  to  gain 
for  them."    A  consistory  was  held  on  the 


*  D'Aubigne,  ut  antea.  Soulier.  Hist,  du  Calvinisme, 
p.  323. 


PEACE  WITH  SPAIN. 


303 


3d  of  August,  when  considerable  clamour 
was  raised  against  those  magistrates  who 
were  persuaded  by  Parabere's  appeal. 
A  final  effort  was  made  to  dissuade  them 
from  consenting,  but  without  effect;  for 
the  municipal  body  consented  to  re-es- 
tablish the  Catholic  worship,  and  gave  up 
two  churches  for  that  purpose.  Symp- 
toms of  riot  were  displayed  by  the  popu- 
lace, but  the  tumultuous  feeling  was 
easily  suppressed.* 

The  peace  with  Spain  was  concluded 
at  Vervins,  and  signed  by  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries on  the  2d  of  May:  the  king  rati- 
fied it  at  Paris  on  the  22d  of  June.t  The 
last  trealy  with  Spain,  which  was  that  of 
Cateau-Cambresis  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
II.  had  cost  France  many  towns;  but  the 
treaty  of  Vervins  was  entirely  advantage- 
ous. Henry  was  aware  that  Philip  was 
more  in  want  of  peace  than  himself,  and 
therefore  made  his  own  terms:  but  com- 
mon justice  required  the  restitution  of  the 
towns  improperly  held  by  the  Spaniards; 
while  the  haughty  Philip  consoled  him- 
self for  his  defeat  by  an  empty  protest 
that  the  plenipotentiaries  did  not  repre- 
sent him,  but  the  Viceroy  of  the  Nether- 
lands. 

"  Thus,"  says  Sully,J  "  in  spite  of  so 
powerful  a  league,  comprising  the  pope, 
the  emperor,  the  king  of  Spain,  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  and  all  the  ecclesiastics  of 
Christendom,  the  king  effected  his  de- 
signs, and  crowned  them  with  a  glorious 
peace." 

The  treaty  of  Vervins  delivered  France 
from  the  evils  of  a  foreign  warfare;  while 
the  domestic  peace  of  the  country  was 
settled  by  the  edict  of  Nantes,  which 
procured  the  Protestants  their  civil  and 
religious  rights.  By  a  singular  coinci- 
dence, the  town  of  Nantes  witnessed  the 
close  of  the  civil  wars  and  troubles,  which 
had  commenced  with  an  assembly  held 
in  that  very  place,  nearly  forty  years  be- 
fore, when  the  violence  and  ambition  of 
the  Guises  drove  the  Huguenots  to  seek 
for  safety  in  a  confederacy.  Such  a  mea- 
sure offered  a  hope  of  gaining  protection, 
if  not  redress;  but  failing  in  the  execu- 
tion, it  contributed  to  assist  their  enemies, 


*  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  pp  77—80. 

t  These  dates  are  given  hy  Mathieu,  Hist,  dcs  Quer- 
res,  S{-c.;  but  Le  Grain  in  his  Dacade,  liv.  7,  says,  the 
trealy  was  published  l'ith  of  June. 

I  Mem.  liv.  9,  at  the  end. 


and  was  in  reality  the  spark  which  ori* 
ginated  the  political  conflagration. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

Condition  of  the  Hu-ruenots  under  Henry  IV  —  Biron's 
Conspiracy — Restoration  of  the  Jesuits. 

The  second  period  of  King  Henry's 
reign  opened  under  circumstances  which 
appeared  favourable  only  by  comparison 
with  the  previous  distracted  condition  of 
France;  for  the  general  state  of  the  coun- 
try was  still  deplorable.  Distress,  the 
exhaustion  consequent  on  a  protracted 
civil  war,  and  the  unsatisfied  ambition  of 
many  chieftains,  were  serious  barriers  to 
the  internal  pacification  of  the  kingdom. 
The  Dukes  of  Mercosur,  Bouillon,  and 
Biron,  with  other  powerful  nobles,  en- 
deavoured to  re-establish  the  feudal  sove- 
reignties of  the  middle  ages;  and  their 
interested  efforts  greatly  impeded  the 
operations  of  the  royal  government.  At 
the  same  time,  many  of  the  gentry  had 
become  habituated  to  the  restlessness  of 
a  partisan  warfare,  and  expected  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  impunity  which  anarchy 
had  sanctioned  during  a  long  series  of 
years:  this  also  materially  retarded  the 
returning  prosperity  of  the  country. 

More  than  one  instance  on  record  will 
show  the  extent  of  this  evil,  and  the 
length  of  time  requisite  to  restore  pub- 
lic order.  Three  gentlemen  of  Brittany, 
named  Guillery,  sustained  a  siege  against 
the  king's  forces.  After  an  obstinate  de- 
fence, the  younger  brother,  who  com- 
manded, attempted  to  escape:  but  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  terminated  his  bold 
career  on  the  scaffold,  along  with  a  con- 
siderable number  of  his  adherents,  whose 
attachment  to  their  leader  had  been  stimu- 
lated by  hopes  of  future  booty,  and  en- 
couraged by  the  success  of  previous  de- 
predations.* Nor  was  a  prospect  of 
plunder  the  sole  cause  of  violence,  for 
angry  personal  feuds  occasionally  broke 
out.  In  August,  1607,  there  was  a  com- 
bat on  the  borders  of  Poictou  and  Anjou, 
in  which  thirty  gentlemen  were  engaged: 
twenty-five  of  the  combatants  were  killed, 
and  the  others  very  much  wounded.t 

Another  serious   inconvenience  had 

*  Mercure  Franeais,  1C03,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 
t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  in  loc. 


304 


OPPOSITION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS  TO  THE  EDICT. 


arisen  out  of  the  civil  wars:  the  leading , 
characters  of  each  party  had  contracted  a 
habit  of  entering  into  treaties  for  assis- 
tance from  foreign  powers;  and  the  fre- 
quency of  such  negotiations  proves  that 
the  state  of  affairs,  by  rendering  them 
necessary,  had  destroyed  their  reprehen- ! 
sible  character. 

The  rival  pretensions  of  the  house  of 
Lorrain  were  annihilated,  when  Henry's 
right  was  acknowledged  by  the  pope;  but; 
the  king's  marriage  with  Margaret  of 
Valois  left  him  without  any  hope  of  pos- 
terity. The  junior  branches  of  the  Bour- 
bon family  looked  forward  with  but  ill- 
concealed  impatience  to  the  succession; 
and  the  termination  of  the  war  was  but 
half  of  what  the  nation  claimed  of  its 
rulers.  Still  the  king's  personal  charac- 
ter was  a  guarantee  for  firm  government; 
and  a  series  of  valuable  measures  might  | 
be  confidently  expected,  when  the  royal 
council  comprised  such  men  as  Sully, 
Sillery,  Jeannin,  and  Villeroy.  It  is, 
however,  worthy  of  remark,  that  Sully 
complains  of  the  jealousy  of  his  col-  j 
leagues,  who  wished  to  exclude  him  from  ' 
all  interference  in  foreign  negotiations; 
and,  on  one  occasion,  Villeroy  was  so 
highly  offended  at  the  appointment  of  i 
Bethune,  Sully's  brother,  to  the  embassy 
at  Rome,  that  the  king  was  obliged  to  in- 
terpose, expressing  himself  greatly  of- 
fended at  such  scenes  in  his  presence.* 

The  heads  of  the  Huguenot  party  at 
this  time  were  Rohan,  Soubise,  La  Tre- 
mouille,  and  Bouillon.  The  Prince  of 
Conde  and  the  Count  de  Soissons  had 
been  educated  as  Catholics.!  Lesdi- 
guieres,  though  nominally  a  protestant, 
was  not  considered  likely  to  make  any 
sacrifice  for  the  cause.  Duplessis-Mor- 
nay  was  their  chief  adviser;  d'Aubigne 
their  most  active  agent.  Henry  Chiitillon 
de  Coligny,  the  admiral's  grandson,  had 
inspired  great  hopes  among  the  Hugue- 
nots; but  he  was  killed  at  the  siege  of 
Ostend,  in  1601.  His  rising  qualities 
promised  much;  being  noted  for  cool 
courage,  prudence,  comprehensive  under- 
standing, and  an  affability  that  won  the 
affections  of  his  soldiers.    The  king's 


*  Sully, liv.  12 

+  Conde  was  so  zealous  as  to  give  his  livery  servants 
fifteen  sols  each,  every  time  they  confessed  ;  and,  in 
order  to  claim  trie  money,  they  were  provided  with  cer- 
tificates, Atnelot  de  la  Houssaie.  Mem.  Hist.,  vol.  ii. 
p.  140. 


mind  was  unhappily  poisoned  against 
him  by  various  misrepresentations:  he 
was  reported  to  be  ambitious'  without 
bounds;  inspired  by  a  fanatical  impulse 
to  surpass  his  father  and  grandfather;  and 
ready  to  sacrifice  life  for  his  religion. 
His  relationship  to  one  whom  the  king 
had  professed  to  revere  as  a  father,  and 
his  zeal  against  Henry's  worst  foes,  the 
Spaniards,  presented  great  claims  on  his 
behalf.  But  the  King  of  Navarre  had 
become  King  of  France,  and  feared  the 
dawning  importance  of  such  a  dangerous 
spirit.  According  to  the  statement  of  his 
confidential  minister,  Henry  appeared 
consoled  by  the  news  of  Coligni's  death, 
and  manifested  such  a  dislike  to  his 
family,  that  Sully  desisted  from  any  ap- 
plication in  behalf  of  his  mother  and 
brother.* 

The  fact  of  the  protestanls  having  Sully 
as  their  representative  and  advocate  in  the 
king's  council  was  less  important,  from 
the  admitted  necessity  of  public  tran- 
quillity: besides  which,  the  stern  charac- 
ter of  that  minister  made  him  ready  to 
suspect  a  seditious  motive  for  the  expres- 
sion of  conscientious  scruples;  so  that  he 
can  hardly  be  viewed  as  one  of  their 
party.t  And  he  has,  in  consequence, 
been  chaiged  with  studying  to  gain  the 
pope's  favour,  "seeking,"  says  an  accusing 
writer,  "the  applause  of  the  Romish 
hierarchy,  rather  than  the  approbation  of 
his  brethren. "J 

The  edict  of  Nantes,  precious  as  it  was 
to  the  protestants,  was  not  free  from  de- 
fect; and  during  the  year  which  elapsed 
between  its  signature  by  the  king  and  its 
registration  by  the  parliament,  various 
attempts  were  made,  on  both  sides,  to 
alter  its  enactments.  The  protestants 
complained  of  their  exclusion  from  many 
public  charges,  while  the  popish  party 
considered  its  provisions  awfully  liberal; 
although  the  protestants  were  not  at  first 
permitted  to  baptize  their  children  in 
Paris.  In  1603  a  greater  latitude  was 
allowed,  on  account  of  the  danger  to 
which  infants  were  exposed  in  the  jour- 
ney to  Ablon,  a  village  three  leagues  from 
Paris. 5  This  was  the  nearest  protestant 
place  of  worship  until  August,  1606, 

*  Sully,  liv.  zii. 

t  Benoit  says  he  was  very  jealous  of  the  Protestai\t 
leaders.   Hist,  de  I'edit  de  Nantes,  vol.  i.  p.  173. 
t  Arcana  Gallica,  p.  viii.    London,  1714, 
$  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 


MARRIAGE  OF  THE  KING'S  SISTER. 


305 


when  public  service  was  performed  at 
Charenton.  Befthier,  bishop  of  Rieux, 
in  the  name  of  the  clergy,  remonstrated 
against  the  latitude  of  the  edict:  that  body 
contended  that  it  should  give  the  protest- 
ants  no  other  privilege  than  that  of  suf- 
ferance; they  were  not  to  be  questioned 
as  to  their  opinions,  but  should  be  pro- 
hibited from  holding  any  assembly  or 
synod,  without  the  king's  express  per- 
mission, and  were  forbidden  to  attend  any 
such  meetings  in  other  countries.* 

The  university  of  Paris  was  not  back- 
ward in  the  career  of  illiberality ,  and  the 
rector  demanded  the  exclusion  of  Pro- 
testant children  from  the  colleges:  but  all 
opposition  was  fruitless;  the  edict  was 
declared  just  and  necessary,  and  in  con- 
sequence passed  through  all  the  formali- 
ties requisite  to  make  it  valid.t  Nor  was 
it  beneficial  to  the  protestants  alone;  for 
in  above  two  hundred  and  fifty  towns, 
and  two  thousand  rural  parishes,  where 
the  mass  had  been  prohibited  nearly  fif- 
teen years,  the  old  ceremonial  was  re- 
stored: in  some  cases  in  spite  of  local  in- 
fluence; and  particularly  so  at  Thouars, 
where  the  Duke  de  la  Tremouille  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  maintain  the  ascendency 
of  his  brethren  in  religion. t.  The  public 
were  in  general  satisfied:  the  majority 
from  indilference  to  Romish  interests; 
and  the  more  experienced  from  a  convic- 
tion that  the  hope  of  advancement  would 
cause  many  of  the  Huguenots  to  abjure.§ 

The  marriage  of  the  king's  sister  Ca- 
therine with  the  Duke  of  Bar  was  an 
event  of  some  importance,  from  the  ele- 
vated rank  of  both  parties;  the  princess 
being  at  that  time  the  presumptive  heiress 
of  Navarre  and  Beam,  and  her  affianced 
husband  heir  of  Lorrain.  It  assumed, 
however,  a  still  more  important  character 
from  the  difference  of  religion.  Like  her 
mother,  Jane  d'Albret,  the  princess  was 
most  fervent  and  uncompromising  in  her 
attachment  to  the  protestant  faith,  and 
would  on  no  account  assist  at  the  cele- 
bration of  mass  as  part  of  the  marriage 
ceremony,  which  in  its  principles  and 
nature  presented  ample  materials  for  dis- 
cussion, from  the  sacramental  character 


|  claimed  for  it  by  one  party,  and  as  de- 
(cidedly  refused  by  the  other.  The  Duke 
of  Bar  was  equally  unyielding;  and  Du 
Perron  was  commissioned  by  the  king  to 
I  exert  his  eloquence  in  persuading  the 
duke  to  be  married  according  to  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Huguenots,  since  the  princess 
was  determined  to  follow  the  example  of 
her  mother,  and  remain  steadfast  in  the 
religion  in  which  she  had  been  educated. 
Whether  the  point  in  dispute  might  not 
have  entirely  broken  off  the  marriage  is 
a  problem;  the  king  was  at  last  fatigued 
with  the  unceasing  theological  controver- 
sies, in  which  were  frequently  mingled 
some  allusion  to  his  sister's  firmness  con- 
trasted with  his  own  abjuration.  He  re- 
solved on  a  plan  for  settling  the  point  in 
question,  and  summoned  his  sister  and 
her  future  husband  to  his  cabinet.  The 
archbishop  of  Rouen,  Henry's  natural 
brother,  was  waiting  to  receive  them;  he 
had  been  induced  to  grant  his  ministry 
by  Roquelaure*  and  at  the  king's  com- 
mand performed  the  ceremony;  t lie  pre- 
sence of  the  sovereign  being  admitted  by 
the  clergy  to  compensate  for  the  absence 
of  the  other  solemnities  which  usually 
accompanied  a  marriage.t  On  quitting 
the  king's  presence,  the  princess  con- 
ducted her  husband  to  the  Louvre,  where 
she  'regularly  maintained  the  protestant 
worship  in  her  apartments;  and  the  nup- 
tial benediction  was  there  given  by  a  pro- 
testant minister.! 

Meanwhile  the  agents  of  Spain  and 
Savoy  were  actively  fanning  the  discon- 
tent of  those  nobles  whose  services  gave 
them  strong  claims  upon  Henry's  grati- 
tude ;  while  the  recompenses  they  had  ob- 
tained, by  falling  far  short  of  their  expec- 
tations, only  extended  their  means  of 
opposing  the  government.  According  to 
their  connexions,  they  took  measures  for 
increasing  their  partisans,  by  well-timed 
appeals  to  the  feelings,  framed  according 
to  their  respective  principles.'  The  Hu- 
guenot nobles  invariably  professed  much 
anxious  doubt  respecting  the  sincerity  of 
the  king's  intentions  towards  them;  and 
to  maintain  a  corresponding  tone  in  the 
minds  of  their  followers,  they  described 


Cayet,   Chron.  Septennaire.—De  Serres,  Hist,  de  *  Roquelaure,  subsequently  marshal,  was  t lie  arch- 

rTY,e'  V"'  '''  '''  bishop's  boon  companion,  and  had  persuaded  the  king 

t  Registered  in  parliament  of  Paris,  2jth  of  Feb.,  to  elevate  him  to  the  see  of  Rouen. 

m-  f  30th  of  January,  159!!.— Stilly,  liv.  10.— "ayel— Be 

J  Roiirnisseaux,  llist.de  la  Villr.  de  Thouars,  p.  183.  Serres. 

{  D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.,  vol.  iii.  p.  034.  j  D'Aubignc,  Hist.  Univ.  vol.  ili.  p.  601. 

26* 


306 


TREACHERY  OF  THE  DUKE  DE  BIRON. 


the  humiliating  condition  to  be  appre- 
hended, whenever  the  complete  restora- 
tion of  order  should  place  them  at  the 
mercy  of  their  unrelenting  foes.  The 
opposite  party  was  also  suspicious  of  the 
king's  designs:  the  reality  of  his  conver- 
sion was  doubted,  and  his  relapse  into 
heresy  declared  most  probable,  whenever 
the  time  arrived  for  him  to  throw  off  the 
mask,  and  again  declare  himself  a  Pro- 
testant. This  party,  guided  and  encou- 
raged by  experience,  appealed  to  the 
bigotry  and  fanaticism  which  had  wrought 
such  wonders  in  the  time  of  the  league. 
The  riches  of  Spain  were  lavished  to  that 
end,  but  happily  without  their  intended 
effect:  each  successive  attempt  at  insur- 
rection tending  rather  to  strengthen  than 
injure  the  royal  power. 

Among  the  discontented  nobles  of  this 
time,  the  foremost  was  Charles  Gontaut, 
Duke  de  Biron,  who  at  the  age  of  forty 
had  obtained  the  rank  of  marshal,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  councils,  and  even 
the  intimacy  of  his  sovereign:  possessing 
in  addition  a  splendid  fortune,  and  enjoy- 
ing a  reputation  for  military  excellence, 
equal  to,  if  not  surpassing  his  father's. 
Brantome  is  exceedingly  warm  in  the 
praise  of  this  marshal,  whom  he  calls  the 
first  in  Europe ;  and  adds,  that  "  next  to 
King  Henry,  he  was  the  greatest  captain 


at  the  expense  of  France,  whenever  the 
dismemberment  of  that  country  could  in 
any  way  be  effected.  He  promised  Biron 
the  hand  of  his  third  daughter ;  and  it  was 
agreed  with  the  King  of  Spain  that  an 
independent  sovereignty,  consisting  of 
Burgundy  and  Franche  Comte,  should  be 
vested  in  him,  on  occasion  of  the  mar- 
riage.* All  these  transactions  were  re- 
ported to  the  king,  who  was  remarkably 
active  in  procuring  intelligence  concerning 
public  affairs ;  and  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  astonished  the  Spanish  ambassador  by 
his  knowledge  of  what  passed  in  the  coun- 
cils of  Madrid.f 

Biron's  discontent  was  in  consequence 
early  known  :  yet  when  it  became  neces- 
sary to  use  coercive  measures  with  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  he  obtained  an  important 
command.  He  was  already  in  league 
with  the  duke,  and  warned  the  governor 
of  Bourg  that  on  a  certain  day  and  hour 
he  would  be  attacked.  "All  this,"  observes 
Sully,  "has  been  subsequently  proved." 
The  treachery  did  not  however  prevent 
the  town  from  falling  into  the  power  of 
the  king's  troops.  Nor  was  Biron's  tur- 
pitude confined  to  disloyalty  towards  his 
sovereign ;  he  most  treacherously  endea- 
voured to  deliver  Sully  into  the  hands  of 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,]: 

The  successful  termination  of  this  cam- 


in  Christendom ;  the  bravest,  the  most  paign  was  followed  by  Henry's  second 
daring,  and  most  valiant  ever  seen."*  j  marriage.  So  long  as  Gabrielle  d'Estrees 
The  celebrity  of  this  first  example  of |  lived,  none  of  the  king's  advisers  exerted 
Henry's  severity  renders  it  almost  super- 'themselves  to  obtain  a  dissolution  of  his 
fluous  to  detail  the  particulars  of  his  con- 1 first  marriage:  their  ideas  of  a  suitable 


spiracy  and  condemnation.  He  was  la- 
mentably insnared  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  Don  Pedro  Henriquez  de  Azevedo, 
Count  de  Fuentes.  The  latter  was  the 
recognised  agent  of  Spain  in  Italy,  and 
was  so  violent  in  his  hatred  to  Henry 
IV.,  that  he  never  mentioned  his  name 
without  an  opprobrious  epithet ;  he  gave 
a  cordial  welcome  to  all  whose  disaffection 


union  for  the  "  eldest  son  of  the  church" 
made  them  shudder  at  the  bare  possibility 
of  his  raising  a  concubine  to  the  throne ; 
and  such  might  have  been  the  case,  as 
Gabrielle  possessed  great  influence  over 
him,  and  appears  by  all  accounts  to  have 
merited  his  attachment. 

There  was  something  very  tragical  in 
her  death.     She  had  quitted  Fontaine- 


led  them  into  exile,  and  is  accused  of'  bleau  for  Paris,  where  she  intended  to 


having  instigated  several  attempts  against 
the  king's  life,  as  he  deemed  it  impossible 
to  renew  the  civil  war  in  France  so  long 
as  he  lived.f  Emanuel,  Duke  of  Savoy, 
had  a  personal  dislike  to  Fuentes;  but  he 
cordially  co-operated  with  that  busy  in- 
triguer, whose  plans,  if  successful,  might 
enable  him  to  extend  his  limited  territory 


*  Vie  riii  Marshal  de  Biron  et  de  son  Fils. 
t  Mathieu,  vol.  ii.  p.  SU. 


perform  her  Easter  devotions.  After 
hearing  Tmebra.  at  the  church  of  Saint 
Antoine,  she  was  seized  with  violent  con- 
vulsions, from  which  she  did  not  recover. 

*  Sully.  Ijv.  xii.    Mathieu,  vol.  ii.  p.  491. 

t  The  Nuncio,  having  asked  the  Spanish  ambassador 
his  opinion  of  the  king,  was  told  in  reply,  "  II  sgait 
tout,  et  m'a  dit  des  choses  tenues  au  conseil  d'Espagne, 
qui  in 'out  fait  rougir  pour  les  avoir  niees,  etlui  estoi- 
ent  tres  vrayes:  il  est  plus  que  le  diable."  Journal  de 
Henri  IV.,  Oct.  1608. 

I  Sully,  liv.  11. 


henry's  divorce  and  second  marriage. 


307 


She  expired  on  the  morning  of  Good  i  was  employed  to  flatter  the  marshal,  and 
Friday,  after  giving  birth  to  a  still-born  j  work  upon  his  weakness;  and  a  crafty 
child,  her  features  being  so  distorted  as  to  wretch  named  Lafin,  after  urging  him  on 
defy  recognition.*  La  Varenne  (Henry's  in  the  tortuous  path  of  treasonable  cor- 
confidential  agent  in  matters  of  gallantry)  respondence,  betrayed  him  to  his  offended 
communicated  this  event  to  Sully  in  a  sovereign.  The  Spaniards  had  endea- 
mysterious  manner,  which  leaves  room  to  voured  to  corrupt  Biron  before  the  termi- 
supposethat  he  thought  she  was  poisoned;  [nation  of  the  war:  their  agents  had  dis- 
but  whether  this  death  was  the  effect  of  covered  his  foible,  and  flattered  his  hopes 


such  machinations,  or  the  general  tribute 
of  nature  under  a  more  terrific  form  than 
usual,  can  never  now  be  known,  as  most 
of  the  circumstances  were  concealed  from 
the  king  himself.f 

From  this  time  the  divorce  encountered 
no  obstacle :  but  Henry  felt  considerable 
repugnance  to  a  second  marriage ;  and  in 
a  conversation  with  Sully,  after  enume- 
rating the  qualities  which  in  his  opinion 
were  necessary  to  produce  a  happy  union, 
he  added  with  a  sigh,  "  That  he  feared  no 
such  person  could  be  found."  He  subse- 
quently yielded  to  reasons  of  state,  and 
conferred  his  hand  on  Mary  de  Medicis : 
the  ceremony  was  performed  at  Lyons,  in 
November,  1600. 

Ambition  must  have  greatly  hardened 
Biron's  heart,  or  he  would  have  been 
touched  with  his  sovereign's  magnanimity 
on  this  occasion.  Although  Henry  was 
fully  persuaded  that  Biron  was  engaged 
in  a  traitorous  correspondence  with  the 
enemy,  he  hoped  by  kindness  to  reclaim 
the  faulty  nobleman.  Taking  the  marshal 
apart  in  the  cloisters  of  a  church  at  Lyons, 
he  asked  him,  under  a  promise  of  pardon, 
what  was  the  extent  of  his  correspondence 
and  conventions  with  the  enemies  of  the 
state?  Biron,  unhappily  for  him,  made 
an  incomplete  avowal ;  the  king  promised 
oblivion  for  the  past,  but  warned  him 
that  a  repetition  would  have  fatal  conse- 
quences. 

Still  Biron  continued  to  conspire ;  and 
the  king,  unwilling  to  consider  him  irre- 
coverable, was  still  inclined  to  try  every 
means  to  reach  his  heart,  but  without 
effect.  The  marshal's  unfortunate  destiny 
hurried  him  to  destruction.  He  was  un 
happy  in  the  choice  of  his  confidants  :  the 
Baron  de  LuzJ:  was  his  bosom  friend  and 
instigator;  an  advocate,  named  Picote, 


*  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  61. — D'AubigQi,  Hist.  Univ. 
vol.  iii.  p  635. 

t  Sully,  liv.  10. 

$  Nephew  of  Espinac,  archbishop  of  Lyons,  a  most 
violent  leaguer,  and  therefore  easily  accessible  to  Spa- 
nish influence. 


of  obtaining  one  of  the  great  fiefs  into 
which  France  was  to  be  divided.  They 
perceived,  moreover,  that  Biron,  who  had 
hitherto  been  very  indifferent  as  to  reli- 
gious observances,  now  went  into  the 
contrary  extreme.  The  Spanish  agents 
encouraged  this  feeling;  and  it  was  re- 
peated in  his  hearing,  that  he  was  the  last 
and  sole  resource  of  religion  and  liberty. 
The  late  brilliant  position  of  the  Guises 
incited  him  to  take  their  place,  and  be- 
come the  champion  of  popery*  as  he 
imparted  his  views  to  others,  discontented 
like  himself,  he  could  behold  their  ambi- 
tion take  fire  at  the  prospect  he  unfolded; 
and  he  succeeded  in  forming  an  associa- 
tion for  dethroning  the  king,  by  men  who, 
above  all  others,  were  bound  to  serve  and 
defend  him.  The  Duke  of  Bouillon,  who 
had  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  Sedan 
entirely  by  the  king's  support  and  recom- 
mendation ;  Charles,  Count  D'Auvergne, 
brother  of  the  king's  present  mistress, 
Henriette  d'Entraigues;  La  Tremouille, 
Soubise,  and  Montpensier,  a  prince  of  the 
blood,  were  engaged  in  this  cause ;  but 
Bouillon  was  considered  the  soul,  D'Au- 
vergne the  trumpet,  and  Biron  the  arm  of 
the  conspiracy.  However,  so  far  as  Bouil- 
lon and  La  Tremouille  were  concerned,  it 
was  all  suspicion,  for  proof  was  wanting.t 
De  Fresne-Canaye  sent  timely  notice  of 
their  proceedings  in  Italy,  but  his  intima- 
tions were  disregarded;  and  it  was  by 
the  treachery  of  Lafin  that  Biron's  plot 
was  discovered.  The  artful  man,  per- 
ceiving his  patron's  obstinacy  and  bad 
judgment,  took  immediate  measures  for 
his  own  safety,  and  solicited  an  audience 
of  the  king,  when  he  delivered  up  the 
marshal's  papers  and  correspondence. 
Sully  being  immediately  summoned  to 
Fontainebleau,  was  informed  by  the  king 
that  he  was  implicated  by  the  marshal's 
letters.  With  a  smile,  he  replied  to 
Henry's  inquiries  respecting  his  know- 


*  Malhieu,  vol,  ii.  p,  489. 


■t  Sully,  liv.  13. 


308 


EXTENT  OF  THE  BIRON  CONSPIRACY. 


ledge  of  the  affair:  "If  the  others  know 
no  more  of  it  than  myself,  your  majesty 
has  no  occasion  to  take  any  trouble  about 
the  matter."  "  Nor  have  I  paid  any 
attention  to  it,"  answered  the  king,  who 
then  ordered  him  to  assist  Bellievre  and 
Villeroy,  in  examining  the  correspond- 
ence.* The  result  of  their  investigations 
was  a  summons  for  Biron  to  appear  at 
court.  Deceived  by  Lafin,  he  imagined 
that  silence  on  his  part  would  be  sufficient 
protection,  and  set  out  for  Fontainebleau, 
although  informed  by  various  friends  that 
his  life  was  in  danger.!  When  the  king 
endeavoured  to  draw  from  him  a  confes- 
sion of  his  guilt,  he  replied  disdainfully, 
that  he  was  not  come  to  justify  himself, 
but  to  learn  the  rlames  of  his  calumniators, 
and  be  avenged  on  them.  Henry  gave 
him  clearly  to  understand  that  "he  knew 
all ;  conjured  him  to  be  candid ;  and 
promised  a  free  pardon.}  His  proud 
spirit  would  not  submit :  he  left  the  royal 
presence,  and  was  soon  after  arrested  by 
Vitry,  captain  of  the  guards.  When  dis- 
armed, he  appealed  to  his  past  services ; 
and  being  led  across  the  hall  of  the  guards, 
exclaimed,  "  See  how  good  Catholics  are 
treated  !"§  These  expressions  almost  suf- 
fice to  account  for  his  tragical  end.  The 
first  proves  his  excessive  presumption ;  the 
other  indicates  the  source  from  which  he 
expected  to  derive  support.  The  rest  of 
his  history  is  a  matter  of  notoriety.|] 

How  far  Bouillon  and  D'Auvergne 
were  implicated  with  Biron  is  unknown. 
Sully  persuaded  the  king  to  be  merciful, 
and  privately  advised  all  the  parlies  in- 
volved to  sue  for  pardon.  Montpensier 
confessed  his  fault,  and  begged  the  king's 
forgiveness  on  his  knees.  The  constable 
Montmorency,  who  was  charged  with 
being  concerned,  confessed  a  knowledge 
of  the  affair,  though  he  denied  having 
taken  any  part  in  it:  he  also  asked  and 
obtained  pardon.  The  Duke  of  Epernon 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal  his  friendship 
and  intercourse  with  the  marshal,  hut  de- 
nied all  knowledge  of  his  designs,^  and 
Sully  expressed  much  satisfaction  at  be- 
ing able  to  declare  his  innocence.  La 
Tremouille  was  summoned  to  appear,  but 


*  Sully,  liv.  12.  t  Cayet,  p.  288. 

t  Henry,  deeply  affected,  was  heard  lo  say,  as  lie 
paced  his  apartment,  "  II  faut  qu'il  ploye  cm  qu'il 
romjie."   Mathieu,  vol.  ii  P-  500. 

§  Sully— Bassoinpierre — Maihieu. 

I  He  suffered  3]st  July.  Ki02. 

T  Girard ;  Vie  de  Due  d'Epernon,  p.  208. 


made  repeated  excuses  of  confinement 
by  the  gout.* 

The  Duke  de  Bouillon  appears  to  have 
entertained  great  apprehension,  as  he 
passed  the  frontier,  to  avoid  the  conse- 
quences. In  reply  to  a  letter  from  the 
king,  he  states  his  willingness  to  set  out 
in  obedience  to  the  summons;  implores 
his  majesty  to  believe  that  his  accusers 
are  perfidious,  disloyal,  and  false;  and 
entreats  him  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  of 
his  innocence.  But  instead  of  proceeding 
to  Paris,  he  went  to  Geneva,  from  which 
place  he  wrote  a  second  letter,  again  pro- 
testing his  innocence. t  That  this  was  a 
case  of  more  than  usual  importance,  is  to 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  of  the  French 
Ambassador  in  London  submitting  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  the  king's  letter  of  sum- 
mons, with  a  request  for  her  candid  opi- 
nion. Elizabeth  immediately  instructed 
her  ambassador  in  Paris  to  see  the  king; 
to  thank  him  for  his  frankness  and  con- 
fidence; and  to  assure  him,  that  although 
she  would  rather  decline  giving  an  opi- 
nion, still  the  king's  request  demanded 
sincerity  on  her  part.  The  following 
part  of  the  instruction  at  any  rate  proves 
the  interest  Bouillon  excited  at  the  Eng- 
lish court:  "When  we  consider  that  a 
part  of  the  accusation  is  founded  on  his 
conspiracy  with  Marshal  Biron  (with 
whom  we  well  know  he  never  had  a 
good  understanding,  but  rather  enmity 
and  emulation,)  we  hope  that  the  king 
will  find  the  accusation  altogether  feeble; 
at  which  no  one  will  rejoice  more  than 
ourselves."  The  instruction  continues 
with  an  argument  upon  the  great  impro- 
bability that  the  Huguenot  leaders  could 
be  in  league  with  the  King  of  Spain, 
their  mortal  enemy.} 

Scarcely  ever  has  there  existed  a  plot 
with  more  ramifications,  and  combining  a 
greater  variety  of  opposing  interests,  than 
that  which  brought  Biron  to  the  scaffold. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Duke  of  Savoy  pro- 
moted the  undertaking  in  the  hopes  of 
extending  his  territory,  and  converting 
his  duchy  into  a  kingdom.  Biron  was 
himself  seduced  by  a  similar  prospect; 
and  to  gain  the  Huguenot  leaders  to  his 


*  Sully,  liv  13.— Bassoinpierre,  Jfouveavr.  JUimoirc*. 
p.  181. 

t  Both  letters  are  in  Villeroy,  Mem.  d'Etat,  vol.  v. 
The  first  is  dated  St.  fire,  30tli  Nov.  1G02;  the  other, 
Geneva.  2d  January,  1003. 

t  Villeroy,  vol.  v.  p.  129. 


EXTENT  OF  THE  BIRON  CONSPIRACY. 


309 


party,  some  of  the  southern  provinces  of 
France  were  to  be  assigned  to  them,  free 
from  all  control  of  the  Catholics.  Bouil- 
lon being  induced  to  co-operate,  secretly 
summoned  nine  of  the  most  considerable 
of  his  party,  to  whom  he  communicated 
the  dangers  which  threatened  the  Pro- 
testants, and  the  means  of  deliverance 
which  had  been  suggested  to  him.  He 
declared  to  the  meeting  that  six  months 
had  elapsed  since  a  proposal  had  been 
made,  to  which  he  long  refused  to  listen; 
but  which  he  would  not  altogether  dis- 
miss on  his  private  judgment.    The  as- 
sociation which  he  had  been  invited  to 
join,  consisted  of  princes  of  the  blood, 
great  officers  of  the  crown,  governors  of 
provinces,  and  many  persons  of  weight 
and  respectability;  that  all  of  them,  in 
eluding  the  old  members  of  the  league 
were  indignant  at  the  king's  ingratitude 
to  the  Protestants,  who  ought  not  to  re- 
main ignorant  of  an  engagement  lately 
formed,  and  signed  by  the  king  and  the 
ambassadors  of  Spain  and  the  empire,  for 
a  crusade  to  exterminate  the  Huguenots: 
that  the  time  for  the  execution  of  the  pro- 
ject, and  the  contingents  of  men  and  mo- 
ney which  each  should  supply  were  spe- 
cified, and  the  war  was  to  be  continued 
until  the   Huguenots  were  extirpated, 
After  stating  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
who  was  in  possession  of  an  authentic 
copy  of  the  convention,  bearing  original 
signatures,  was  willing  to  place  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  Protestant  body,  the  Duke 
de  Bouillon  unfolded  the  plan  of  territo- 
rial remuneration,  proposed  by  the  origi- 
nators of  this  measure;  and  called  upon 
D'Aubigne  for  his  sentiments  respecting 


and  one  of  the  party  was  sent  to  Lyons, 
where  the  king  then  was,  with  instruc- 
tions to  act  according  to  circumstances — 
making  such  communication  to  Sully,  as 
should  preserve  their  fidelity  from  im- 
peachment, yet  concealing  names,  to 
avoid  compromising  the  parties.* 

In  1603,  the  Protestants  were  again 
made  the  tools  of  Bouillon's  ambition. 
Persisting  in  his  voluntary  exile,  he  con- 
tinued indefatigable  in  his  negotiations 
with  James  I.  and  the  Elector  palatine, 
evidently  with  the  design  of  inducing 
those  princes  to  espouse  his  cause,  by  re- 
presenting himself  as  the  champion  of 
the  reformed  religion.  He  even  pub- 
lished pamphlets,  apparently  directed 
against  the  Protestant  body,  with  replies 
unfolding  the  great  dangers  which  were 
impending.  Duplessis-Mornay  was  so 
much  deceived  as  to  defend  the  duke's 
character,  and  enlarge  on  the  value  of 
his  services;  and  at  an  assembly  held  at 
Gap.f  the  discussions  and  resolutions 
were  so  animated  as  to  threaten  some 
insurrectionary  movements.  An  effort 
was  made  to  insert  in  the  body  of  their 
articles  of  confession  that  the  pope  was 
Antichrist.  The  king,  on  hearing  this, 
desired  Sully  to  interfere,  and  put  an  end 
to  such  a  scandal:  at  the  same  time,  Les- 
diguieres,  Bouillon,  and  La  Tremouille 
violently  decried  the  loyal  statesman,  and 
represented  him  as  corrupted  by  the 
court:  yet  he  had  sufficient  influence 
with  the  Huguenot  deputies,  residing  at 
Paris  in  pursuance  of  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
to  have  the  obnoxious  article  suppressed. 
Duplessis  thus  explains  the  cause  of  this 
proceeding.!     After  describing  the  con- 


the  offer.  That  gentleman  explained  his  dition  of  the  French  churches,  in  terms 
views  with  eloquence,  and  severely  cri-  diametrically  opposed  to  discontented 
ticised  the  character  of  the  principal  con- j  feelings,  he  relates  that  a  professor  of  di- 
federate,  Biron;  who  notwithstanding  his !  vinity  at  Nismes  had  proposed  as  a  sub- 
education  under  a  protestant  mother,  andjject  for  argument,  De  Jinlichristo;  for 
a  father  who  was  an  enemy  to  bigotry, ,  which  he  was  summoned  before  the  par- 


had,  since  his  intimacy  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  exchanged  the  licentiousness  of  an 
atheist  for  the  superstition  of  a  monk. 
He  ridiculed  the  idea  of  such  a  combi- 
nation against  the  Protestants;  and  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  that,  if  this  perni- 
cious offer  were  accepted,  they  would  be 
quickly  betrayed  to  the  king.  The  com- 
pany unanimously  approved  of  D'Au- 
bigne's  opinion,  which  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon  at  once  adopted  as  his  own; 


liament  at  Toulouse,  as  a  perturbator.§ 
The  Protestant  ministers,  seeing  that 
they  might  be  accused  of  sedition  for 
their  sermons,  brought  the  matter  before 
the  synod  for  discussion.||     The  pope 


*  D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.,  vol.  iii.  p.  074. 
t  1st  Oct.  1603. 

%  In  a  letter  to  M.  de  la  Fontaine,  then  in  London, 
dated  20th  March,  1G04. 

^  Ferrier,  who  alterwards  abjured,  was  the  professor 
implicated — Benoit,  vol.  i.  p.  3U4. 

U  Duplessis,  Mem.,  vol  iii.  p.  49. 


310  RECALL  OF 


was  really  alarmed,  lest  a  declaration  so 
hostile  should  become  a  matter  of  delibe- 
ration in  all  the  European  universities: 
but  he  availed  himself  of  the  circum- 
stance to  pretend  great  offence,  and  would 
not  be  pacified  with  any  thing  short  of 
the  recall  of  the  Jesuits,  whose  re-esta- 
blishment is  the  next  event  in  which  the 
liberties  of  the  Huguenots  were  inte- 
rested.* 

Henry  had  been  induced  in  the  pre- 
ceding year  to  promise  it,  and  the  Nun- 
cio assisted  the  fathers  Cotton  and  Mayes, 
in  their  efforts  to  realize  that  promise. 
Cotton  had  for  some  time  been  in  the  ha- 
bit of  preaching  before  the  king,  who 
thought  favourably  of  his  learning  and 
talents.  The  Jesuits,  in  1603,  obtained 
permission  to  reside  in  certain  towns: 
this  did  not,  however,  satisfy  them;  they 
required  a  formal  recall,  and  the  repeal  of 
the  decree  against  them.  Henry  had 
promised  it  when  at  Metz;  and  the  par- 
liament of  Paris  deputed  their  chief-pre- 
sident Harlay  to  remonstrate  against  the 
proposed  measure.  His  address  is  a  re- 
petition of  the  general  charges  against 
the  society.  The  authenticity  of  the 
king's  answer,  as  reported  by  several 
writers,  is  hardly  maintainable:  it  con- 
tains a  rather  laboured  apology  for  the 
Jesuits,  excusing  their  faults  and  con- 
cluding for  their  support,  on  account  of 
their  usefulness.!  But  whatever  may  be 
the  terms  used  by  the  king,  it  is  evident 
they  expressed  displeasure  at  the  senti- 
ments uttered  by  the  parliament;  and 
whether  he  wished  to  conciliate,  from  a 
fear  of  their  intrigues,  or  to  act  on  genu- 
ine principles  of  liberality,  the  result  was 
equally  favourable  to  the  Jesuits.  Sully 
opposed  the  measure  in  the  council.  He 
admitted  that  Sillary  excited  his  ill  hu- 
mour at  the  meeting,  by  a  pretended  com- 
pliment, which  but  ill-disguised  his  jea- 
lousy. He  called  on  Sully  to  open  the 
consultation,  both  on  account  of  his  ex- 
perience, and  from  being  best  acquainted 
with  the  king's  views.  To  this  Sully 
objected.     "So  it  appears,"  observed 


*  Sully,  liv.  10. 

•f  Harlay's  speech,  delivered  4th  Dec,  1603,  is  pre- 
served in  the  Mercure  Francais,  vol.  ii.  pp.  164.  et  sea. 
But  the  Jesuits' published  in  French.  Latin,  and  Ita- 
lian, a  falsified  abridgment,  with  the  answer  attributed 
to  the  king.  The  latter  pieces  are  to  be  found  in  Vil- 
leroy,  vol.  vii  ,  and  are  referred  to  as  unquestionable 
authority,  by  Father  Daniel,  and  others  of  the  ultra- 
montane school. 


THE  JESUITS. 


Sillery,  with  a  malicious  smile,  "  we 
must  wait  for  your  opinion,  until  you 
have  made  a  journey  to  the  banks  of  the 
Seine,  four  leagues  off,"  alluding  to  Ab- 
lon,  where  the  Protestant  ministers  held 
their  meetings.  Sully  replied  with  firm- 
ness, that  in  religious  matters  he  was  not 
led  by  man,  the  word  of  God  being  his 
sole  guide:  but  in  affairs  of  state  he  was 
entirely  ■  guided  by  the  king's  will,  of 
which  he  must  be  more  informed  before 
he  could  pronounce.* 

The  following  day  he  conversed  at 
length  with  the  king  upon  the  subject. 
After  hearing  his  minister's  objections, 
Henry  summed  up  his  sentiments  in  a 
manner  that  proved  his  intentions  were 
already  decided.  He  had  been  persuaded 
that  by  driving  the  Jesuits  to  despair, 
their  audacity  would  have  no  bounds. f 
This  was  clear  from  his  reasonings;  and 
instead  of  attempting  further  to  refute  his 
arguments,  Sully  declared  that  if  the 
king's  personal  happiness  and  safety  de- 
pended on  the  re-establishment  of  the 
Jesuits,  he  would  promote  it  as  readily 
as  the  most  decided  of  their  partisans. 
Til  is  declaration  illuminated  the  king's 
countenance  with  satisfaction;  and  he  vo- 
luntarily pledged  his  royal  word,  that  no 
influence  of  the  Jesuits  should  induce 
him  to  make  war  against  the  Proiestants. 
The  result  of  this  interview  was  speedily 
communicated  to  the  king's  confessor 
elect,  father  Cotton,  who  the  next  day 
visited  Sully,  loading  him  with  flatteries 
and  commendations. 


CHAPTER  LII. 

Death  of  La  Tremnuille— D'Aubisne's  conversation 
with  the  King— Meeting  at  Catellerault — Reduction 
of  Sedan— Death  of  Henry  IV. 

Sully  being  named  governor  of  Poic- 
tou,  visited  that  province  in  the  summer 
of  1604.  He  was  well  received  at  Ro- 
chelle;  and  endeavoured  to  convince  the 
leading  Huguenots  of  their  error,  in  act- 
ing perversely  towards  the  government. 
La  Tremouille  and  Rohan  both  expressed 
unshaken  lenity  to  Henry  ;  but  the  ex- 


*  Sully,  liv.  17. 

f  "  Ventre  Saint  Gris  me  repondez  vous  de  ma  per- 
sonne?"  was  Henry's  reply  to  one  who  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  hint. 


DEATH  OF  LA  TREMOUILLE. 


311 


perienced  statesman  declares  that  in  his 
opinion  the  followers  of  those  noblemen 
were  quite  as  refractory  and  discontented 
as  they  had  been  represented.  (Sully's 
voyage  produced  a  very  beneficial  result 
to  the  regal  authority,  though  it  hastened 
the  ruin  of  the  Protestant  cause:  by  dis- 
tributing pensions  to  the  more  pacific 
and  moderate,  he  reduced  the  cabal  in 
that  province  to  insignificance,  and  La 
Tremouille's  death,  which  occurred  soon 
after,  deprived  them  of  their  principal 
leader.*  This  nobleman  had  married  a 
daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Orange;  and 
being  thus  allied  to  the  dukede  Bouillon, 
attained  great  importance  in  the  Protest- 
ant party,  whose  interests  he  so  warmly 
espoused,  that,  had  he  lived  longer,  it 
was  the  king's  intention  to  bring  him  to 
justice.!  Orders  were  sent  at  one  time 
to  besiege  him  in  his  chateau  at  Thouars; 
and  when  La  Tremouille  was  informed 
of  the  advance  of  some  detachments  to- 
wards his  residence,  he  wrote  to  his  tried 
friend  D'Aubigne,  reminding  him  of  a 
mutual  vow  they  had  made  to  share  each 
other's  dangers.  D'Aubigne  hastened  to 
Thouars;  and  in  conjunction  with  La 
Tremouille,  commenced  measures  of  de- 
fence, by  collecting  -the  gentlemen  of 
their  party.  In  one  of  their  rides  they 
perceived  the  heads  and  bodies  of  some 
malefactors,  left  for  exposure.  La  Tre- 
mouille changed  colour  at  the  sight;  on 
which  D'Aubigne  took  him  by  the  hand, 
and  observed,  "  You  must  learn  to  look 
at  such  melancholy  spectacles  with  a 
good  grace:  for  engaged  as  we  are,  it  is 
requisite  to  familiarize  ourselves  with 
death."! 

D'Aubigne  declares  that  the  death  of 
this  noblenvin  was  the  cause  of  his  reso- 
lution to  quit  the  kingdom;  having  no 
longer  any  one  in  whom  he  could  confide, 
for  his  defence  against  the  secret  ma- 
noeuvres of  the  court,  all  the  other  Hugue- 
not leaders  being  corrupted  by  pensions. 
With  this  intention  he  had  made  prepa- 
rations for  his  departure,  and  the  greater 
part  of  his  property  was  embarked  in  a 
small  vessel,  hired  for  the  purpose. 
While  his  two  last  cases  were  being  con- 
veyed from  his  home,  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  king,  and  another  from  La  Va- 
renne,  both  assuring  him  that  he  was 


*  Sully,  liv.  18. 

t  Bassompicrrp,  JVouBtaaw,  Mem.,  p.  181. 
X  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  pp.  148—152. 


wanted  at  court,  and  would  be  well  re- 
ceived. Those  letters  made  him  change 
his  resolution,  and  decided  his  return  to 
Paris,  where  the  king  employed  him 
nearly  two  months  in  superintending  the 
preparations  for  some  joustes  and  tourna- 
ments: yet  without  giving  the  least  inti- 
mation of  a  desire  to  converse  with  him 
respecting  his  conduct  in  the  Protestant 
assemblies,  which  was  after  all  the  real 
motive  of  the  invitation. 

At  length  Henry  took  an  opportunity 
of  speaking  to  him  alone,  and  endeavoured 
to  persuade  him  to  join  the  court  party, 
by  representing  the  selfishness  and  ve- 
nality of  his  partisans.  He  admitted  that 
D'Aubigne  himself  attended  the  meetings 
in  good  faith;  but  that  the  majority  were 
corrupted,  and  that  nothing  would  be 
henceforth  carried  against  his  wishes. 
"This  is  so  true,"  added  Henry,  "that 
one  of  your  number,  connected  with  the 
i first  families  of  France,  has  cost  me  no 
more  than  five  hundred  crowns  to  serve 
as  my  spy,  and  inform  me  of  all  that 
passes  in  your  assemblies." 

D'Aubigne  in  reply  stated,  that  being 
elected  a  deputy,  he  felt  bound  to  serve 
his  constituents  conscientiously;  and  the 
t  more  so,  since  they  had  lost  their  royal 
I  protector:  at  the  same  time  he  well  knew 
I  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  late  Duke 
de  La  Tremouille,  all  the  chiefs  had  sold 
!  themselves  to  the  court.    Henry  then 
embraced  his  old  companion  in  arms, 
land  recommended  him  to  cultivate  the 
'  friendship  of  Jeannin,  observing,  "  He 
j  has  managed  all  the  affairs  of  the  league: 
|  and  I  shall  have  more  confidence  in  you 
and  him,  than  in  those  who  have  played 
a  double  game."    Henry  was  turning 
away,  but  D'Aubigne  detained  him;  and 
firmly,  though    without  disrespect,  in- 
quired what  was  the  cause  of  his  displea- 
sure.— The  king  turned  pale,  as  was  cus- 
tomary with  him  when  his  feelings  were 
moved,  and  replied,  "  You  were  too  much 
attached  to  La  Tremouille.    You  knew  I 
hated  him;  and  still  you  gave  him  your 
affection."    "  Sire  !"  replied  D'Aubigne, 
|  "I  have  been  brought  up  at  the  feet  of 
j  your  majesty,  where  I  learned  never  to 
abandon   those   in  affliction."  Henry 
again  embraced  him,  and  they  separated.* 

Henry  sent  a  confidential  agent  to  ques- 
tion Duplessis  on  D'Aubigne's  friendship 


*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.  pp.  14d— 152. 


312 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  PROTESTANTS. 


with  La  Tremouille,  and  other  subjects 
affecting  his  character  for  loyalty.  The 
agent's  report  to  the  chancellor  was  de- 
cidedly favourable.* 

The  conspiracy  of  the  Entragues  family 
does  not  enier  into  our  subject,  being  an 
affair  of  private  ambition,  in  which  no 
Huguenot  of  distinction  was  implicated. 
The  counts  D'Entragues  and  D'Auvergne 


But  unhappily  the  dispute  was  not  al- 
ways limited  to  opinions  or  protestations: 
in  a  moment  of  excitement,  a  placard  was 
posted  in  different  parts  of  Paris,  inviting 
the  university  students  to  meet  with  clubs 
and  other  weapons,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
sisting the  insolence  of  the  maudile  secle 
huguenot  e  et  abloniste.  An  individual 
named  Robert,  returning  from  worship  at 


were  condemned  to  death;  and  the  mar-IAblon,  was  attacked  and  murdered:  his 
chioness  of  Verneuil  was  sentenced  to  per-  son  who  accompanied  him,  in  desperation 


petual  imprisonment.!  The  king's  pro- 
mise, given  at  the  dying  request  of  Henry 
HI.,  in  behalf  of  D'Auvergne,  effected  a 
commutation  of  his  sentence  into  confine- 
ment in  the  Bastille;}:  ai:d  his  passion  for 
Madame  de  Verneuil  caused  the  punish- 
ment of  her  father  to  be  limited  to  banish- 
ment from  the  court,  and  an  order  to  re- 
side on  his  estate;  the  marchioness,  as 
may  be  easily  imagined,  obtained  a  free 
pardon. 

The  chronicles  of  this  period  abound 
with  incidents,  which  would  be  deemed 
insignificant  if  they  did  not  serve  as  an 
index  for  judging  of  the  state  of  public 
opinion.  The  conversions  of  monks  and 
other  ecclesiastics  are  carefully  noted;  as 
well  as  laymen,  whose  position  gave 
them  interest.  But  although  we  find  only 
an  occasional  notice  of  proselytes  to  the 
Romish  church,  it  is  loo  well  known  that 
court  favour,  the  hopes  of  advancement, 
and  the  prospect  of  fortune,  led  many  to 
desert  their  faith.  In  addition  to  those 
motives  must  be  mentioned  the  effect  of 
prejudice,  which  to  many  is  irresistible; 
for  the  stake  and  the  scaffold  will  excite 
firmness,  when  the  silent  contempt  of 
connexions  and  neighbours  will  shake  a 


avenged  his  father,  by  killing  the  assassin 
on  the  spot.* 

The  Protestants  having  demanded  a  I 
general  assembly,  by  virtue  of  the  edict 
of  Nantes,  the  town  of  Chatellerault  was 
named  for  the  meeting;  and  Sully  was 
appointed  to  receive  the  deputies,  and  ad- 
dress them  in  the  king's  name.t  This 
was  a  disappointment  to  those  of  the  Pro- 
testant nobility  who  were  influenced  by 
political  motives:  they  knew  Sully's  firm 
loyalty,  and  were  well  aware  that  his  en- 
ergy would  enforce  respect  to  the  king's 
instructions,  known  to  be  directed  against 
any  renewal  of  the  offensive  proceedings 
at  the  synod  of  Gap.  None  could  be  ad- 
mitted as  the  deputy  of  an  individual,  not 
even  from  Lesdiguieres;  and  there  was  a 
positive  prohibition  against  receiving  let- 
ters from  any  foreign  princes,  and  parti- 
cularly from  the  Duke  de  Bouillon,  his 
conduct  towards  the  king  requiring  some 
public  mark  of  displeasure.}  In  the  event 
of  the  assembly  manifesting  a  feeling  of 
insubordination.  Sully  was  instructed  to 
avail  himself  of  his  authority,  as  governor 
of  the  province,  and  to  inform  the  sedi- 
tious members  that  the  king  was  well 
aware  of  their  designs.    A  letter  from 


well-founded  resolution.  The  contro-  Bouillon  had  in  fact  been  intercepted, 
versy  between  the  rival  creeds  was  zea-j  which  proved  the  existence  of  irritated 
lously  maintained;  but  principally  by  a i  feelings;  and  manifested  a  prevalent  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  many  members,  to  im- 


few  individuals,  on  behalf  of  the  Protest- 
ants. The  English  ambassador  was  for 
many  reasons  bound  to  stand  forward; 
and  on  occasion  of  the  fete-Dieu,  he  not 
only  refused  to  place  hangings  before  his 
hotel,  in  the  Rue  de  Tournon,  but  declared 
that  he  would  set  fire  to  any  that  might 
be  placed,  contrary  to  his  will.  The  pro- 
cession of  St.  Sulplice,  to  avoid  extremi- 
ties, was  in  consequence  ordered  to  pass 
by  another  slreet.§ 


*  Dated  8th  March,  1605.  Duplessis,  vol.  iii.  p.  91. 
t  1st  February,  1005. 

j  Bassoinpierre,  vol.  i.  p  404  N'ouv.  Mem.,  p.  199. 
}  Journal  de  Henri  IV.  23d  June,  1604. 


prove  the  position  of  the  body  by  a  vigo- 
rous effort. ^ 

Sully's  opening  speech  was  not  well 
received  by  the  assembly.  He  endea- 
voured to  convince  the  meeting,  that  the 
number  of  towns  assigned  to  them  under 
the  edict  of  Nantes,  so  far  from  being  to 
their  advantage,  was  an  injury  to  their 
cause;  as  the  dispersion  of  their  forces 
would  render  them  an  easy  conquest,  if 


*  Ibid.  IV.  18th  Se  p  ,  1005. 

f  His  commission  is  dated  3d  July,  1005. 

i  Sully,  liv.2I, 


}  Ibid. 


BOUILLON  RECONCILED  TO  HENRY. 


313 


any  serious  design  against  them  were 
meditated:  even  Lesdiguicres,  their 
Achilles,  could  not  hold  out  in  such  a 
case,  although  he  should  await  compul- 
sion to  induce  his  submission;  a  thing  not 
likely,  considering  his  interested  views. 
This  insinuation  was  intended  to  show 
how  well  the  court  knew  the  secret  dispo- 
sitions of  all  the  party. 

The  assembly  refused  Sully  the  ho- 
nour of  their  presidence,  only  two  votes 
being  given  in  his  favour;  and  they  com- 
missioned D'Aubigne  to  inform  him,  that 
he  must  desist  from  appearing  there,  un- 
less he  had  any  thing  to  propose  from  the 
king.*  Such  an  affront,  where  he  had 
calculated  on  obtaining  marked  distinction, 
renders  it  necessary  to  make  some  deduc- 
tions from  his  account  of  the  proceedings, 
which  he  represents  as  very  tumultuous. 
He  excluded  Duplessis  from  participating 
in  the  discussions,  on  the  ground  of  his 
not  being  deputed  by  any  province;  and 
although  the  deputies  of  Dauphine  ex- 
claimed, that  nothing  could  be  done  in 
his  absence,  Sully  enforced  his  authority, 
and  compelled  the  assembly  to  forego  the 
opinions  of  Duplessis,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Duke  de  Bouillon,  who,  together 
with  Lcsdiguieres,  are  severely  censured 
in  his  memoires  for  their  conduct  at  this 
period.  In  conjunction  with  D'Aubigne 
and  others,  they  are  charged  wi'.h  having 
signed  a  memorial,  in  which  was  laid  the 
basis  of  a  Calvinist  republic  in  France: 
the  result  of  the  meeting  rendered  the 
project  useless;  and  Duplessis,  fearing  the 
consequences,  sent  his  excused  the  king, 
with  a  disavowal  of  the  memorial. f 

The  mere  conception  of  such  a  scheme 
was  calculated  to  alarm  the  friends  of  the 
monarchy;  and  Sully  endeavoured  to 
learn  the  general  feeling  of  the  Protest- 
ants on  that  point.  The  answer  he  ob- 
tained from  the  deputies  with  whom  he 
conversed  was  to  this  effect.  If  Henry 
were  immortal,  the  Protestants,  having 
full  confidence  in  his  word,  would  at  once 
renounce  all  precaution,  give  up  their 
places  of  security,  and  reject  foreign  sup- 
port; but  the  fear  of  finding  very  different 
sentiments  in  his  successors  compelled 
them  to  continue  measures  adapted  for 
their  safety.  Sully  was  satisfied  that  the 
partisans  of  the  project  did  not  exceed  the 

*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  p.  134. 

t  Duplessis,  vol.  iii.  pp.  122— 120.    Sully,  liv.  22. 

27 


number  of  six  or  seven  persons;  but  the 
king  was  not  so  easily  convinced,  and 
was  deeply  struck  with  the  danger  to 
which  the  state  would  be  exposed  after 
his  death.* 

This  consideration  had  some  share  in 
originating  the  expedition  for  reducing 
Bouillon  to  submission.  The  Duke  was 
summoned;  passports  were  sent  to  him; 
and  he  was  even  threatened  with  vigo- 
rous measures,  in  case  of  non-compliance, 
but  in  vain.  He  persisted,  and  it  was  not 
until  Henry  was  on  his  march  to  Sedan, 
that  this  proud  subject  showed  any  signs 
of  submission.  At  first  Bouillon  boasted 
that  he  would  bury  himself  under  the 
ruins  of  his  little  principality.  He  then 
proposed  to  treat  with  the  king  on  the 
footing  of  an  independent  sovereign;  and 
finally  requested  that  Villeroy  might  be 
sent  to  discuss  the  terms  of  surrender. 
The  conditions  were  very  lenient:  Henry 
did  not  wish  to  ruin  an  old  companion  in 
arms,  who  had  privately  confessed  his 
readiness  to  submit,  provided  he  could  do 
so  with  honour:  he  was  satisfied  with 
humbling  him,  by  the  means  of  hereafter 
keeping  him  in  check.  It  was  evident 
that  Bouillon  in  rebellion  was  less  dan- 
gerous to  his  government  while  at  Sedan 
than  in  the  heart  of  France;  and  the  duke 
although  clear  of  criminal  participation  in 
Biron's  conspiracy,  was  conscious  that 
there  was  sufficient  evidence  in  his  cor- 
respondence with  the  marshal  to  cause 
him  trouble:  a  treaty  was  speedily  con- 
cluded, by  which  Bouillon  was  restored 
to  Henry's  good  graces  without  losing  his 
territory,  the  king  reserving  only  the 
right  of  placing  a  French  garrison  in 
Sedan,  t  And  afterwards,  when  the  Jesuits 
requested  permission  to  establish  a  col- 
lege there,  they  were  informed  that  the 
consent  of  the  Duke  de  Bouillon  was  in* 
dispensable.^ 

Henry  entered  Sedan  on  the  second  of 
April,  160G,  when  the  duke  offered  his 
homage  and  submission. g  He  presented 
himself  at  the  king's  chamber,  before  he 
had  risen,  and  conversed  with  him  for 
some  time  on  his  knee.    Henry  after- 

*  Sully,  liv.  xxii. 

t  Sully,  liv.  43;    Mere.  Franc  ,  vol.  i.  p.  104. 

%  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  Sept.  1809. 

}  On  the  same  day,  Henry  sent  an  account  of  Bouil- 
lon's submission  to  Duples-jg.  This  communication 
was  official  and  countersigned  but  many  of  the  king's 
letters  were  private,  and  written  entirely  by  him.  Du- 
plessis, vol.  iii.  p.  157. 


314 


INTOLERANCE  OF  BOTH  RELIGIONS. 


wards  placed  in  his  hand  a  letter  of  abo- 
lition, on  receiving  the  duke's  renewed 
protestation  of  fidelity.  From  that  time, 
observes  a  contemporary,  he  conducted 
himself  with  as  much  independence  and 
hauteur,  as  if  nothing  had  happened.* 

Thus  ended  an  expedition  which  caused 
so  many  remonstrances  and  complaints 
from  the  Protestants,  that  an  attempt  to 
rise  in  the  duke's  favour  was  at  one  time 
apprehended.  But  the  condition  of  the 
place  completely  refutes  the  idea:  a  gar- 
rison scarcely  amounting  to  three  hundred 
men;  the  cannon  in  bad  condition;  and 
scarcely  any  supply  of  the  most  common 
requisites  for  maintaining  a  siege,  are 
proofs  that  the  Protestant  body  had  no  in- 
tention of  espousing  the  duke's  personal 
cause,  as  at  all  connected  with  the  inte- 
rests of  religion. 

The  affairs  of  the  Protestants  during 
the  remainder  of  this  reign  present  no 
event  of  importance.  Sully  expresses  his 
regret  that  the  king  too  readily  listened  to 
the  complaints  of  their  enemies:  at  the 
same  time  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that 
occasionally  their  zeal  led  them  beyond 
the  bounds  of  propriety,  no  less  than  of 
good  policy.  It  is  needless  to  detail  the 
routine  of  their  periodical  synods  for 
electing  deputies:  they  were  uniformly 
accompanied  by  attacks  upon  the  Romish 
doctrines,  and  frequently  gave  occasion 
for  treating  their  sovereign  with  disre- 
spect. It  is  not  hazarding  too  much  to  as- 
sert that  this  empty  right,  grounded  upon 
the  edict  of  Nantes,  was  highly  injurious 
to  their  cause;  for,  instead  of  contentedly 
sitting  down  "  under  their  vine  and  their 
fig-tree,"  they  acquired  a  habit  of  med- 
dling with  state  affairs,  censuring  the 
king's  appointments,  and  remonstrating 
against  his  measures.  In  short,  no  go- 
vernment could  complacently  regard  such 
an  imperiurh  in  imperio;  political  neces- 
sity in  consequence  furnished  a  pretext 
for,  and  sanctioned  the  subsequent  faith- 
less conduct  of  the  French  crown  towards 
the  Protestants.  However,  under  Henry 
IV.,  there  was  no  fear  of  violence:  perse- 
cution had  given  place  to  controversy; 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  certain  degree 
of  acrimony  in  some  cases,  wherein  the 
Jesuits  took  part,  their  theological  dis- 
putes passed  off  quietly. 

In  1607,  father  Cotton  sent  a  brother 

*  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  171. 


Jesuit,  named  Gaspard  Seguiran,*  to  Ro- 
chelle;  but  being  certain  of  a  refusal  from 
the  king,  he  privately  obtained  letters 
from  the  secretary  of  state,  f  On  reaching 
that  city,  the  father  was  rudely  sent  away, 
without  being  permitted  to  pass  the  gate. 
The  partisans  of  the  Jesuits  took  occasion 
to  incense  the  king  against  such  disre- 
spect.   Henry  made  a  show  of  adopting 
the  complainants'  views,  and  appeared 
inclined  to  chastise  the  delinquents ;  but 
taking  Sully  aside,  he  admitted  that  the 
Protestants  were  not  entirely  to  blame; 
and  that  if  he  had  known  that  such  letters 
had  been  applied  for,  he  should  have  for- 
bidden them.     "  However,"  he  added, 
"  you  must  endeavour  to  settle  this,  with- 
out disobeying  the  secretaries  of  state ; 
for  it  may  hurt  the  importance  of  their 
other  despatches."   Sully  easily  arranged 
the  affair.    He  wrote  to  Rochelle,  to  ex- 
plain that,  above  all  other  considerations, 
the  king  must  be  respected;  and  that  by 
yielding  to  his  authority,  they  would  more 
easily  carry  their  point,  especially  as  those 
letters  were  given  without  his  sanction. 
Seguiran  then  presented  himself  a  second 
time,  bearing  a  letter  signed  by  the  king 
himself:  he  was  admitted,  and  even  al- 
lowed to  preach ;  but  in  a  few  days  after 
his  arrival,  he  was  recalled.^ 

Sully's  correspondence,  it  may  be  well 
supposed,  was  not  made  known  to  any 
other  than  the  leading  characters  at  Ro- 
chelle ;  and  as  the  whole  population  felt 
deeply  interested,  a  deputation  arrived  at 
Paris,  when  the  speaker,  named  Yvon,§ 
was  so  indiscreet,  in  his  address,  that  the 
king  charged  him  with  sedition. ||  This 
feeling  of  insubordination,  which  had 
grown  out  of  their  habits  of  warfare,  blend- 
ed with  theological  controversy,  was  their 
most  offensive  quality  in  Henry's  eyes ; 
and  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  when  Sully 
complained  of  the  seditious  sermons  of  the 
Jesuit  Gontier,  the  king  admitted  that  his 
complaint  was  well  founded  ;  but  added, 


*  Afterwards  confessor  to  Louis  XI I f. 

t  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  Unit  tins  was  a  suborrli : 
nale  employ,  not  a  cabinet  minister.  Secretaire  d'Etat 
and  Marcchal  tie  Camp,  Iran-lateri  literally,  give  a  very 
erroneous  idea  of  either  of  those  posts. 

|  Arcere,  Hist,  de  la  HochclU,  vol.  ii.  p.  120.— Sully, 
liv.  24. 

§  Paul  Yvon,  seigneour  de  PA  leu .  mayor  of  Rochelle, 
in  10 Mi.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  siege,  he  became 
Catholic,  and  fixed  his  residence  in  Paris.  He  devoted 
his  attention  to  mathematics,  and  has  left  two  works 
on  that  science. 

II  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  23d  February,  1607. 


PROPOSED  DISCUSSION  AT  PARIS. 


315 


that  the  Protestant  ministers  preached  still 
more  seditiously.* 

As  the  Protestants  had  but  few  oppor- 
tunities for  advancing  their  tenets  by 
means  of  preaching,  we  find  their  minis- 
ters much  engaged  in  controversial  publi- 
cations; many  persons,  in  consequence, 
became  persuaded  of  the  necessity  and 
expediency  of  freeing  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion  from  various  glaring  errors  and 
abuses.  On  the  other  hand,  the  stanch 
supporters  of  the  Romish  hierarchy  were 
averse  to  all  concession ;  and  three 
preachers  were  engaged,  during  the  re- 
mainder of  this  reign,  in  vindicating  its 
doctrines  and  rights.  They  were  the 
Jesuits  Cotton  and  Gontier,  and  a  corde- 
lier, styled  le  Pere  Portugais  :  the  latter 
was  surnamed  the  Doctor;  Cotton,  the 
Orator;  and  Gontier,  the  Preacher. 
Gontier  was  patronized  by  the  Duke  of 
Epernon,  and  made  very  violent  attacks 
upon  the  Protestants:  he  was  at  length 
so  vehement,  that  the  king  deemed  it  re- 
quisite to  intimate  his  displeasure.!  A 
reply  to  Gontier's  sermons,  from  the  pen 
of  the  minister  Dumoulin,  was  written 
with  such  caustic  severity,  that  the  sale 
was  forbidden.^ 

The  press  was  tolerably  free  at  this 
period ;  and  although  we  not  unfrequently 


promised  justice,  and  sent  orders  to  put 
an  end  to  the  prelate's  folly.* 

The  king's  interference  alone  preserved 
the  peace  in  a  similar  case  where  the 
judges  of  Orleans,  with  the  approbation 
of  the  bishop,  gave  a  decree  for  disinter- 
ring a  Protestant  lady,  on  the  pretext  that 
the  cemetery  was  too  near  the  Catholic 
burial-ground.  Above  two  hundred  noble- 
men and  gentlemen  met  at  the  grave,  and 
vowed  to  expose  their  lives  rather  than 
suffer  such  an  indignity.  The  king  being 
informed,  sent  orders  for  all  functionaries 
to  keep  away,  and  summoned  the  judges 
to  answer  for  their  decrees.! 

An  attempt  was  made  about  this  time 
to  reconcile  the  differences  between  the 
two  religions,  as  there  were  sincere  Catho- 
lics desirous  of  terminating  the  dispute  by 
mutual  concessions.  The  ministers  Du- 
moulin, Chamier  and  Durand,  were  ar- 
dently engaged  in  the  task;  and  D'Au- 
bigne, whose  character  for  argument 
stood  high,  was  welcomed  to  their  party. 
Having  decided  on  the  outline  of  prelimi- 
naries on  which  the  discussion  should  be 
based,  they  agreed  to  reduce  all  their  con- 
troversy to  the  discipline  of  the  church 
during  the  first  four  centuries.  With  an 
authority  to  that  effect,  D'Aubigne  pro- 
ceeded to  the  king,  who  at  once  referred 


meet  with  the  suppression  of  a  work,  the,  him  to  Cardinal  Du  Perron.  At  first  the 
condemnation  of  authors  was  rare.    A  ]  cardinal  objected  that  the  Huguenot  body 


publication,  urging  the  convocation  of  a 
council,  excited  some  attention,  and  drew 
forth  several  replies;  which,  being  sup- 
ported by  the  authorities,  obtained  the 
honours  of  the  dispute.  A  careful,  observ- 
ing contemporary  remarks,  "  The  king 
cared  little  about  those  publications;  his 
attention  being  devoted  to  the  general 
good,  and  the  embellishment  of  his  city  of 
Paris."§ 

The  records  of  this  period  present  seve- 
ral instances  of  great  excitement,  which 
arose  altogether  from  religious  prejudice. 
The  Cardinal  de  Sourdis,  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux,  had  acted  with  so  much  ill- 
judged  tyranny,  striking  Protestants  for 
alleged  disrespect  to  the  cross,  disinterring 
bodies,  and  other  similar  excesses,  that  a 
complaint  was  made  to  the  king,  who 


*  Ibid,  Dec.  1609. 

+  Mercure  Franc.  ,vr>l.  i.  p.  377. 

j  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  Sill  May,  lfiO!). 

%  Mercure  Franc,,  i<,07,  p.  227. 


would  disavow  the  proposition  ;  but  D'Au- 
bigne engaged  his  honour  and  life,  that 
they  would  stand  by  the  result.  Du 
Perron  then  took  him  by  the  hand  and 
replied,  "Give  us  forty  years  beyond  the 
four  hundred?"  "I  see  what  you  are 
aiming  at,"  replied  D'Aubigne ;  "  you 
want  to  have  the  council  of  Chalcedon  in 
your  favour;  but  I  will  agree  to  it,  so 
that  we  may  enter  upon  the  discussion." 
To  this  the  cardinal  observed,  that  the 
elevation  of  the  cross  must  then  be  ad- 
mitted, as  the  usage  was  sanctioned  by 
that  council.  D'Aubigne  agreed  to  make 
that  concession  for  the  sake  of  peace ; 
"  but,"  added  he,  "  you  will  never  dare  to 
propose  to  reduce  the  pope's  authority  to 
its  limits  during  the  first  four  centuries : 
on  that  head,  we  can  afford  to  give  you 
two  hundred  years  more."  The  cardinal 
terminated  the  conversation  by  a  remark, 


*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  July,  1C09. 


t  Ibid. 


316 


ASSASSINATION  OF  HENRY. 


that  the  question  must  be  decided  at 
Paris,  if  it  could  not  be  settled  at  Rome. 

The  king  being  informed  by  D'Aubigne 
of  what  had  passed  at  the  interview,  asked 
him  why  he  so  readily  consented  to  give 
the  additional  forty  years,  on  commencing 
the  discussion.  "Because,  Sire!  in  asking 
for  the  additional  period,  the  doctors  of  the 
Romish  church  tacitly  confess  that  the. 
first  four  ages  would  not  be  for  them." 
Several  bishops  and  Jesuits  who  were 
present  began  to  murmur  at  the  reply : 
the  Count  de  Soissons  condemned  such 
remarks  as  improper :  and  the  king  ab- 
ruptly turning  away,  withdrew  to  the 
tjueen's  chamber.* 

The  affair,  trifling  as  it  may  appear  at 
this  distance  of  time,  was  however  deemed 
so  important  by'the  king's  friends,  that  he 
was  advised,  and  even  solicited  to  put  to 
death,  or  at  least  imprison  the  indefati- 
gable and  zealous  Huguenot.  Henry  de- 
sired Sully  to  confine  him  in  the  Bastille; 
but  the  threatened  danger  was  warded  off 
by  a  friendly  hint  from  Madame  de  Cha- 
tilJon;  and  D'Aubigne,  having  boldly 
sought  an  interview  with  the  king,  gave 
a  detail  of  his  long  services,  and  con- 
cluded by  requesting  a  pension.  That 
was  a  sufficient  submission  to  induce  the 
monarch  to  countermand  the  order,  which 
D'Aubigne  was  afterwards  assured  by 
Sully  himself  had  been  really  given  for  his 
imprisonment.t 

The  close  of  Henry's  reign  was  sig- 
nalized by  extensive  preparations  for  some 
military  expedition,  the  object  of  which  is 
shrouded  in  mystery.  To  suppose  his 
passion  for  the  Princess  of  Conde  would 
have  been  a  motive,  is  most  preposterous; 
and  the  settlement  of  the  duchy  of  Cleves 
was  not  of  sufficient  importance.  "  The 
enterprise,"  observes  Sully,  "being limited 
to  that  single  object,  would  be  insignifi- 
cant." The  Protestants  all  rejoiced  in  the 
possibility  of  a  war,  which  they  believed 
was  destined  to  curtail  the  Austrian 
power;  and  the  ultramontane  or  popish 
party  spread  reports,  that  the  king's  ob- 
ject was  to  assist  the  heretics.  Some 
accounts  of  the  time  would  almost  induce 
the  idea  that  Henry  aimed  at  the  empire 
of  the  West. 

Even  Sully  can  only  conjecture  this 
monarch's  design  :  the  various  hypotheses 
built  on  the  project  are  therefore  valueless. 

*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  pp.  156—161.     t  Ibid.  p.  162. 


During  several  months  Henry  could  think 
of  nothing  else :  many  of  the  sparkling 
phrases  and  anecdotes  which  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  may  owe  their  origin 
to  deep-laid  political  precaution;  and  in 
some  measure  to  the  prudent  suggestions 
of  Sully,  who  relates,  that  on  one  occasion 
he  took  the  liberty  of  pulling  the  king's 
cloak,  in  the  midst  of  a  public  conversa- 
tion, when  he  was  rather  too  communica- 
tive.* 

At  length  the  arrangements  for  his  de- 
parture were  completed :  the  queen's 
coronation  and  its  attendant  festivities 
were  at  hand  ;  and  Henry,  addressing 
one  of  his  intimate  friends,  observed,  "  I 
will  sleep  at  St.  Denis  on  Wednesday;  I 
shall  return  on  Thursday;  Saturday  I 
will  hunt;  Sunday  my  wife  will  make 
her  public  entry;  on  Monday  my  daugh- 
ter's wedding;  Tuesday  the  feast;  and 
on  Wednesday  to  horse  !"t 

Yet  this  tone  of  confidence  did  not  pre- 
vent his  being  assailed  by  painful  appre- 
hensions, which  have  been  repeated  by 
every  writer  who  has  treated  of  this  period. 
Astrology  and  prophetic  declarations  had 
then  great  hold  upon  the  imagination  ;  and 
there  is  a  prevalent  idea  of  his  having 
been  told,  that  the  first  display  of  pa- 
geantry in  which  he  was  concerned 
would  prove  fatal.  He  frequently  cursed 
the  approaching  ceremonial;  and  Sully 
endeavoured  during  three  days  to  per- 
suade the  queen  to  renounce  the  honour, 
but  in  vain. J 

Alter  receiving  intimation  from  many 
quarters  of  an  intended  attempt  against 
his  life,  the  predicted  blow  was  finally 
given,  and  on  the  14th  of  May,  1610,  the 
Great  Henry  fell  under  the  knife  of  a  fa- 
natic. 

That  Ravaillac  was  the  mere  instru- 
ment of  some  party  appears  beyond 
doubt:  his  feelings  had  evidently  been 
worked  upon,  in  the  same  way  as  those 
of  his  precursor,  Jacques  Clement ;  and 
this  supposition  will  admit  of  his  remain- 
ing completely  ignorant  of  his  instigators, 
in  which  respect  his  answers  were  uni- 
form. Both  in  the  common  interrogato- 
ries, and  under  the  torture,  he  always 


*  Sully,  liv.  27. 

t  Mathieu.vol.  ii.  p  804. 

J  Sully,  liv.  27.  According  to  Mathieu,  the  Queen 
did  not  care  for  the  honour  of  the  ceremony,  yet  felt 
slighted  that  she  alone,  of  all  the  queens  of  France, 
Bhould  be  excepted. 


DOUBTS  AS  TO  THE  INSTIGATORS  OF  RAVAILLAC. 


317 


denied  having  any  accomplice,  and  de- 
clared his  sole  motive  was,  that  he  heard 
the  king  was  about  to  make  war  against- 
the  pope;  and  when,  at  the  last  extremity, 
the  wretched  man  implored  absolution, 
which  his  confessor  refused  to  give  until 
he  had  revealed  his  accomplices,  he 
begged  it  might  be  given,  even  with  a  re- 
serve that  his  damnation  should  be  certain, 
if  he  spoke  filsely.  His  ejaculation  at  the 
Place  de  Greve,  "  That  he  had  been  de- 
ceived, and  thought  the  people  would  be 
pleased,"*  is  by  no  means  in  contradiction 
with  his  denial  of  accomplices,  if  we  as- 
sume that  his  imagination  had  been  in- 
flamed by  artful  devices  of  spectacles, 
which  he  considered  supernatural  visions; 
and  by  violent  sermons  on  the  causes 
which  would  justify  regicide.t 

This  fatal  and  infamous  instigation  has 
for  two  centuries  weighed  heavily  against 
the  Jesuits,  not  from  historic  proof,  for  it 
cannot  be  had,  but  in  a  great  degree  from 
the  prevalence  of  certain  opinions  at  this 
period  cherished  by  the  society;  and  which 
opinions  not  only  led  Ravaillac  to  commit 
the  crime,  but  caused  others  to  envy  the 
wretched  distinction  he  thus  acquired,  and 
to  avow  a  readiness  to  imitate  him.  At 
the  time, -public  feeling  was  unequivocally 
against  the  Jesuits.  The  clergy,  both  regu- 
lar and  parochial,  impugned  them  in  their 
sermons;  and  the  accusations  found  an 
echo  in  lay  publications.  In  the  courts  of 
law  and  at  meetings  in  the  market-place, 
that  society  was  alike  believed  to  have 
prompted  the  assassin. 

There  would  be  a -cruel  injustice  in 
contributing  to  perpetuate  this  sentiment, 
in  the  absence  of  regular  evidence,  if  the 
Jesuits  had  not  subsequently  been  in  a 
situation  which  enabled  them  to  justify 
the  reputation  of  their  body.  The  two 
succeeding  kings  had  Jesuits  for  confes- 
sors; and  although  every  thing  tended  to 
facilitate  the  elucidation  of  this  event,  not 
the  least  effort  was  made  to  render  public 
the  investigations  and  statements,  which 
the  parliament  of  1610  had  consigned  to 
secrecy.  It  would  be  useless  to  repeat 
the  numerous  incidents,  or  rather  anec- 
dotes on  record,  concerning  the  death  of 
King  Henry;  which,  however  true,  would 
be  rather  grounds  for  inference  than  bases 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV. 
t  Mercure  Frano.,  vol.  i.  pp.  440,  441. 


for  an  accusation.*  It  will  be  clearly 
seen  that  justice  was  impeded  in  tracing 
the  pioceedings  of  the  parliament  of 
Paris;  and  our  entire  ignorance  of  the 
influence  then  wielded  gives  immense 
latitude  to  conjecture. 

Sully,  after  alluding  to  the  information 
communicated  by  the  female,  so  conspi- 
cuous in  the  judicial  annals  of  this  epoch, 
as  La  Coman  or  D'Escouman,  and  who 
charged  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  the  Mar- 
chioness of  Verneuil  and  others  with  pre- 
paring a  plot,  adds,  "  The  incident  will 
not  be  overlooked  by  those  who  are  in- 
clined to  attach  importance  to  the  sup- 
pression of  the  particulars  of  the  trial," 
and  his  editor  (the  Abbe  de  l'Ecluse)  re- 
marks, in  a  note,  "  that  this  concealment 
of  the  proceedings  by  the  parliament  was 
universally  known. "t 

A  widow  named  St.  Matthieu  de- 
nounced a  soldier  named  Martin.  He 
had  accosted  her  on  the  Sunday  before 
the  king's  death,  as  she  was  proceeding 
to  public  worship  at  Charenton.  He  told 
her,  that  within  a  week  there  would  be 
strange  doings  in  Paris:  and  those  would 
be  fortunate  who  were  away.  He  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  not  going  to  hear  the 
sermon,  but  to  form  an  opinion  of  the 
Huguenots'  means  of  defence;  that  all  the 
beggars  and  cripples  about  were  thieves, 
and  spies  of  the  King  of  Spain;  and  that 
there  was  one  in  particular  whom  he  was 
surprised  not  to  see  there.  The  appear- 
ance of  Ravaillac  completely  agreed  with 
the  description  he  had  given.  When  the 
king's  death  was  known,  this  man,  to  her 
great  surprise,  called  at  her  house,  and 
engaged  her  to  leave  Paris:  she  consulted 
her  friends,  and  had  him  arrested.  But 
the  lukewarm  manner  in  which  this  affair 
was  treated  became  so  notorious,  that 
f/Estoile  observes  thereon,  "  The  cow- 
ardly proceedings  adopted  in  the  inves? 
ligation  of  this  important  fact  (in  which 
it  would  seem  they  are  afraid  of  finding 
what  they  seek)  will  be  probably  without 
result."]:  And  at  a  subsequent  date,  the 
same  writer  states,  "  The  trifling  inquiry 

*  Among  other  curious  hypotheses,  one  or  the  mou 
remarkable  is  the  accusation  raised  against  the  queen 
and  the  Prince  of  Oonde  :  they  are  charged  in  a  recent 
work  with  having  instigated  Ravaillac,  who  i9  said  tq 
have  met  the  prince  at  Brussels  a  short  time  previous 
Roederer,  Mem.  pour  Scrvir  d  I  Hisloirc  de  la  Socitlt 
polieen  France,  p.  15.  Paris,  1835. 
t  Sully,  liv.  27. 

j  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  17th  May,  1010. 


27* 


318 


DOUBTS  AS  TO  THE  INSTIGATORS  OF  RAVAILLAC. 


made  at  this  time,  into  the  late  king's 
death,  and  the  little  desire  shown  to  bring 
the  guilty  to  justice,  oli'cnded  many  per- 
sons, and  caused  animadversions."* 

While  in  prison,  Ravaillac  dictated  a 
testamentary  confession;  but  the  clerk 
employed  to  take  down  his  words  wrote 
it  in  a  manner  that  defies  the  most  skilful 
decipherers:t  a  circumstance  which  must 
at  once  strike  every  reader  as  most  sin- 
gular, since  no  man  thus  employed  would 
have  dared  to  act  so,  unless  assured  of 
impunity. 

The  decision  of  the  parliament  of  Paris 
respecting  La  Coman  is  of  the  same  cha- 
racter. During  that  trial,  the  Duke  of 
Epernon  acted  so  indecorously  as  to  ex- 
cite the  indignation  of  the  chief  president 
Seguier;  and  when  the  public  officers  of 
the  crown  proposed  their  conclusions, 
viz.:  to  defer  judgment  till  after  more 
ample  inquiry;  to  liberate  the  accused, 
and  imprison  the  accuser,  there  was  a 
general  assent  to  that  decision.  Seguier's 
reply  to  the  queen's  inquiry,  respecting 
his  views  of  the  question,  proves  the  im- 
portance of  the  real  criminals..]:  Sad  as 
is  the  misfortune  for  a  nation  to  produce 
such  wretches  as  Clement  and  Ravaillac, 
it  is  a  still  more  serious  calamity  to  have 
a  servile  magistracy.  What  induced  the 
parliament  to  incur  this  reproach  is  now 
an  unfathomable  mystery.  As  a  body  it 
could  not  be  suspected  of  any  bias  in 
favour  of  the  Jesuits;  the  opposition  of 
its  members  to  the  recall  of  the  society 
being  a  sufficient  guarantee.  The  secret 
influence  must  therefore  have  been  indi- 
vidual in  its  nature:  the  Jesuits,  sup- 
posing them  innocent,  were  deeply  in- 
terested in  making  known  that  motive; 
but  this  they  have  declined  doing,  What 
their  conduct  was,  with  a  consciousness 
of  existing  suspicions,  will  next  claim 
our  consideration. 

When  the  news  of  the  king's  assassi- 
nation reached  the  Louvre,  Father  Cotton, 
as  if  conscious  of  a  coming  accusation, 
instinctively  aimed  at  diverting  suspicion 
from  his  parly;  and  exclaimed,  "Ah! 
who  has  killed  this  good  prince;  this 
pious,  this  great  king  ?  Is  it  not  a  Hu- 
guenot?"   Afterwards,  when  he  visited 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  June,  1610. 

t  Fontanier,  Porttfeuille,  No.  quoted  by  C.'ipi- 
Iigue.  HUt.  ile  la  Rcforme,  ds  la  Ligae,  e:  de  Henri  IK., 
Vol.  viii  p.  372. 

X  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  Feb.  1G11. 


Ravaillac  in  prison,  he  cautioned  him 
against  incriminating  lets  gens  de  bien.* 

Father  D'Aubigny,  another  Jesuit,  who 
had  been  consulted  by  Ravaillac,  was 
particularly  questioned  by  the  chief  pre- 
sident, respecting  the  secret  of  confession. 
But  the  wary  ecclesiastic  answered  only 
by  sophisms:  he  stated  "That  God,  who 
had  given  to  some  the  gift  of  tongues,  to 
others  prophecy,  &c,  had  conferred  on 
him  the  gift  of  forgetting  confessions."! 

The  decided  expression  of  public  opi- 
nion caused  Father  Cotton  to  make  an 
effort,  surpassing  in  impudence  any  thing 
of  the  kind  on  record.  Accompanied  by 
two  other  Jesuits,  he  went  to  the  attorney- 
general;  and  in  the  name  of  the  society 
entreated  him  to  sanction  the  publication 
of  an  apology;  with  a  prohibition  for  all 
persons,  of  what  quality  soever,  to  con- 
tradict or  reply  to  it.  The  application 
was  too  monstrous  to  be  received.] 

The  liberty  of  the  press  was  suffi- 
ciently established  to  expose  the  Jesuits 
to  some  very  rude  attacks:  but  at  a  later 
period  the  monarchy  became  absolute; 
nothing  could  then  be  published  without 
an  imprimatur;  and  writers  on  French  his- 
tory either  slur  over  this  important  event, 
or  else  adopt  the  good-natured  conclu- 
sion of  the  archbishop  of  Paris:  "If  I  am 
asked,  who  were  the  demons  that  inspired 
this  damnable  idea,  history  answers  that 
she  knows  nothing:  even  the  judges  who 
interrogated  Ravaillac  did  not  dare  to 
open  their  mouths  upon  the  subject;  and 
never  spoke  of  him  otherwise  than  by 
shrugging  their  shoulders."§  L'Ecluse, 
the  commentator  on  Sully,  is  likewise 
imbued  with  this  feeling.  Because  Fa- 
ther D'Orleans,  in  his  life  of  Cotton,  says 
nothing  about  his  caution  to  Ravaillac,  he 
maintains  that  it  is  not  true;  and  since 
Pasquier,  a  great  enemy  of  the  Jesuits, 
is  silent,  it  must  be  assumed  that  they 
were  considered  innocent  by  that  writer. 
The  Jesuit  D'Avrigny's  argument  is  all 
of  this  negative  kind.|| 

To  conclude — supposing  the  Jesuits' 
guilt  fully  established,  their  successors 
are  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  a  crime, 
in  appreciating  which  the  barbarity  of  the 
times  must  be  taken  into  account.  The 

*  Journal  de  Henry  IV.   Sullv,  liv.28,  ad  init. 
■f  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  19th  May,  1010. 
t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  June.  lull). 
§  Perefixe,  Hilt,  de  Henri  le  Grand, 
]|  Memoires  Chronologiques  et  Dogmaliques. 


CHARACTER  OF  HENRY  THE  GREAT. 


319 


principles  of  the  Jesuits  may  be  still  the 
same;  but  the  mighty  revolutions  which 
have  since  occurred  render  them  less 
dangerous:*  they  were  long  called  the 
]>opt,s  mi/ilia;  and  in  many  cases  with- 
stood the  progress  of  reformed  religion; 
but  the  rights  of  conscience  are  now  ad- 
mitted; and  a  general  apprehension  of 
their  intolerant  and  grasping  policy  has 
essentially  promoted  a  feeling  in  favour 
of  protestantism. 

Henry  IV.  occupies  too  conspicuous  a 
place  in  the  annals  of  religious  conten- 
tion, to  allow  us  to  enter  upon  his  suc- 
cessor's reign,  without  an  attempt  to  por- 
tray his  character  as  a  man,  as  a  captain, 
and  as  a  king. 

In  the  first  point  of  view,  his  biogra- 
pher has  the  painful  task  of  recording 
many  blemishes,  chiefly  attributable  to 
his  passion  for  the  fair  sex.  His  un- 
blushing attachment  to  the  princess  of 
Conde  is  at  once  disgraceful  and  disgust- 
ing. The  aged  Constable  Montmorency 
had  selected  Bassompierre  for  his  son-in- 
law;  and  in  that  marshal's  memoirs  we 
have  a  glowing  description  of  his  joy  at 
the  unexpected  honour  thus  accorded  to 
his  personal  merit.  So  long  as  Henry 
believed  the  gay  soldier  was  chiefly 
enamoured  of  the  brilliant  alliance,  and 
that  there  was  a  chance  of  his  being  a 
complacent  husband,  he  encouraged  the 
match;  but  on  discovering  the  existence 
of  a  sincere  affection  for  the  beautiful 
Charlotte  de  Montmorency,  he  interfered; 
and  declaied  his  wish,  that  she  should  he 
the  wife  of  his  cousin  Conde.  Bassom- 
pierre could  not  conceal  his  disappoint- 
ment; and  at  the  wedding,  Henry  mali- 
ciously held  him  close  to  the  bridal  pair.t 
The  Prince  of  Conde,  aware  of  the  king's 
intentions,  kept  his  wife  from  the  court 
as  much  as  possible;  but  neither  this  in- 
timation of  vigilance,  nor  the  affairs  of 
State,  nor  the  variety  with  which  Henry's 
disposition  was  pampered,  could  divert 
him  from  his  base  design.  He  degraded 
himself  so  far  as  to  engage  the  prince's 
mother  in  his  interest.  He  had  great 
claims  on  her  compliance;  having  de- 
stroyed the   proofs    against  her  when 


*  Yet  they  are  slill  formidable.  The  recent  refusal 
of  ecclesiastical  sepulture  to  the  Count  rie  Mohtlosier, 
entirely  on  account  of  his  Mcmoire  d  consuller,  is  a 
proof  that  an  undoubted  attachment  to  the  Romish 
Church  docs  not  compensate  for  a  dislike  to  the  society. 

t  bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  SKJ. 


charged  with  her  husband's  death.  This 
may  palliate  her  conduct  a  little;  but  she 
was  severely  punished  when  Henry 
taunted  (he  prince,  who  complained  of 
his  tyranny:  "  I  never  acted  as  a  tyrant, 
but  when  I  caused  you  to  be  declared 
what  you  are  not;"*  an  abandonment  of 
generosity,  at  variance  with  the  character 
popularly  attributed  to  him.  A  few 
months  afterwards,  when  the  prince  set 
out  privately  for  Flanders,  the  king's 
rage  was  excessive.! 

Yet  Henry's  character  had  some  re- 
deemingpoints:  andseveral  vvholongknew 
him  intimately  have  left  their  testimony 
in  his  favour.  Sully  revered  him;  D'Au- 
bigne  invariably  bears  witness  to  his 
goodness  of  heart,  attributing  his  severity 
and  ingratitude  to  the  misrepresentations 
of  envious  courtiers;  and  Bassompierre, 
even  when  relating  the  loss  of  his  be- 
trothed, calls  him  "  the  best  of  men." 

Respecting  Henry's  military  talents 
there  is  no  difference  of  opinion.  His 
enemies  admit  his  consummate  courage 
and  unrivalled  skill.  Many  of  his  battles 
surpass  the  most  celebrated  actions  of 
antiquity,  if  we  consider  how  cruelly  his 
means  were  limited,  in  comparison  with 
the  importance  of  his  object;  and  in  the 
details  of  those  engagements  his  prowess 
was  almost  romantic,  so  much  so,  that 
his  bravery  nearly  amounted  to  temerity. 

But  it  is  as  a  sovereign  that  his  cha- 
racter must  be  submitted  to  investigation. 
The  eclat  of  a  victory  will  still  censorious 
judgments  on  the  merits  of  a  cause;  but 
state  decisions,  and  the  severe  exercise 
of  authority  after  long  commotions,  can- 
not escape  the  complaints  and  cavils  of 
unsuccessful  competitors  for  power.  The 
administration  of  justice  was  excessively 
rigorous;  capital  condemnations  following- 
offences  of  almost  every  kind  and  degree. 
But  those  laws  were  not  of  his  enacting: 
he  unfortunately  found  society  overrun 
with  numbers  of  reckless  individuals,  and 
the  enactments  appear  more  severe  from 
their  frequent  application. 

An  expression  is  attributed  to  the  most 
celebrated  of  his  successors,  when  ac- 
cused of  usurping  the  crown.  "  Corn- 
men!  Usurper  ?  Je  Vai  ramassee  dans 
la  boue .'"  Henry  of  Navarre,  the  law- 
ful heir  of  the  crown  of  France,  was  also 

•Journal  de  Henri  IV..  June,  1009. 
t  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  201. 


320 


REGENCY  OF  MARY  DE  MEDICIS. 


treated  as  a  usurper,  and  compelled  to 
win  his  right  by  his  sword.  Had  the 
monarchy  been  altogether  prostrate,  his 
task  would  have  been  comparatively 
easy;  but  he  had  to  contend  against  the 
most  formidable  European  powers,  with 
what  success  is  notorious.  We  make  no 
attempt,  however,  to  draw  a  parallel  be- 
tween Henry  and  Napoleon:  each  re-es- 
tablished a  fallen  throne,  and  the  memory 
of  both  is  cherished  by  the  nation  over 
which  they  successively  reigned;  but  the 
similarity  extends  no  farther. 

To  form  a  due  estimate  of  Henry's  do- 
mestic policy,  it  should  be  placed  in  com- 
parison with  that  of  Louis  XVIII.  Henry 
consulted  the  sympathies  of  the  con- 
quered party — the  Catholic  majority. 
He  showed  himself  their  paternal  mo- 
narch, and  braved  the  charge  of  ingrati- 
tude by  neglecting  his  old  supporters,  the 
Protestants.  This  restoration  was  per- 
manent. Louis,  on  the  contrary,  was 
unwilling  to  convince  the  nation  that  he 
placed  public  affection  in  the  foremost 
rank,  by  confining  within  the  bounds  of 
private  generosity  his  regard  for  the  emi- 
grant nobles,  indebted  like  himself  to 
foreign  support.  His  sovereignly  took 
no  root  in  public  feeling,  and  the  natural 
consequence  was  experienced  by  his  suc- 
cessor. 

In  foresight  and  political  judgment 
Henry  IV.  was  very  great.  Accustomed 
from  his  boyhood  to  parry  the  intrigues 
of  a  hostile  court,  he  was  nurtured  in  the 
difficulties  of  government,  and  made  use 
of  corruption  as  a  weapon  for  counteract- 
ing opposition  to  his  sway. 

There  are  several  points  of  view  in 
which  he  may  be  placed  in  comparison 
with  our  Alfred,  the  Danish  invasion  bear- 
ing some  analogy  to  the  league.  But 
Henry's  abjuration  places  him  in  an 
isolated  position,  no  other  prince  having 
sacrificed  relisious  principle  to  secure  the 
possession  of  the  crown;  and  this  suggests 
an  inquiry  into  the  sincerity  of  his  con- 
version. 

During  his  life  there  was  a  very  general 
doubt  of  his  being  a  decided  Romanist; 
yet  several  instances  attest  his  orthodoxy. 
He  endeavoured  to  persuade  Sully  to 
change  his  religion;  and  as  an  inducement 
proposed  on  one  occasion  to  make  him 
constable;  on  another  that  his  natural 
daughter,  Mile,  de  Vendome,  should  marry 


the  Marquis  de  Rosny*  After  the  public 
debate  between  Cardinal  Du  Perron  and 
Duplessis-Mornay  in  IGOO.t  Henry  wrote 
to  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  that  the  victory 
of  the  diocess  of  Evreux  over  that  of  Sau- 
mur  was  one  of  the  greatest  advantages 
obtained  by  the  church  of  God  for  a  long 
time ;  and  that  by  such  means  more  Pro- 
testants would  be  reclaimed,  than  by  fifty 
years  of  violence.!  During  the  siege  of 
Montmellian  in  1600,  Henry,  accompanied 
by  the  Count  de  Soissons  and  several  no- 
bles, having  ventured  rather  close  to  ob- 
serve the  works,  a  masked  battery  was 
suddenly  opened  on  them,  which  caused 
the  king  to  cross  himself.  "  By  that,"  ob- 
served Sully,  who  was  present,  "  I  recog- 
nise the  good  Catholic."^ 

To  these  evidences  of  his  Catholicity, 
we  can  only  oppose  one  slight  incident,  to 
mark  any  remembrance  of  his  Protestant- 
ism :  he  refused  to  hunt  on  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's day,  on  account  of  the  peril  to 
which  he  had  been  exposed  in  his  youth. || 

Voltaire  observes  that  Henry  could  not 
but  yield  to  adverse  circumstances  and 
abjure,  having  the  pope,  the  King  of  Spain 
and  three-fourths  of  his  subjects  against 
him.  Gustavus  Adolphus  or  Charles  XII. 
would  have  been  inflexible;  but  they  were 
essentially  soldiers,  while  Henry  IV.  was 
a  politician. If 


CHAPTER  LIII. 


;  Regency  nf  Mary  de  Medieie  —Assembly  at  Saumar.  ■ 
Stales  General.— insurrection  of  JClti 


Henry's  position  had  been  embarrass- 
ing: he  was  obliged  to  conciliate  opposing 
interests,  and  was  in  consequence  exposed 
to  the  distrust  of  each.  The  Protestants 
complained  of  his  disregard  of  their  long 
services:  the  Catholics  were  incensed  at 
his  tolerance  of  heresy.  The  moderate 
party,  composed  of  the  principal  judges 
and  advocates,  had  not  acquired  sufficient 
influence  to  turn  the  wavering  balance, 


*  Journal  de  Henii  IV  ,  Nov.  l  iW.  Sully,  liv.  xxv. 

t  Usually  termed  the  Conference  <1?  Fontainebleav,  ; 
there  is  a  long  account  of  it  in  the  Chrmuiogie  septal- 
naire.  Dupiessis  «as  too  much  shackl-d  by  the  king's 
restrictions  to  hope  for  success.  D'Auhiene  comp-wer] 
a  Treatise  on  the  occasion, entitled  Dc  ilissidiis  Patron, 
but  though  Henry  undertook  that  Du  1'erron  should 
refute  it,  the  cardinal  made  no  attempt.  D'Aubignt:, 
Jiltm.  p.  148. 

t  Sully,  liv.  xi.  §  Ibid. 

I  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  15'2. 

•  Essai  sur  les  Mcsurs,  rem.  Jo. 


CONDUCT 


At  a  subsequent  period  their  opinions  gave 
importance  to  the  Gallican  and  Jansenist 
parties;  but  at  Henry's  death  the  intole- 
rant faction  prevailed,  and  Epernon  tri- 
umphed over  Sully.  The  former,  assured 
of  the  queen's  support,  had  already  taken 
his  measures:  while  the  latter  was  waiting 
the  king's  visit  by  appointment.  The 
news  of  the  assassination  overwhelmed 
him  ;  and  when  he  left  the  arsenal,  he  was 
so  deeply  affected,  that  L'Estoile  repre- 
sents him  as  more  dead  than  alive.* 

Having  collected  his  attendants,  and 
being  subsequently  joined  by  his  personal 
friends,  he  set  out  for  the  Louvre  on  horse- 
back: but  as  he  advanced,  several  intima- 
tions of  danger  had  been  given  ;  and  after 
consulting  with  Vitry,  whom  he  met  at  the 
Croix  du  TraIioir,\  he  decided  "on  re- 
turning to  the  arsenal.  He  then  sent  a 
message  to  the  queen,  with  the  assurance 
of  his  ready  obedience;  and  informed  her, 
that  he  watched  with  additional  vigilance 
over  the  Bastille,  the  arsenal,  and  other 
places  in  his  charge.  However,  before  he 
had  regained  his  quarters,  he  was  pressed 
by  several,  in  the  queen's  name,  to  go  as 
soon  as  possible  to  the  Louvre,  and  be  at- 
tended with  but  few  persons.  Sully's 
distrust  however  increased  as  the  mes- 
sage was  quickly  reiterated.  He  maturely 
weighed  the  warnings  he  had  received, 
with  the  information  since  brought,  of 
archers  being  seen  about  the  gates  of  the 
Bastille,  and  sent  an  excuse  deferring  his 
visit  till  the  following  day.J  His  wife  was 
so  commissioned,  with  a  view  to  observe 
the  state  of  the  court.}  Bassompierre, 
after  describing  his  meeting  with  Sully,  in 
the  Rue  St.  Antoine,  states,  "He  shut 
himself  up  in  the  Bastille,  sending  at  the 
same  time  to  apze  all  the  bread  he  could 
find  in  the  market,  and  in  the  bakers' 
stores.  He  also  despatched  a  messenger 
to  his  son-in-law,  the  Duke  de  Rohan,  to 
march  upon  Paris  with  six  thousand 
Swiss,  under  his  command. "||  But  this 
excessive  caution,  which  has  exposed 
Sully  to  a  charge  of  disloyalty,  is  scarcely 
reprehensible,  when  every  feature  of  the 
case  is  brought  into  view.  Notes  arrived 
at  the  Bastille  from  many  quarters,  con- 

*  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  in  loc. 

+  At  the  corner  of  tlie  rue  de  I'Aibre  Sec,  a  place 
where  executions  often  took  place. 

I  Sully,  liv.  xxvui.  Mathieu,  Hist,  de  Louis  XIII., 
p.  3. 

fj  Memoiresde  Marcchal  d'Estroes,  p.  3, 
j|  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p,  2H4. 


OF  SULLY.  321 


taining  most  alarming  intelligence :  a  great 
consternation  had  seized  the  Protestants, 
many  of  whom  could  remember  the  St. 
Bartholomew;  and  rumour  revived  and 
magnified  reports,  threatening  a  repetition 
of  that  dreadful  scene.  The  king's  death 
was  no  sooner  known,  than  many  Protest- 
ants quitted  the  capital ;  and  more  would 
have  gone  if  they  had  not  been  deterred, 
some  by  persuasion,  others  by  force,  until 
their  alarm  was  proved  to  be  groundless.* 

The  Count  de  Soissons  hastened  to 
Paris  on  learning  the  news  of  Henry's 
death  :  he  came  well  attended,  and  confi- 
dent of  unlimited  influence  over  thr*l)uke 
of  Epernon;  but  on  reaching  St.  Cloud  he 
had  the  mortification  to  learn  that  the  re- 
gency was  already  disposed  of.  He 
would  not  probably  have  opposed  it,  but 
wished  to  have  made  certain  conditions. t 
Although  a  community  of  feeling  existed 
between  Soissons  and  Epernon  on  various 
points,  and  particularly  in  hatred  to  Sully, 
the  young  prince  failed  in  his  attempt  to 
gain  the  aged  courtier  to  his  views;  and 
to  his  astonishment  the  duke  made  him 
desist  from  his  project  of  murdering  Sully 
in  the  court  of  the  Louvre.J 

Such  violence  being  contemplated,  there 
was  reason  to  apprehend  serious  conse- 
quences from  the  rumours  in  circulation 
among  the  Protestants.  Every  day  be- 
held an  increase  of  the  evil;  and  a  trifle 
would  have  sufficed  to  inflame  the  king- 
dom. This  was  observed  by  Epernon, 
who  deemed  it  advisable  to  calm  the  pub- 
lic mind,  by  a  dftlaration  confirming  tire 
edict  of  Nantes.§ 

Mary  de  Medicis  was  certainly  indebted 
to  Epernon  for  the  post  of  sole  regent. 
That  nobleman  took  ample  measures  for 
suppressing  all  opposition  to  his  plans,  by 
placing  guards  on  the  Pont  Neuf,  and  in 
the  streets  surrounding  the  convent  of  the 
Augustins,  where  the  parliament  was  to 
hold  its  sittings.  The  president  Seguier, 
with  whom  he  had  consulted  on  the  in- 
*  nded  measure,  had  no  sooner  assembled 
the  members,  than  Epernon  entered,  hold- 
ing in  his  hand  a  sword,  still  sheathed. 
He  appeared  agitated  and  confused;  and 
informed  the  assembly  that  his  sword  was 

*  Mercure  Francaia,  vol.  i.  p.  463. 
t  D'Estrees,  p  5. 

J  Girard,  Vic  du  Due  d' Epernon,  p.  246.  I.e  Vassor, 
hist,  de  Liuis  XIII.,  vol.  i.  p.  I'J.  4to.  Amsterdam, 
1757. 

$  Girard,  p.  252.  The  declaration,  dated  22d  May, 
1610,  is  in  the  Mercure  Francais,  vol.  i.  p.  403. 


322 


CONDE  ASPIRES  TO  THE  CROWN. 


as  yet  in  its  scabbard,  though  he  appre- 
hended that, unless  the  queen  was  instantly 
declared  regent,  it  must  be  drawn,  and 
might  cause  great  trouble  and  confusion. 
The  boldness  of  his  proceeding  astonished 
the  assembly,  and  the  proposal  was  adopt- 
ed forthwith.* 

The  Prince  of  Conde,  then  at  Milan, 
was  excited  by  Fuentes,  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador, to  make  an  effort  to  obtain  the 
crown.  The  assistance  of  the  Spanish 
government  was  promised  as  an  induce- 
ment.! He  arrived  on  the  fifteenth  of 
July,  accompanied  by  fifteen  hundred  gen- 
tlemen; which  gave  some  alarm  to  the 
queen,  who  was  fearful  that  Sully  might 
deliver  into  his  hands  the  Bastille,  the  can- 
non, and  treasure  of  the  late  king.  The 
prince  on  his  side  had  considerable  appre- 
hensions ;  three  or  four  letters  were  deli- 
vered to  him,  stating  that  the  queen,  insti- 
gated by  the  Count  de  Soissons,  intended 
to  arrest  him  and  the  Duke  de  Bouillon ; 
and,  notwithstanding  his  favourable  recep- 
tion, he  continued  for  some  days  in  a  state 
of  readiness  for  quitting  Paris,  at  the  first 
disturbance  which  might  arise ;  but  when 
this  apprehension  was  at  an  end,  he  ad- 
vanced his  claims  to  power.} 

The  prince,  his  cousin  the  Count  de 
Soissons,  and  Epernon,  were  each  at  the 
head  of  a  distinct  faction.  The  Duke  de 
Bouillon  advised  the  prince  to  return  to 
the  reformed  church,  and  declare  himself 


its  protector.^  The  want  of  an  ostensible 
head  had  greatly  injured  the  Protestant 
body,  as  a  party ;  and  if  the  prince  had 
listened  to  Bouillon's  suggestion,  the  cause 
of  the  Huguenots  might  have  been  placed 
on  a  very  flourishing  basis:  but  that  result 
could  only  have  been  effected  by  establish- 
ing an  independent  government.  Sully 
could  not  forget  what  he  owed  his  coun- 
try; and  Conde  was  not  destined  by  na- 
ture for  so  distinguished  a  career. 

We  have  the  testimony  of  a  respectable 
contemporary,  by  no  means  their  partisan, 
to  the  quiet  deportment  of  the  Huguenots 
during  this  crisis.  "  Instructed  by  expe- 
rience, they  then  displayed  great  modera- 


tion, and  made  no  pretensions  to  innova- 
tion ;  feigning  to  have  no  wish  to 
undertake  any  thing,  provided  they  were 
allowed  to  live  according  to  the  edicts. 
This  produced  the  king's  declaration,  that 
to  maintain  harmony  among  his  subjects, 
it  was  his  desire  that  the  edict  of  Nantes 
should  be  inviolably  respected."  They 
were,  according  to  this  author,  so  well 
treated,  that  they  had  no  pretext  for  agi- 
tation.* 

The  vast  preparations  for  Henry's  expe- 
dition terminated  in  the  taking  of  Juliers, 
which  surrendered  to  Marshal  de  la  Chas- 
tre  on  the  second  of  September.  Sully's 
opinion  respecting  this  campaign  was  dis- 
regarded: it  was  useless  for  him  to  strug- 
gle any  further  in  competition  with  Eper- 
non ;  and,  to  use  his  own  expression,  the 
conduct  of  the  regent  completely  destroyed 
all  hope  of  his  ever  being  able  to  bring 
back  the  council  to  a  wholesome  line  of 
policy.  He  retired  to  the  country ;  but 
was  in  a  short  time  invited  to  return.  An 
agent  communicated  her  majesty's  desire 
to  have  him  for  her  confidential  adviser, 
on  the  same  footing  as  under  the  late 
king.f 

Had  Mary  de  Medici's  been  sincere,  and 
candidly  followed  up  this  proposal,  her 
fortune  would  in  all  probability  have  taken 
a  different  turn.  But  a  spirit  of  bigotry 
was  prevalent  among  the  new  ministers; 
and  at  an  early  meeting  of  the  council, 


*  Girard,  pp.  241—243 

t  D'Estrees,  p.  5. 

J  Hist,  de  la  Mere  et  du  Fils,  vnl.  i.  p  102.  This 
work,  publisher!  under  the  name  nf  Mezeray,  is  very 
generally  aurihutt'd  to  the  pen  of  Richelieu,  who  is 
thought  to  have  composed  it  during  the  administration 
of  Luynes.  Father  Daniel  is  of  opinion  that  Richelieu 
retouched  and  corrected  it. 

$  he  Vassor,  vol.  i.  p.  27.  Rohan,  Memoircs,  liv.  i. 
p.  4. 


Villeroy,  in  expressing  his  opinion,  took 
occasion  to  tell  the  queen,  that  the  Hugue- 
nots were  the  worst  enemies  she  had  to 
fear ;  as  they  had  the  means,  and  proba- 
bly more  serious  intention  than  ever,  of 
making  an  attempt  against  the  govern- 
ment: he  concluded  by  an  insinuation 
against  Lesdiguieres.  Unhappily  a  con- 
spiracy had  been  formed  before  the  king's 
death,  to  take  arms  in  Poictou;  for  which 
Du  Jarrige,  a  Protestant,  and  two  accom- 
plices were  hanged  in  Paris,}  and  the  cir- 
cumstance gave  importance  to  Villeroy's 
remark.  Sully  was  engaged  in  conver- 
sation at  that  moment ;  but  his  colleague's 
observations  were  reported  to  him :  they 
confirmed  what  he  had  heard  of  a  secret 
council  held  at  the  house  of  the  nuncio; 
and  he  was  indignant  at  an  attempt,  evi- 
dently intended  to  revive  the  wars  of  reli- 


*  Bernard, 'Hist,  de  Louis  XIII.,  p.  12,  Paris,  1G46. 
t  Sully,  liv.  xxix. 

t  Journal  de  Henri  IV.,  4th  Sept.  1C10. 


INDISCRETION  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


323 


gion.  He  advanced  towards  the  queen, i  was  an  unequivocal  proof  of  the  rising 
who  was  still  talking  with  Villeroy,  and  jealousy  and  ill  will,  which  soon  after- 
complained  of  his  unfair  insinuations  gave  a  mortal  blow  to  the  Huguenots' 
dfeainst  the  Protestants.*  This  breach  cause.  Indeed  their  enemies  assert,  that 
was  never  healed;  and  at  the  beginning:  great  designs  were  to  be  prepared  by 
of  the  following  year,  Sully  was  deprived  them  at  this  meeting,  which  caused  much 
of  his  posts  of  superintendent  of  finances  alarm.*  Chatellerault  was  in  Sully's  go- 
und  governor  of  the  Bastille;  but  he  con-  vernment ;  and  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  had 
tinued  governor  of  Poictou,  and  grand  ,  sufficient  influence  to  effect  a  change,  cal- 


niaster  of  the  artillery. t 

The  edict  of  Nantes  had,  unfortunately 
for  the  interests  of  the  Protestants,  con- 


ciliated to  hurt  the  feelings  of  one  whom 
he  considered  a  rival,  if  not  an  enemy. t 
At  the  same  time  the  queen  being  im- 


ferred  a  political  existence  upon  that  body;1  pressed  with  apprehensions  of  an  insur- 
and  the  queen  was  no  sooner  named  re-!rection,  ordered  Duplessis  to  be  watchful 
gent  by  the  parliament  of  Paris,  than  her]  in  his  government,  as  the  deputies  were 
government  was  formally  acknowledged  attended  by  an  unusual  number  of  armed 
by  all  the  Protestant  provincial  assemblies,  i  followers. |  Bouillon  was  corrupted  at 
The  whole  kingdom  was  divided  into  fif-jthe  very  commencement  of  the  regency, 
teen  provinces;  and  at  the  assembly  of  Immediately  after  King  Henry's  death, 
Saumur  there  were  present  seventy  de-  he  made  an  attempt  to  awaken  Conde's 
puties:  viz.,  thirty  nobles,  twenty  minis-;  ambition;  but  the  queen,  aided  by  the 
ters,  sixteen  elders,  and  four  delegates |  Marquis  de  Cceuvres,  and  skilful  nego- 
from  the  corporation  of  Rochelle.  In  ad-jtiators,  won  him  to  her  cause:  his  policy 
dition  to  the  deputies,  Sully,  Rohan,  Lai  then  assumed  a  diametrically  opposite 
Tremouille,  and  others  of  equal  import- '  character ;  and  being  constantly  in  oppo- 
ance,  were  invited  to  be  present. J  Thejsition  to  Sully,  he  sided  with  the  court 
Huguenots  were  so  much  pleased  with  against  the  Protestant  party;  his  own  in- 
occasions  of  meeting  for  discussion  and(tercsts  at  the  same  time  urging  him  to 


mutual  encouragement,  that  it  is  asserted 
they  held  them  on  every  pretext^  D'Au- 
bigne  attempted  to  raise  an  opposition  in 


hasten  the  ex-minister's  ruin,  as  he  was 
promised  the  reversion  of  his  employ. 5 
The  memorials  prepared  for  the  consi- 


the  assembly  of  Poictou,  on  the  grounds!  deration  of  the  assembly,  being  confided 
that  such  an  election  should  have  been  to  the  Duke  of  Bouillon,  were  by  him 
submitted  to  the  states-general,  and  not  to!  communicated  to  Villeroy  ;  and  in  consi- 
the  parliament  of  Paris.  This  ill-judged ,  deration  of  a  promise  of  the  government 
act  of  independence  did  not  prevent  his  of  Poictou,  with  three  hundred  thousand 


being  deputed  to  assure  the  queen  of  the 
submission  of  that  province.  He  was 
already  known  for  his  persuasive  qualities; 
and  with  his  unflinching  principles,  it  was 
useless  to  attempt  corruption :  an  effort 
was  therefore  made  to  ruin  him  in  the 
opinion  of  his  party.  The  queen  suTn- 
moned  him  to  Paris,  to  consult  him  in  pri- 
vate :  he  remained  alone  with  her  for  two 
hours  at  a  time;  and  soon  after,  when  he 
set  out  for  the  assembly  at  Saumur,  he 
received  such  attentions  from  the  govern- 
ment agent,  that  the  queen's  object  was 
in  a  great  measure  effected. || 

This  assembly  had  been  convoked  for 
Chatellerault;  and  its  removal  to  Saumur 


*  Sully,  liv.  xjtix. 

t  Journal  (In  Henri  IV.— Hassompierrc  — Merc.  Fran 
gais.  and  Hist,  de  la  Mere  et  du  Fila. 
J  Mercure  Frangais,  vol.  ii.  p.  73. 
}  Barnard,  p.  ih. 
\  O'Aabigne,  Mem.  p.  107. 


livres,  and  some  minor  stipulations,  he 
undertook  to  have  all  the  resolutions 
changed  in  the  discussion;  and  engaged 
that  every  thing  should  pass  off  to  the 
queen's  satisfaction.il 

A  contemporary  nobleman  relates  that 
Bouillon,  with  his  secret  instructions,  re- 
ceived money  to  recompense  those  depu- 
ties whom  he  could  gain  over;  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Saumur,  where  the  results  jus- 
tified his  assertions.  The  prudence,  skill, 
and  firmness  he  displayed  on  this  occasion 
were  considered  signally  serviceable  to 
the  state. IT 

This  treacherous  conduct  could  not  be 

*  Daniel.  Jlial.  tic  France,  vol.  xiii.  p.  54. 

t  Veritable  Discours  de  ce  t/ni  s'ost  pesse  en  VJlssem- 
Met \ politique  ties  Eglisis  reformies  de  France,  tcnue  d 
Saumur. 

t  25th  May.  1611    Ouplessis,  Mem.,  vol.  jii.  p.  294. 
$  D'Estrees,  pp.  05— 60. 
|;  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  1,  p.  11. 
IT  D'Estrees,  p.  CO. 


324 


bouillon's  disappointment. 


entirely  concealed  from  the  Protestant 
deputies;  and  although  the  duke  made 
great  efforts  to  obtain  the  presidence, 
Duplessis  was  elected  by  a  great  ma- 
jority. The  vice-president  chosen  was 
Chamier,  a  most  zealous  and  courageous 
Huguenot  minister,  the  same  who  had 
assisted  in  drawing  up  the  edict  of  Nantes. 
Bouillon's  disappointment  made  him  give 
utterance  to  violent  expressions  of  resent- 
ment, declaring  that  no  trouble  he  had 
ever  experienced  affected  him  like  that. 
The  interference  of  friends  became  neces- 
sary to  pacify  him;  and  during  an  inter- 
view with  Sully,  who,  in  expostulating 
complained  of  the  removal  of  the  assembly 
from  Chatellerault  to  Saumur,  Bouillon 
replied  by  complaints  against  his  rival, 
for  having  aided  an  expedition,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  ruin  a  church  so  re- 
nowned as  that  of  Sedan.  An  apparent 
reconciliation  was  however  effected;  and 
Bouillon  declared  that  he  should  ever  be 
as  ready  to  bring  his  cannon  from  Sedan 
to  defend  the  cause  of  religion,  as  Sully 
had  been  to  bring  those  from  the  Bastille 
to  ruin  him.* 

Bouillon's  animosity  towards  Sully, 
and  his  jealousy  of  Duplessis  being  too 
evident  to  admit  a  doubt,  a  common  inte- 
rest excited  those  individuals  who  had 
long  been  kept  apart  by  mutual  diffidence. 
Sully  was  apprehensive  that  Duplessis 
might  be  led  by  his  zeal  into  projects 
hostile  to  the  French  monarchy;,  while 
the  latter  had  openly  represented  the  situ- 
ation of  confidential  adviser  to  an  apostate 
king  as  incompatible  with  a  sincere  at- 
tachment to  the'  Protestant  religion.  The 
friends  of  Duplessis  also  contributed  to 
widen  the  breach,  by  insinuating  the  ex- 
istence of  envy  at  his  acknowledged 
talents.  However,  the  events  of  the  pre- 
ceding year  convinced  them  of  Sully's 
integrity;  and  the  whole  Protestant  body 
took  an  interest  in  his  personal  welfare. 
They  entreated  and  even  enjoined  him 
not  to  give  up  his  charge,  especially  that 
of  grand  master  of  the  artillery,  and  pro- 
mised their  united  aid  in  his  support.! 
This  demonstration  greatly  annoyed  the 
Duke  de  Bouillon,  who  made  such  a  re- 
presentation to  the  queen,  that  she  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  assembly  in  the  king's 
name.  The  nature  of  this  communication 

*  Veritable  Discoiirs,  etc.,  pp.  24— '27. 
{■  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  -j.!.— Rohan,  Mem.,  hv.  1, 
p.  17. 


may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  Du- 
plessis-Mornay  deemed  its  suppression 
necessary,  through  fear  of  the  irritation  it 
would  cause.* 

To  return  to  the  proceeding  of  the 
assembly,  the  king's  commissioners  an-  • 
nounced  the  favourable  intentions  of  the 
government  towards  the  Protestant  body; 
bat  when  the  caliier  or  statement  of  de- 
mands was  presented,  they  declared  it  in- 
dispensable  to  consult  the  king's  pleasure, 
their  powers  not  authorizing  an  approval 
of  the  charges  proposed.  This  statement 
astonished  the  assembly;  and  during  the 
tedious  negotiation  which  followed,  the 
court  agents  actively  pressed  the  nomina- 
tion of  the  deputies  who  were  to  remain 
at  Paris,  that  being  the  ostensible  cause  of 
the  convocation.  The  more  experienced.  ! 
Huguenots  were  however  resolved  to 
wait  for  a  reply,  as  they  foresaw  that  the 
assembly  would  be  dissolved  as  soon  as 
the  deputies  were  named.  The  Duke  de 
Bouillon  meanwhile  insidiously  attempt- 
ed to  injure  the  Protestant  body,  by  re- 
presenting the  exertions  lie  and  his  friends 
had  been  compelled  to  make,  in  order  to 
preserve  peace ;  and  it  was  maliciously 
reported  to  the  queen,  that  Sully,  Rohan, 
D'Aubigne,  and  others,  were  anxious  to 
renew  the  civil  war.t 

The  demands  of  the  assembly  com- 
prised above  sixty  articles,  which  it  is 
needless  to  recapitulate.];  The  eighth  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable:  in  that  the 
Protestants  complain  of  their  being  com- 
pelled to  qualify  themselves  in  all  acts 
and  deeds,  as  members  of  la  religion  pre- 
t endue,  reform  te.  To  this  grievance  they 
obtained  no  redress ;  as  the  government 
replied,  that  they  must  use  the  term 
adopted  in  the  edict  of  Nantes.  Their 
eleventh  article  requests  that  preachers 
may  be  punished  for  abusive  and  sedi- 
tious attacks  upon  them  in  sermons;  and 
for  interdicting  all  social  intercourse  with 
them,  under  threats  of  perdition.  The 
government  reply  is  evidently  directed 
against  the  petitioners  ;  for  it  enjoins  all 
preachers  to  abstain  from  exciting  lan-  ■ 
guage,  confining  themselves  modestly  to 
what  will  instruct  and  edify  their  hearers. 
A  spirit  of  equivocation  pervades  the  an- 
swer to  each  article;  and  bears  testimony 
to  the  bigotry  of  the  age,  which  is  at  i 

*  Supplement  to  Sully,  by  the  Abbe  dc  I'Ecluse. 

t  Veritable  Discoiirs,  etc.  p.  65. 

j  Merc.  Franc,  vol.  ii.  pp.  88,  et  seq. 


INTRIGUES  OF  BOUILLON. 


325 


once  its  explanation  and  excuse.  The 
answer  to  the  cahier  is  dated  23d  of  July, 
1611.*  On  its  arrival  at  Saumur,  the 
Duke  de  Bouillon  obtained  a  power  from 
the  queen,  authorizing  the  minority,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-three  members,  to  elect 
the  deputies  without  the  concurrence  of 
the  others.  Such  a  measure  was  exces- 
sively irritating;  and  a  contemporary 
writer,  who  makes  no  attempt  to  disguise 
his  partiality,  accuses  Duplessis  of  filling 
an  adjoining  chamber  with  armed  men, 
to  massacre  those  who  were  willing  to 
comply  with  Bouillon's  recommendation: 
but  that  the  determination  of  the  minority, 
who  filled  the  courts  with  their  friends 
and  attendants,  foiled  the  plan,  and  se- 
cured a  general  acquiescence  ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  deputies  were 
elected,  and  the  meeting  separated  on  the 
3d  of  September.! 

The  readiness  of  this  writer  to  use  op- 
probrious epithets  against  the  Protestants 
is  perfectly  consistent,  and  converts  his 
approbation  of  Bouillon  into  a  complete 
corroboration  of  the  venality  laid  to  his 
charge.  The  government,  he  observes, 
was  very  well  satisfied  with  him  ;  and  on 
his  return  he  had  the  grant  of  an  hotel  in 
the  faubourg  St.  Germain;  but  he  was  not 
equally  satisfied,  for  he  fully  expected  a 
greater  reward,  and  calculated  on  being 
received  into  the  cabinet:  he  threatened 
revenge,  and  from  that  time  instigated  the 
Prince  of  Conde  to  hostilities  ! 

During  the  animated  discussions  at 
Saumur.  the  intimate  friendship  which  for 
many  years  had  subsisted  between  Bouil- 
lon and  D'Aubigne  received  a  violent 
shock.  The  latter  relates  that  it  was  in 
a  great  degree  through  his  exertions  that 
Bouillon  failed  in  the  election  for  presi- 
dent; and  that  he  warmly  opposed  all  his 
proposals,  which  were  palpably  intended 
to  gain  favour  at  court.  D'Aubigne's  re- 
marks  were  often  severely  cutting,  parti- 
cularly on  occasion  of  a  pathetic  appeal  to 
the  loyalty  of  the  deputies,  in  which 
Bouillon  advised  them  to  renounce  their 
cautionary  towns,  and  rely  altogether  on 
the  good  faith  of  the  government:  his 
address  concluded  by  exhibiting  great 
want  of  tact,  in  alluding  to  the  glory  of 
voluntary  exposure  to  martyrdom.  This 


*  Printed  at  the  end  of  the  Veritable  Discours,  etc. 
t  Hist,  de  la  Mere  et  du  fils,  vol.  i.  p.  143. 
J  Ibid,  p.  147. 

28  • 


remark,  by  admitting  the  existence  of 
danger,  completely  destroyed  the  effect 
of  his  argument;  and  D'Aubigne,  after 
criticising  his  project,  observed  that  it 
was  certainly  the  duty  and  characteristic 
of  a  true  christian  to  be  ever  ready  to 
suffer  martyrdom;  but  to  expose  others, 
and  facilitate  their  destruction,  was  to  act 
like  a  traitor  or  an  executioner.* 

The  tenacity  of  the  Protestants  at  Sau- 
mur was  calculated  to  make  them  more 
odious  to  the  court.  That  meeting  was 
looked  upon  as  the  first  token  of  disaffec- 
tion;! and  the  feeling  against  them  was 
greatly  heightened  by  the  publication  of 
an  attack  on  the  papacy,  entitled  le  Mys- 
lere  iFiniquite,  by  Duplessis-Mornay. 
Immediately  on  its  appearance  it  was 
condemned  by  the  Sorbonne;J  and  a 
bookseller  was  sent  to  prison  for  the 
publication^  It  is,  however,  worthy  of 
note,  that  the  advocate-general,  Louis 
Servin,  being  requested  to  reply  to  the 
obnoxious  work,  after  consenting  to  un- 
dertake it,  declined  the  task.|| 

From  this  time  abjurations  became 
very  frequent  among  the  Protestant 
nobles  and  ministers;  and  the  Duke  de 
Rohan  was  so  disliked  by  the  govern- 
ment for  his  conscientious  exertions,  that 
he  retired  to  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  where  he 
assembled  some  friends  and  followers. 
D'Aubigne  at  the  same  time  withdrew  to 
a  fortified  mansion  at  Doignon,  suspected 
by  the  queen  and  ministers,  and  feared 
by  the  bigoted  party  for  the  sarcasms  of 
his  writings,  and  the  energy  of  his  disposi- 
tion. D'Aubigne's  motions  were  watched 
with  suspicion,  and  Rohan  was  obliged 
to  act  with  vigour,  to  maintain  his  rights 
against  an  attempt  of  the  queen,  at  Bouil- 
lon's instigation,  to  infringe  on  his  privi- 
leges. Rohan  had  proceeded  to  Paris  to 
justify  himself  from  the  charge  of  sedition 
at  Saumur;  but  the  court,  prepossessed 
in  Bouillon's  favour,  secretly  took  mea- 
sures for  placing  a  mayor  at  St.  Jean 
d'Angely,  opposed  to  Rohan's  interests. 
The  Duke  being  informed  thereof,  and 
feeling  that  this  measure,  if  successful, 
would  ruin  his  importance,  quitted  Paris 
under  a  pretext  of  news  that  his  brother 
Soubise  was  ill ;  and  though  the  govern. 

*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.  p.  169. 
f  Bernard,  p.  10. 
%  Mere.  Franyais,  vol.  ii.  p  100. 
)  Journal  de  I'Estoile.  I!ltli  July,  1011. 
Ibid,  21st  August,  1611. 


326 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CONDE. 


ment  agent  had  arrived  before  him,  he 
succeeded  in  regaining  his  authority,  after  j 
the  threat  of  an  armed  force  to  subdue  the 
town.  Two  gentlemen  whom  he  had 
sent  to  Paris  were  arrested;  and  his  mo- 
ther, wife,  and  sisters  were  forbidden  to 
leave  that  city.  But  the  affair  was  peace- 
ably arranged  by  Themines,  governor  of 
Quercy,  to  the  disappointment  of  Bouil- 
lon, who  confessed  he  had  so  acted,  to 
take  revenge  for  the  affront  he  received  at 
Saumur.* 

We  pass  by  the  intrigues  and  negotia- 
tions which  attended  the  project  of  a 
double  marriage  between  the  French  and 
Spanish  crowns.  Bouillon  was  sent  to 
assure  King  James  that  England  had  no 
cause  of  apprehension  from  the  alliance. 
He  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to 
accuse  Rohan  and  the  Huguenot  leaders 
as  rebels;  and  endeavoured  to  obtain  from 
the  English  monarch  a  condemnation  of 
the  proceedings  at  Saumur,  declaring  that 
the  pope's  views  towards  the  lost  Pro- 
testants were  limited  to  their  conversion 
by  preaching  and  good  example.  James, 
naturally  averse  to  hostilities,  was  ready 
to  believe  any  thing  calculated  to  promise 
the  duration  of  peace  ;  and  in  what  con- 
cerned the  alliance  with  Spain,  Bouillon's 
mission  was  successful.  Rohan,  how- 
ever, had  a  confidential  friend  who  ac- 
companied the  ambassador,  by  whose 
means  the  king  was  informed  of  the  posi- 
tion and  conduct  of  the  Protestants;  he 
therefore  advised  Bouillon  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  Rohan.  A  synod  was  held 
soon  after  at  Privas,  when  an  accommo- 
dation was  signed  by  all  the  Protestant 
nobles.t  The  Jesuit  d'Avrigny  observes: 
"  Rohan  was  a  sincere  Huguenot,  and 
aimed  at  the  good  of  his  party.  Sully 
was  not  very  devout,  but  felt  sore  at  being 
excluded  from  public  affairs.  Bouillon 
was  politic,  making  religion  forward  his 
interests,  and  doing  more  harm  to  the 
Catholics  than  to  the  Protestants."! 

The  dissensions  among  the  leaders  of 
the  party  were  terminated,  but  the  de- 
signs of  the  court  against  the  reformed 
religion  were  still  suspected  by  the  Pro- 
testant body,  and  a  meeting  was  sum- 
moned at  Rochelle,  which  gave  rise  to  a 
tumult,  on  the  interference  of  the  govern- 

*  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  ii  pp.  382—385.    Rohan,  liv.  1, 

p.  57. 

t  16th  August,  1012.    Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  1,  p.  38. 
j  D'Avrigny,  Mem.  CJironologiqucs,  vol.  i.  p.  68. 


ment  to  prevent  it:  however,  nothing  $e* 
rious  followed;  for  the  king  gave  another 
edict,  confirming  that  of  Nantes,  and 
coupling  an  entire  amnesty  of  the  late 
disturbance  with  the  prohibition  against 
such  assemblies.* 

The  year  1614  witnessed  an  attempt 
of  the  Prince  ofConde  to  excite  a  revolt. 
Jealousy  of  marshal  d'Ancre  was  the 
ground  of  his  discontent;  but  he  was 
urged  on  by  Bouillon,  and  encouraged  by 
the  adhesion  of  many  leading  nobles,  who 
quitted  the  court  soon  after  his  departure 
from  Paris.f  In  the  hopes  of  deriving 
advantage  from  the  co-operation  of  the 
Protestants,  he  sent  the  lieutenant  of  his 
guards  to  the  Duke  of  Rohan,  conjuring 
him  to  take  arms,  and  promising  to  con- 
clude no  treaty  which  had  not  his  appro- 
bation. Rohan,  however,  was  not  only 
aware  that  Bouillon  was  of  the  party;  he 
knew  that,  even  before  hostilities  had 
commenced,  there  had  been  preparations 
for  a  treaty:  he  sent  a  confidential  friend 
to  deliver  a  verbal  reply,  and  learn  the 
prince's  exact  position:  at  the  same  time 
he  wrote  to  the  queen,  stating  his  un- 
changed attachment  to  the  reformed  in- 
terest, and  assuring  her  that  by  satisfying 
ihe  Protestants'  claims  she  need  not  fear 
the  disaffected  party.J 

The  prince  lost  no  time  in  publishing 
the  reasons  for  his  eonduct,  in  a  letter  to 
the  queen-mother,§  in  which  he  com- 
plained of  the  disordered  state  of  the 
government,  and  the  exclusion  of  the 
princes  and  peers  from  public  affairs: 
they  were  sacrificed,  he  asserts,  to  the 
interests  of  three  or  four  individuals,  who 
in  self-defence  excited  distrust  and  ill-will 
among  the  nobility:  he  concluded  by  de- 
manding that  the  states-general  should  be 
convoked. 

About  the  same  time  a  messenger  was 
sent  by  Conde  to  Duplessis,  to  win  him 
over  to  the  cause, but  in  vain.  Duplessis 
replied  by  expressing  his  confidence  that 
the  prince  would  choose  lawful  means 
for  redressing  public  grievances;  and 
would  avoid  violent  measures,  which 
were  worse  than  the  ills  to  be  removed. 
At  the  same  time  he  informed  the  queen 
of  the  political  aspect  of  his  province, 

*  Merc.  Franc;,  vol.  ii.  pp.  476— 487.  The  tumult  oc- 
curred in  September,  and  the  king's  declaration  was 
dated  15th  December,  JH12. 

t  Merc  Franc,  vol.  iii.  p.  306. 

j  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  1,  p.  49. 

6  Dated  19th  February,  1614.   Merc.  Franc,  p.  3J7. 


DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  STATES-GENERAL. 


327 


giving  a  faithful  account  of  the  move- 
ments anil  meetings  that  came  to  his 
knowledge:  he  likewise  addressed  the 
pastors  and  principal  Protestants,  recom- 
mending quietness  and  loyalty.  The 
queen  was  highly  pleased,  and  informed 
him  that  she  approved  of  his  answer  to 
the  prince.* 

No  one  has  ever  impugned  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  Letters  and  Memoirs  of 
Duplessis-Mornay:  yet  the  enemies  of 
the  reformed  religion  (and  such  were  all 
authors  whose  works  could  be  published 
in  France  during  a  long  period)  agree  in 
passing  over  this  and  similar  incidents 
unnoticed,  and  actually  charge  the  Pro- 
testants with  having  caused  the  evils 
which  originated  with  their  opponents. 
On  the  other  hand  it  is  beyond  doubt, 
that  if  Rohan  and  Duplessis  had  listened 
to  Conde's  proposals,  France  would  have 
speedily  become  the  scene  of  a  general 
insurrection.  m 

The  court  was  seriously  alarmed  at  the 
extent  of  the  conspiracy,  and  from  the 
prevalent  readiness  to  suspect  those  who 
are  oppressed,  it  was  generally  feared 
that  the  Huguenots  would  join  the  mal- 
contents, and  plunge  the  country  into  a! 
civil  war  of  some  duration;  but  Epernon,  I 
who  had  passed  through  the  troubles  of 
the  league,  was  satisfied  that  a  want  of 
the  means  of  war  would  preserve  the 
kingdom  from  that  extremity:  he  urged 
the  propriety  of  sending  a  strong  force  to 
suppress  the  insurrection,  and  concluded 
by  assuring  the  queen  that,  if  the  king 
were  to  accompany  the  troops,  there 
would  be  an  easy  conquest.  The  minis- 
ters thought  the  experiment  dangerous, 
and  Epernon  lamented  the  disgraceful, 
conciliating  line  of  policy  adopted  in  pre- 
ference; the  queen  being  so  ill-advised 
as  to  purchase  a  peace,  which  a  little  vi- 
gour would  have  enabled  her  to  dictate. f 
The  treaty  of  Ste.-Menehould,  where 
Conde  had  been  secretly  negotiating  from 
the  time  he  left  Paris,  was  signed  on  the 
15th  of  May.  Conde  obtained  Amboise; 
the  other  confederates  were  gratified  in 
various  ways;  and  the  convocation  of  the 
states-general  was  agreed  to.  The  king's 
marriage  with  the  Infanta  was  also  to  be 


*  Duplessis,  Mem.,  vol.  iii.  p.  557  et  seq. 
f  Guard,  Vie  d'Epernmt,  p.  !iU(j. 


I  postponed;  but  of  that  the  prince  received 
■  a  previous  assurance,  in  a  letter  from  the 
queen.* 

The  states-general,  which  continued  its 
'  deliberations  from  the  24th  of  October, 
1614,  until  the  end  of  March  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  was  at  length  dissolved 
i  without  a  single  measure  being  voted,  the 
interested  disputes  of  the  nobility  neu- 
tralizing every  individual  effort  of  the 
more  enlightened  members.  The  clergy 
displayed  the  full  measure  of  their  un- 
diminished bigotry  by  demands  which 
could  not  be  acceded  to,  without  a  com- 
plete  abandonment  of  humanity  and  jus- 
tice. Their  obstinacy  in  urging  the  pub- 
lication of  the  council  of  Trent  may  be 
excused,  as  those  decrees  are  a  compen- 
dium of  popery,  and  have  become  its 
infallible  canon,  in  opposition  to  the  right 
of  free  commentary  claimed  by  Protest- 
ants. In  this  instance  they  were  con- 
sistent and  reasonable;  yet  in  the  worst 
period  of  popish  il liberal ity  there  has 
been  a  determined  opposition  to  the  re- 
ception and  sanction  of  those  decrees  by 
the  French  parliaments.  But  it  is  diffi* 
cult  to  mark  with  adequate  abhorrence 
some  of  the  proposals,  gravely  made  and 
seriously  maintained  by  the  clergy;  a  few 
will  suffice  as  a  specimen.  They  de- 
manded the  condemnation  of  all  books  in* 
jurious  to  the  pope;  authority  for  bishops 
to  condemn  to  the  galleys;  prohibition 
against  printing  any  books  without  the 
bishops'  licence;  that  Protestants  should 
not  spenk  or  write  against  the  sacraments 
of  the  Romish  church,  under  severe  pe- 
nalties; that  their  ministers  should  not 
visit  the  sick,  and  that  their  colleges 
should  be  suppressed. f  As  an  argument 
for  justifying  these  demands,  which  were 
fully  satisfied  at  a  later  period,  Richelieu, 
then  Bishop  of  Lueon,  laid  stress  on  a 
recent  tumult  at  Milhaud,  in  the  diocess 
of  Rodez,  where  the  consecrated  orna- 
ments, and  even  the  host,  had  been 
trampled  under  foot.  The  king's  indig- 
nation was  kindled  on  hearing  of  such  a 
sacrilege;  but  notwithstanding  his  vow  to 
avenge  the  outrage,  the  affair  was  entirely 
laid  aside.  It  was  found  on  investigation, 
not  only  that  the  accounts  had  been  mis- 
chievously aggravated,  but  that  the  popish 


*  Merc,  Franc.,  p.  427,  et  seq. 
%  Arcana  Gallica,  p.  46. 


328 


PUBLIC  JEALOUSY  OF  MARSHALL  D'ANCRE. 


party  had  committed  even  greater  ex- 
cesses in  the  same  diocess.* 

The  president  of  each  state  having  de- 
livered his  cahier  to  the  king,  all  the 
suggestions  were  referred,  for  the  sake  of 
form,  to  the  council,  but  without  any  in- 
tention of  their  being  examined.  How- 
ever, among  the  deputies  of  the  liers-etat, 
the  demands  of  the  clergy  were  so  se- 
riously scrutinized,  that  there  was  an 
outcry  against  the  prevalence  of  heresy 
in  that  body.  There  were  Protestants 
among  the  deputies,  and  the  alarm  which 
they  manifested  at  the  great  zeal  of  the 
clergy  induced  Louis  to  publish  a  declara- 
tion, renewing  and  confirming  the  edict; 
hypocritically  expressing  a  hope  that  the 
divine  mercy  would  unite  all  his  sub- 
jects in  one  faith,  since  violent  measures 
were  useless.  The  states-general  were 
then  dissolved,  and  the  inutility  of  such 
assemblies  being  completely  evident,  the 
institution  may  be  said  to  have  been  from 
this  time  abolished;  for  the  states  of 
1789,  though  bearing  the  same  appella- 
tion, were  altogether  different  in  character 
and  object,  the  monarchical  power  being 
then  virtually  overthrown,  and  instead  of 
the  body  alluded  to  being  the  representa- 
tion of  general  interests,  it  proved  the 
medium  for  announcing  that  noble,  feu- 
dal, and  ecclesiastical  privileges  had  been 
all  swallowed  up  by  the  increased  im- 
portance of  the  popular  body. 

The  Duke  de  Bouillon  had  indulged  a 
hope  that,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
states-general,  he  could  drive  marshal 
d'Ancre  from  his  post.  'The  aspect  of 
the  assembly  favoured  his  views:  many 
of  the  deputies  were  indignant  at  the 
manner  in  which  Ravaillac's  trial  had 
been  conducted;  and  contended  that  his 
accomplices  could  have  been  discovered, 
if  sought  for  in  earnest.  Marshal  d'Ancre 
was  detested  throughout  France;  and  the 
majority  of  lawyers  who  had  been  elected 
by  the  tiers-etat  were  offended  at  the 
indifference  of  the  court,  which  was  con- 
strued by  them  into  disdain.  The  par- 
liament was  in  consequence  easily  in- 
duced to  adopt  a  proceeding,  intended  to 
assert  its  dignity,  which  was  in  some 
measure  violated  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
states  without  knowing  the  opinion  of 
that  body  upon  the  proposals  presented; 

*  Merc.  Franc;.,  p.  398.  Benoit,  vol.  ii.  p.  149.  At, 
cana  Galliea,  p.  51. 


and  a  decree  was  passed  for  assembling 
all  its  members,  inviting  the  princes, 
peers,  and  officers  of  state  to  join  in  de- 
liberating on  certain  proposals  for  the 
general  good.  This  step  was  met  by  an 
intimation  of  the  king's  severe  displea- 
sure, and  a  prohibition  so  positive,  that 
the  parliament  made  no  other  opposition 
than  a  remonstrance,  indicating  a  long 
series  of  inconveniences  (many  being 
merely  social  or  municipal)  which  it  was 
desirable  to  remedy.* 

As  the  princes  had  founded  their  hopes 
on  the  energy  of  the  tiers-etat  and  the 
firmness  of  the  parliament,  this  conclusion 
brought  back  affairs  to  the  condition  in 
which  they  stood  prior  to  the  treaty  of 
Ste.-Menehould.  Conde  again  displayed 
the  standard  of  revolt,  withdrew  to  Creil, 
and  sent  his  cannon  to  Sedan.  The  king 
wrote  several  letters  urging  his  return  to 
court,  and  afterwards  sent  the  aged  and 
experienced  Villeroy  to  persuade  him; 
but  Conde,  in  reply,  denounced  D'Ancre 
and  his  partisans  as  enemies  of  the  state. 
This  was  followed  by  the  general  pro- 
clamation from  the  prince,  addressed  to 
all  orders  of  the  state .t 

But  before  that  address  was  made  pub- 
lic, the  king  had  sent  against  him  an  army 
of  ten  thousand  infantry,  and  fifteen  hun- 
dred cavalry,  under  marshal  Bois-Dau- 
phin;  while  another  force,  commanded 
by  the  Duke  de  Guise,  escorted  him  to 
the  Spanish  frontier  where  he  was  to 
meet  his  affianced  bride.} 

Conde,  being  informed  of  the  favoura- 
ble disposition  existing  among  many  of 
the  principal  inhabitants  of  Rochelle, 
proceeded  there  in  December;  and  was 
received  with  every  demonstration  of 
honour  by  those  who  revered  his  father's 
memory.  The  minister  Merlin  was  led 
to  hope  for  his  conversion,  from  the 
candid  admissions  elicited  during  his  con- 
versations with  the  prince.  But  a  selfish 
ambition  was  his  motive;  and  in  treating 
with  that  jealous  municipality  he  con- 
sented to  greater  restraints  than  he  would 
have  endured  in  the  lawful  service  of  his 
king.§ 

The  Protestants  at  the  same  time  held 


*  Merc.  Frang  ,  vol.  iv.  pp.  6—110.     Hist,  de  la  Mere 
et  (In  Fils,  pp.327,  etseq. 
t  Merc.  Fianj.,  vol.  iv.  p.  197.   Rolian,  Mem.,  liv.  1, 

p.  63. 

J  Bassompierre,  vol.  i.  p.  392.   Rohan,  Mem.,  liv*  1„ 

p.  64 

§  Arcere.  vol.  ii.  p.  139.  m 


conde's  dissimulation. 


329 


an  assembly  at  Grenoble;  and  Conde 
deputed  thither  a  gentleman  named  La 
Haye,  to  request  their  co-operation  with 
him,  in  effecting  a  reformation  of  all 
abuses.  His  promises  were  calculated  to 
ensnare  a  considerable  number  of  the  Hu- 
guenot deputies,  who  were  stimulated  by 
Bouillon,  to  perceive  much  advantage  in 
the  proposals.  On  the  other  hand,  Les- 
diguieres  was  in  correspondence  with  the 
queen,  and  exerted  his  influence  to  pre- 
vent the  meeting  from  acceding  to  the 
offers.*  Rohan  and  Sully  varied  in  their 
determination,  according  to  circumstances; 
but  Duplessis-Mornay  was  decidedly  a- 
verseto  mingling  the  causeof  religion  with 
politics.  His  letters  to  the  queen,  Ville- 
roy  and  Jeannin,  and  his  representations 
of  the  danger  to  which  his  government 
would  be  exposed,  if  the  prince  marched 
into  Poictou,  are  unquestionable  proofs 
of  his  loyalty:  on  the  other  hand,  the 
official  replies  from  the  king  and  his  mi- 
nisters prove  that  such  honourable  con- 
duct was  justly  estimated.! 

In  one  of  his  conferences  with  the 
Chancellor  Sillery  he  observed:  "  Since 
the  Jesuits,  in  their  sermons,  openly  de- 
clare that  the  object  of  the  double  mar- 
riage is  to  root  out  heresy,  can  you  be 
surprised  that  our  churches  take  the 
alarm?"  Yet  he  endeavoured  to  tran- 
quillize his  friends;  and  when  a  proposal 
was  made  to  transfer  the  assembly  to 
Nismes,  in  order  to  escape  the  inter- 
ference of  Lesdiguieres,  he  considered 
their  proceedings  legally  null,  as  the 
royal  sanction  was  requisite  to  give  their 
votes  validity.  The  king,  being  solicited, 
consented  to  their  meeting  at  Montpelier; 
but  Chatillon  was  a  Protestant  of  the 
same  dubious  character,  and  the  deputies 
persisted  in  selecting  Nismes  for  their 
sittings.J 

Among  the  French  nobility  none  was 
more  decidedly  inveterate  against  the  re- 
formed religion  than  the  Duke  of  Eper- 
non;  but  to  the  surprise  of  all,  his  son, 
the  Count  de  Candale,  declared  himself  a 
Protestant. §  His  position  created  great 
interest,  and  gave  him  considerable  in- 
fluence. He  recommended  the  union 
with  Conde;  and  a  treaty  was  voted, 
though  only  by  a  majority  of  two  votes. 


p.  193. 


*  Bernard,  p.  52     Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  iv 
t  Duplenig,  Mem.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  812—835. 
t  Arcana  Gallica,  pp.  74.  75.    Bernard,  p  54 
§  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  iv.  p.  279. 


Conde,  who  really  hated  the  Protestants, 
was  lavish  in  his  concessions  to  the 
party:  but  Mayenne,  whose  interests 
were  similar,  refused  to  grant  any  thing 
likely  to  benefit  Calvinism.*  The  go- 
vernment duly  appreciated  the  conduct  of 
the  minority,  in  a  royal  declaration  which 
appeared  soon  after  ;f  and  the  effects  of 
this  prudent  conduct  make  it  the  more 
to  be  regretted  that  it  was  not  followed 
by  measures  of  a  similar  character:  for 
the  majority  of  the  Huguenots  disavowed 
the  assembly  at  Nismes  as  a  complete 
party  affair. 

D'Aubigne  was  induced  to  take  a  part  in 
this  revolt,  and  was  chosen  by  Conde  for 
his  marechal-de-camp;  but  that  gentleman 
declined  the  prince's  commission,  and 
would  only  receive  his  appointment  from 
the  assembly  at  Nismes.  This  war,  as 
he  observes,  gave  rise  to  no  event  worth 
recording;  and  was  soon  concluded  by 
the  treaty  of  Loudun.i  Conde  had,  in 
council,  called  him  his  father,  but  ulti- 
mately behaved  to  him  most  dishonour- 
ably :  he  never  reimbursed  a  large  sum 
which  D'Aubigne  advanced  for  supplies; 
and  on  returning  to  Paris,  denounced  him 
to  the  king,  as  one  capable  of  troubling  the 
government.  When  the  treaty  of  Loudun 
was  signed,  Conde  knowing  that  D'Au- 
bigne's  character  would  still  keep  him 
from  court,  exclaimed,  "D'Aubigne!  be- 
gone to  your  fort  at  Doignon !"  To  which 
the  veteran  replied,  "And  you  to  the  Bas- 
tille!" The  prediction  was  very  soon 
realized. § 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

Conde  arrested— Death  of  Marshal  D'Ancro— Re  esta? 
hlishment  of  the  Komish  religion  in  Beam— Notice 
of  D'Aubigne. 

The  negotiations  for  the  treaty  of  Lou- 
dun were  conducted  principally  with  a 
view  to  draw  Conde  from  the  path  of  re- 
volt ;  and  the  deputies  who  attempted  to 
defend  the  Protestant  interests  were  treat- 


28* 


*  27tb  Nov.,  1C15.  D'Avrigny,  vol.  i.  p  92. 
t  7th  Dec.  1C15.  Merc.  Fran?.,  vol.  iv.  p  331.  The 
President  Jeannin  thus  wrote  to  Duplessis  ;  "  Vons 
vuus  esles  conduct,  pendant  ceste  miserable  guerre,  en 
sorte  que  leurs  Majestes  en  onl  contentement,  et  y 
reconnnissent  votre  prudence  et  fidelite  "  Duplessis, 
Mem.,  vol.  iii.  p.  856. 

{  3rd  May,  1C1G.   The  negotiations  are  minutely  de^ 
tailed  in  the  Mercure  Frangais. 
<j  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  p.  174. 


330 


MARSHAL  D'ANCRE  DISGRACED. 


ed  as  mere  ciphers.  The  queen  is  repre-i  the  faubourg  St.  Germain  was  stopped 
sented,  by  one  who  knew  her  well,  to, for  want  of  a  passport,  at  the  Porte  de 
have  aimed  at  winning  the  prince  to  her  Bussy,  by  a  shoemaker  named  Picard, 
party;  but  as  she  could  not  refrain  from  on  duty  as  serjeant  of  the  quarter.  The 
making  him  feel  his  dependence  upon  her  marshal  was  compelled  to  return,  after 


favour,  her  plan  failed.*  She  changed  her 
ministers:  Barbin,  a  man  of  inferior  con- 


submitting  to  some  most  insulting  re- 
marks ;  and  a  threat  of  firing  was  even 


dition,  but  great  talents,  became  comp-'made,  if  he  did  not  go  back.  As  this 
troller  of  finances;  the  seals  were  given , occurred  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
to  Du  Vair;  and  to  gratify  the  prince, !  peace,  the  shoemaker  was  justified  by  the 
Marshal  D'Ancre  was  ordered  to  ex-  instructions  for  garrison  discipline  during 


change  the  government  of  Picardy 
for  that  of  Normandy.f  But  notwith- 
standing these  concessions,  the  harmony 
of  the  court  was  far  from  being  esta- 
blished. Epernon  was  in  a  manner  dis- 
graced;  but  an  attempt  to  enlist  the 
Dukes  of  Bouillon  and  Mayenne  against 
that  nobleman  having  completely  failed, 
Marshal  D'Ancre  found  his  position  at 
once  uncertain  and  danserous. 


the  war ;  and  there  the  affair  might  have 
terminated,  as  the  humble  condition  of  the 
individual  would  sufficiently  have  pro- 
tected him  against  the  marshal's  resent- 
ment. It  was,  however,  publicly  stated 
that  the  insult  was  intentional;  that  the 
serjeant  was  one  of  Conde's  partisans ; 
and  that  he  boasted  in  public  of  what  he 
had  done.  An  esquire  of  the  marshal's, 
indignant  at  such  conduct,  employed  two 


The  extraordinary  elevation  of  Concinij  valets  to  waylay  the  serjeant,  and  beat 
was  a  source  of  jealousy  to  the  French: him  so  unmercifully,  that  he  was  left  for 
nobles.  This  Florentine,  whose  principal  i  dead.  The  valets  were  taken,  and  hanged 
merit  was  that  of  being  a  favourite,  had  a  few  days  afterwards.* 


been  raised  to  the  rank  of  Marquis 
D'Ancre,  and  the  dignity  of  marshal ;  and 
Conde's  efforts  were  directed  to  his  over- 
throw, on  principles  similar  to  those  of  his 
grandfather,  in  opposition  to  the  house  of 
Lorrain.  The  prince's  cause  was  warmly 
espoused  by  Mayenne,  Longueville,  and 
Vend 6 me ;  but  his  chief  strength  was  in 
the  influence  of  the  Duke  de  Bouillon, 
which  assured  him  of  the  friendly  feeling 


The  excitement  arising  out  of  this  cir- 
cumstance had  not  subsided  when  Conde 
arrived  in  the  capital,  and  was  conducted 
in  triumph  to  the  Louvre  by  the  people, 
who  took  that  opportunity  of  showing 
their  hatred  of  the  marshal.  He  was  in- 
duced by  the  situation  of  affairs  to  come 
to  Paris,  notwithstanding  the  danger  to 
which  he  was  exposed.  About  this  time 
Lord  Hay,  afterwards  Earl  of  Carlisle, 


of  the  Protestants,  even  supposing  that  he  arrived  with  a  splendid  embassy  to  ask 
could  not  command  assistance  from  that! the  hand  of  one  of  the  princesses  for  the 
body.  The  treaty  of  Loudun  having  Prince  of  Wales.  He  was  most  magnifi- 
changed  his  relative  position,  he  was  no  cenfly  received,  each  of  the  leading  nobles 
longer  D'Ancre's  enemy.  endeavouring  to  outvie  the  others,  in  the 

Notwithstanding  the  change  in  Conde's  |  sumptuous  entertainments  given  in  his 
deportment,  D'Ancre  was  not  ignorant  of.  honour.  At  the  fete  given  by  the  Prince 
the  dangers  of  his  position:  gifted  with  of  Conde,  the  marshal  appeared,  accom- 


acute  perception,  he  knew  that  the  transfer 
of  authority  from  the  queen-mother  to  her 
son  would  be  attended  with  his  disgrace: 
still  his  haughty  demeanour  was  calcu- 
lated to  increase  the  popular  odium,  al- 
ready directed  with  violence  against  him. 
Under  such  circumstances,  a  trivial  inci- 
dent sometimes  becomes  important;  and 
an  unfortunate  encounter  arose,  in  which 
D'Ancre's  name  was  blended,  though 
without  the  least  blame  accruing  to  him. 
The  marshal  proceeding  to  his  house  in 


*  Batsnmpierre,  Nou  vcauz  Mem.,  p  196. 
t  Hist,  de  la  MSre  et  du  Fils,  vol.  ii.  p.  i 


panied  by  about  thirty  gentlemen :  this 
step  has  been  commented  on  as  very 
bold,  for  it  is  well  known  that  his  enemies 
were  then  assembled,  and  were  anxious 
to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to 
kill  him.  The  prince,  however,  had 
pledged  his  word  for  the  marshal's  safety; 
but  the  following  day,  Conde  sent  the 
Archbishop  of  Bourges,  a  mutual  friend, 
to  inform  him  of  the  extreme  difficulty  he 
had  experienced  in  keeping  his  adherents 
within  bounds;  that  they  all  threatened 


*  June,  1G1G.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  v.  Bassompierre, 
vol.  i.  p.  ICO. 


CONDE  ARRESTED. 


331 


to  abandon  him  if  lie  did  not  discontinue 
his  protection ;  and  in  consequence,  he 
advised  the  marshal  to  retire  to  his  go- 
vernment in  Normandy.* 

The  queen-mother  became  alarmed  at 
the  aspect  of  affairs:  Conde's  influence 
was  very  menacing ;  his  confederates 
were  known  to  be  already  making  prepa- 
rations for  another  campaign  ;  and  Lon- 
gueville  obtained  possession  of  Peronne,  a 
town  belonging  to  D'Ancre.t  In  addition 
to  these  overt  acts,  the  Archbishop  of 
Bourges  informed  the  queen  that  the  con- 
spirators intended  to  seize  the  king's  per- 
son, and  place  her  in  a  convent.!  She 
might  have  disregarded  this  intimation, 
from  a  feeling  by  no  means  rare  among 
individuals  of  high  spirit,  which  prompts 
them  to  neglect  what  is  to  their  personal 
advantage;  but  she  could  not  disregard 
the  advice  of  Sully,  who  forgot  his  inju- 
ries, and  demanded  an  audience  for  the 
purpose  of  making  known  the  danger  of 
her  situation.  That  experienced  and 
loyal  statesman  declared  that  he  did  not 
deem  her  safe  in  Paris,  but  should  consi- 
der her  much  better  off  with  her  children 
in  the  country,  attended  by  a  thousand 
horsemen,  than  in  the  Louvre  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  public  mind ;  and  frank- 
ly exposed  the  fatal  consequences  of  a 
want  of  energy  on  her  part.  Bassom- 
pierre,  then  colonel-general  of  the  Swiss 
troops,  was  presently  admitted ;  and  his 
opinion  coinciding  with  those  of  Sully,  he 
was  ordered  to  make  arrangements  for  a 
vigorous  measure.^ 

It  was  intended  to  arrest  at  once  the 
Prince  of  Conde  and  the  Dukes  of  Ven- 
dome,  Mayenne,  and  Bouillon;  but  the 
first  alone  fell  into  the  Queen's  power. 
A  marshal's  baton  recompensed  The- 
mines  for  arresting  him  in  the  Louvre, 
while  receiving  the  homage  of  a  crowd 
of  courtiers.  Mayenne  and  Vendome 
were  warned  in  time  to  leave  Paris ;  and 
Bouillon,  who  had  gone  to  public  wor- 
ship at  Charenton,  learned  the  news  of 
Conde's  arrest  on  his  return:  he  hastened 
to  join  his  friends,  and  take  measures  for 
their  common  safety.|| 

The  Princess  dowager  of  Conde  rode 


*  Bassompierre,  p.  462.    Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  1,  p.  85. 
D'Estrees,  p  21fl. 
t  Aug.  1016.    Merc.  Franc,  p  ISO. 
J  Hist.  de  la  Mere  et  d u  Fils,  vol.  ii.  p.  72. 
6  Bassmnpierre,  vol.  i.  p.  4GG. 

(  1st  S  pt.  1616.  Merc.  Franc,  p.  198.  D'Estrees, 
p.  218.    Bassompierre,  p.  478. 


through  the  streets,  accompanied  by  seve- 
ral gentlemen,  and  excited  the  people  to 
avenge  her  son,  who,  she  said,  was  mur-. 
dered  by  Marshal  D'Ancre.  An  infuri- 
ated mob  rushed  to  his  hotel  in  the  Rue 
de  Tournon ;  it  was  exposed  to  pillage 
during  two  entire  days;  and  property 
was  destroyed  to  the  value  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns*  At  the  same 
time  the  nobles  and  gentlemen  of  Conde's 
party  threatened  to  murder  Sully,  as  the 
instigator  of  the  measure.  This  has  been 
assigned  as  the  cause  of  a  very  incon- 
sistent remark,  which  escaped  him  in  the 
queen's  presence,  when  the  state  of  af- 
fairs was  passed  in  review.  Villeroyand 
Jeannin  were  both  of  opinion  that  the 
prince  should  be  liberated ;  and  Sully, 
forgetting  his  .recent  recommendation,  de- 
clared that  whoever  had  thus  advised  the 
.queen,  had  ruined  the  state.t  The  prince 
alone  being  arrested,  he  may  have  viewed 
the  affair  as  a  failure,  and  perhaps  wished, 
in  consequence,  to  retrace  his  steps  ;  for 
Duplessis-Mornay  wrote  to  the  Duchess  of 
Rohan,  that  the  advice  was  given  out  of 
hatred  to  M.  de  Bouillon.J 

From  this  time  D'Ancre  was  exposed 
to  the  vengeance  of  Conde's  partisans, 
whenever  his  ill  fortune  should  enable 
enable  them  to  resent  the  injury.  In  a 
conversation  with  Bassompierre,  he  con- 
fessed his  desire  to  return  to  Florence; 
or  at  any  rate  to  remove  to  Caen,  whence 
an  embarkation  for  Italy  could  be  easily 
obtained.  At  one  time  he  had  every  thing 
prepared  for  departure;  but  a  sudden  ill- 
ness prevented  his  wife  from  undertaking 
the  voyage.§  He  fortified  his  residence 
at  Q,uilleboeuf,  and  came  to  Paris  no  more 
than  was  absolutely  necessary ;  but  a 
new  enemy  had  arisen  to  supplant  him  in 
the  royal  favour,  Albert  de  Luynes,  who 
became  a  most  formidable  instrument  to 
effect  his  ruin.  This  young  man  rapidly 
gained  the  king's  confidence,  by  his  fasci- 
nating manners  and  adroit  pliancy  to  the 
feeble  monarch's  wishes:  his  next  step 
was  to  undermine  the  queen's  influence 
over  her  son  ;  and  to  that  end  some  infe- 
rior functionaries  were  employed  to  give 
him,  as  if  undesignedly,  a  most  exagge- 
rated account  of  public  affairs.    Louis  at 


*  Bassompierre,  p.  481.    Rohan,  liv.  1,  p.  87. 
+  Hist,  du  la  Mere  et  ilu  Fils,  vol.  ii.  p.  94. 
1  6lh  Sept.,  1616.    Duplessis,  vol.  iii.  p.  989. 
§  Bassompierre,  p.  501.   Hist,  de  la  Mere  el  du  Fils, 
vol.  ii.  p.  67. 


332 


MURDER  OF  MARSHAL  d'aNCRE. 


first  entertained  a  dislike  to  his  mother, 
for  her  misgovernment ;  he  then  burned 
•with  ambition  to  take  the  reins  into  his 
own  hands;  and  as  among  the  courtiers 
there  were  many  reckless  individuals,  im- 
patient for  the  marshal's  overthrow,  a 
dastardly  project  was  formed  for  murder- 
ing the  queen's  favourite.  Vitry,  captain 
of  the  guards,  was  selected  for  this  disho- 
nourable deed ;  and  the  rank  of  marshal 
was  again  made  the  price  of  violence: 
his  commission  was  executed  on  the  24th 
of  April,  1617,  when  the  unfortunate 
D'Ancre  received  the  contents  of  three 
pistols,  as  he  entered  the  Louvre.  The 
atrocious  act  was  followed  by  shouts  of 
Five  le  Roi,  on  which  the  king  presented 
himself  at  the  palace  window,  to  acknow- 
ledge the  loyal  service.* 

This  put  an  end  to  the  regency:  the 
queen  was  closely  guarded ;  and  the 
marshal's  widow  and  partisans  were  ar- 
rested. The  scenes  which  followed  at- 
test the  brutality  of  the  French  populace. 
D'Ancre's  remains  were  disinterred,  ex- 
posed with  the  greatest  indignity,  and 
publicly  torn  to  pieces.  The  unfortunate 
widow,  Eleonora  Galigai,  was  afterwards 
treated  with  a  severity  which  can  hardly 
be  justified,  even  if  all  the  charges  pre- 
ferred against  her  were  well  founded. 
The  parliament  of  Paris  was  unfortunate- 
ly affected  by  the  ferocious  spirit  of  the 
age. 

Blois  was  selected  as  the  scene  of  the 
queen's  exile,  or  rather  captivity,  for  she 
was  debarred  every  vestige  of  liberty, 
and  experienced  repeated  insults.  After 
some  time  she  wrote  to  request  an  inter- 
view with  her  son:  but  the  policy  of 
Luynes  rendered  it  necessary  to  prevent 
the  meeting,  if  possible:  and  the  Jesuit 
Arnoux  was  sent  to  dissuade  her  from 
reiterating  the  proposal.  Various  argu- 
ments were  used  to  persuade  her,  fol- 
lowed by  threats  of  harsher  treatment; 
and  she  was  finally  induced  to  make  a 
declaration  on  oath,  that  she  would  never 
go  to  the  king,  unless  sent  for;  and  that, 
being  sent  for,  she  would  not  interfere 
with  public  affairs.  A  declaration  to  this 
effect  was  signed  at  the  Jesuit's  pro- 
posal^ 

Yet  even  this   did  not  satisfy  the 


*  Hist.de  la  Wire,  et  du  Fils.  vol.  ii.  p.  ]85. 
t  Hist,  de  la  Mere  et  du  Fils,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 


queen's  persecutors,  who  thought  of  im- 
prisoning her  in  the  castle  of  Amboise: 
which  intention  being  communicated, 
added  to  the  vexations  of  captivity, 
caused  her  to  meditate  some  plan  for  the 
recovery  of  her  liberty.  Her  confine- 
ment, which  lasted  nearly  two  years,  was 
at  length  terminated  in  February,  1619, 
by  a  spirited  exploit  of  the  veteran  Duke 
of  Epernon,  who  executed  a  most  ro- 
mantic expedition  for  effecting  her  re- 
lease.* 

A  tedious  series  of  negotiations  and 
intrigues  followed;  and  in  September  the 
king  met  her  near  Tours,  after  which 
Angers  was  selected  for  her  abode.  She 
resided  in  that  town  until  the  following 
year,  when  it  became  a  rendezvous  of 
discontented  nobles  to  such  an  extent, 
that  the  king  was  obliged  to  bring  an 
armed  force  before  it.  As  the  troops  ap- 
proached, the  queen's  friends  showed  a 
disposition  to  negotiate:  but  Conde,  who 
had  recovered  his  liberty,  was  endeavour- 
ing to  make  himself  valuable  to  Louis; 
and  being  probably  instigated  by  resent- 
ment against  the  queen-mother,  pushed 
affairs  to  an  extremity,  by  attacking  the 
Pont-de-Ce,  a  small  place  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Angers.t  The  result  of  this 
engagement  quickly  induced  a  surrender. 
Still  the  king  was  disposed  to  act  lenient- 
ly towards  his  mother's  adherents;  and  a 
convention  was  signed,  by  which  the  pri- 
soners were  liberated  and  an  amnesty 
granted.^ 

The  king  was  advised  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  present  moment,  when  he 
had  a  respectable  force  at  his  disposal,  to 
subjugate  the  province  of  Beam,  where 
the  Protestant  religion  had  faken  deep 
root,  and  attained  almost  general  adop- 
tion, under  the  protection  and  encourage- 
ment of  Jane  D'Albret.  These  protest- 
ants  were  obnoxious,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  heretical  notions  they  held,  in 
common  with  the  general  body  of  the 
Huguenots;  they  had  besides  been  so 
favoured  by  their  zealous  sovereign,  that 
all  the  church  property  was  in  their 
hands:  in  consequence,  every  ecclesias- 
tic having  access  to  the  royal  council, 

*  Relation  de  la  Sortie  de  la  Reyne  Merede  Blois,  par 
le  Cardinnl  de  La  Valelte.  This  piece  is  inserted  in 
the  Jilemoires  pour  servir  d  VHisloire  du  Cardinal  de 
Richelieu,  par  Auliery. 

t  7th  Aug  ,  1020. 

%  Hist,  de  la  Mere  et  du  Fils.— Merc.  Franc.,  Bas, 
sompierre. 


FRESH  ALARMS  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


333 


would  urge  the  prosecution  of  a  measure 
for  removing  such  a  scandal.  Conde 
approved  of  the  plan,  principally  because 
he  was  anxious  for  a  war,  in  which  he 
might  gain  importance;  and  the  king  was 
easily  persuaded  to  attempt  what  coin- 
cided so  well,  with  his  feelings.  This 
epoch  is,  on  that  account,  important  in 
the  annals  of  the  Protestant  religion;  for 
upon  the  fate  of  this  undertaking  depend- 
ed the  subsequent  prosperity  of  the  re- 
formed religion  in  France. 

To  preserve  a  greater  degree  of  per- 
spicuity in  this  narrative,  the  more  im- 
mediate affairs  of  the  Protestants  have 
given  place  to  events  which,  however 
important  in  themselves,  were  far  less  in- 
terwoven in  the  proceedings  of  that  body. 
It  will  now  be  requisite  to  return  to  the 
year  1616,  when  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
after  involving  many  Huguenots  in  a  con- 
test with  the  crown,  took  especial  care  of 
his  own  interests  in  the  treaty  of  Loudun, 
and  unfeelingly  left  his  dupes  to  their 
good  or  ill  fortune. 

The  character  of  Duplessis-Mornay 
stands  too  high  to  allow  any  suspicion  of 
his  integrity;  but  his  aversion  to  resist- 
ance, and  his  constant  dissuasions  from 
vigorous  efforts,  even  when  all  hopes  of 
averting  the  threatened  ill  had  passed 
away,  eaused  incalculable  injury  to  his 
party.  The  line  of  conduct  he  pursued 
from  conscientious  loyalty  was  followed 
by  other  Huguenot  chiefs  from  sordid 
motives;  and  it  is  established  beyond 
doubt,  that  the  constable's  sword  and  a 
marshal's  baton  were  the  bribes  for  de- 
taching Lesdiguieres  and  La  Force  from 
the  Protestant  interest.  Even  Chatillon 
could  not  be  deemed  stanch  in  the  cause 
for  which  his  ancestor  had  been  a  mar- 
tyr. It  was  probably  a  knowledge  of 
the  sentiments  entertained  by  the  leading 
Huguenots  which  made  Duplessis  write 
to  the  assembly  at  Rochelle,  that  the 
churches  would  sooner  or  later  be  af- 
flicted.* 

The  disposition  to  molest  them  was 
evident:  Epernon's  conduct  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Aunis  was  a  specimen  of  the 
treatment  to  be  expected  at  a  future  time; 
and  when  Lord  Hay  came  to  Paris  on  a 
mission  in  1616,  he  begged  the  queen  to 
withdraw  that  haughty  nobleman  from 


17lh  Dec.  1616.— Duplessis,  vol.  iii.  p.  1025. 


the  province,  as  the  Protestants  of  Ro- 
chelle had  sought  the  assistance  of  Great 
Britain,  which  could  not  be  refused  if 
they  were  molested  in  their  religion. 
The  queen,  who  expected  a  communica- 
tion relative  to  the  demand  of  her  daugh- 
ter in  marriage,  was  quite  surprised  at 
his  observations;  yet  she  replied  in  gene- 
ral terms  of  a  satisfactory  nature.* 

A  few  days  afterwards,  when  the  ti- 
dings of  Conde's  arrest  reached  Ro- 
chelle, the  inhabitants  were  greatly  ap- 
prehensive of  some  violent  measure  to 
their  prejudice;  and  as  a  precautibn  for 
securing  the  navigation  of  the  Charante 
in  the  event  of  a  war,  they  seized  upon 
Rochefort,  a  small  town  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Blanquet,  Gaillard,  and  some 
other  Huguenot  pirates,  observes  the 
courtier  Bernard,  had  assembled  four 
ships  of  war  and  some  small  vessels, 
with  a  view  to  command  the  mouth  of 
the  Charente.  They  were  defeated  by 
Barraut,  vice-admiral  of  Guyenne,  and 
the  ill-fated  Blanquet  and  Gaillard  were 
broken  on  the  wheel  at  Bordeaux.  Ca- 
meron, the  minister,  who  attended  them 
previous  to  execution,  published  an  ac- 
count of  their  last  moments,  which  was 
condemned  by  the  parliament  of  Guy- 
enne to  be  burned  by  the  executioner. 
It  was  not  clearly  shown  whether  the  ex- 
pedition was  a  private  scheme  of  the  in- 
dividuals concerned,  or  a  measure  sanc- 
tioned by  the  party.  But  as  the  vessels 
were  chiefly  fitted  out  at  Rochelle,  the 
proceedings  afforded  Epernon  a  pretext 
for  attacking  that  town;t  and  at  the  same 
time  justified  his  levying  men,  for  pro- 
tection against  the  known  hatred  of  D' An- 
cre's  party.J:  However,  his  expedition 
altogether  failed;  and  instead  of  sur- 
prising the  city,  of  which  he  hoped  to 
get  possession,  he  withdrew  to  Guyenne. 
It  was  subsequently  feared  by  the  court 
that  Rochelle  would  take  an  interest  in 
Conde's  captivity,  and  declare  in  his  fa- 
vour. Villette,  son-in-law  of  D'Aubigne, 
was  in  consequence  sent  to  assure  the 
Protestants  that  the  edicts  would  be 
punctually  observed.,  and  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty  of  Loudun  fulfilled. § 

From  this  time  until  the  period  of  the 


*  27th  Aug.  1C1G.  Bassompieire,  vol.  i.  p.  470. 
t  Bernard,  p.  147. 

1  Girard,  p  280.    ArcGre,  vol.  ii.  p.  143, 
$  ArcGre,  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 


334 


ROMANISM  RESTORED  IN  BEARN. 


expedition  against  Angers  nothing  of  mo- 
ment occurred.  The  Protestant  synods 
and  assemblies  were  frequently  held — 
too  frequently  for  their  own  prosperity, 
because  when  the  king's  sanction  was 
not  given,  they  met  as  if  in  defiance. 
Yet,  with  the  exception  of  the  affairs  of 
Beam,  their  discussions  were  entirely  on 
questions  of  divinity  and  discipline.  But 
the  condition  of  that  province  had  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  the  government  for 
some  years.  Henry  IV.  seems  to  have 
wished  to  leave  the  principality  as  he  re- 
ceived it  from  his  mother:  but  from  1614 
representations  were  repeatedly  made  on 
the  subject.  The  states-general  of  1614 
demanded  the  restoration  of  the  Romish 
religion,  and  the  annexation  of  the  pro- 
vince to  France.  The  Bishop  of  Beau- 
vais  made  a  similar  demand  in  the  name 
of  the  French  clergy.  In  the  state  coun- 
cils, at  the  assemblies  of  the  clergy,  and, 
in  short,  on  almost  every  occasion,  the 
government  was  exhorted  to  re-establish 
the  Catholic  worship,  and  restore  the 
church  lands.*  The  bishop  of  Macon 
assured  the  king  that  Christians  were 
better  treated  in  Mahometan  countries 
than  in  the  principality  of  Beam,  where 
the  property  of  the  church  was  applied 
to  the  support  of  its  enemies.  The  king 
was  greatly  moved  by  the  appeal;  and 
his  ideas  of  piety  caused  such  a  direct 
sanction  of  heresy  to  lay  heavy  on  his 
conscience/!" 

An  arret  was  soon  after  given  by  the 
king  in  council  for  the  complete  restora- 
tion of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  in 
Beam,  with  a  resumption  of  the  church 
lands,  which  was  followed  by  a  declara- 
tion of  the  assembly  at  Orthez,  that  the 
execution  of  this  decree  should  be  re- 
sisted; and  the  president  Lescun,  who 
was  deputed  to  remonstrate  with  the  go- 
vernment, was  so  far  led  away  by  the 
warmth  of  his  feelings  and  party  zeal, 
that,  although  the  king  permitted  him  to 
expose  his  arguments,  he  obtained  no 
other  result  than  an  edict  confirming  the 
previous  arret.  From  that  time  his  vio- 
lence against  the  government  exceeded 
all  bounds:  he  was  the  most  active  pro- 
moter of  the  opposition  at  the  Assembly 
at  Loudun  in  1619,  where,  according  to 
the  statement  of  Catholic  writers,  he 


*  Merc.  Franc.,  in  loc. 


|  Bernard,  p.  149. 


proclaimed  the  necessity  of  taking  arms 
to  prevent  the  resumption  of  the  church 
properly.*  This  show  of  resistance 
only  served  to  increase  the  efforts  of  the 
clergy  in  persuading  the  king  to  adopt 
strong  measures  for  vindicating  his  own 
prerogatives,  no  less  than  lor  serving  the 
cause  of  religion. f 

The  king  being  in  the  field  at  the  head 
of  an  army,  travelled  southward,  and  on 
reaching  Bordeaux,  resolved  to  proceed 
in  earnest  to  terminate  the  affairs  of 
Bearn.t  The  Parliament  of  Pau  refused 
for  some  time  to  register  the  king's  edict 
for  restoring  the  church  lands  to  the  Ca- 
tholics; and  on  the  10th  of  October,  1620, 
Louis  set  out  from  Bordeaux  to  compel 
the  submission  of  that  body.  The  ad- 
vocate-general of  the  parliament,  accom- 
panied by  La  Force,  met  the  king  on  the 
road,  and  presented  the  decree  which  had 
been  voted  on  hearing  of  his  determina- 
tion. That  did  not,  ihowever,  prevent 
the  king's  advance;  he  reached  Pau  on 
the  15th  of  October,  and  ordered  the  Ro- 
mish worship  to  be  celebrated  in  the  ca- 
thedrals and  churches,  from  which  it  had 
been  excluded  sixty  years.  Within  five 
days  from  his  arrival,  a  decree  was  re- 
gistered for  incorporating  Beam  with 
France. § 

The  campaign  of  1620  was  calculated 
to  discourage  altogether  the  disaffected 
of  every  class  and  party,  from  the  facility 
with  which  the  queen's  adherents  were 
subdued.  D'Aubigne,  who  had  declined 
an  invitation  to  join  that  party,  was  ne- 
vertheless exposed  to  suspicion,  and 
'  marked  as  a  subject  for  persecution.  The 
(approach  of  the  king  in  person  with  a 
formidable  force,  was  serious  to  one  so 
circumstanced:  he  decided  on  retiring  to 
Geneva,  and  quitted  St.-Jean-d'Angely 
with  twelve  horsemen  well  armed.  Al- 
:  though  orders  for  his  arrest  had  been 
'given  in  every  direction,  and  the  com- 
jmanders  were  furnished  with  his  por- 
trait, in  order  to  recognise  him,  he  com- 

*  Lescun  was  subsequently  executed  for  high  treason. 

t  Histoire  dcs  Troubles  de  Beam  an  svjet  de  la  Reli' 
gion.  dans  le  17'  Steele,  par  le  P.  Mirasson,  Barnabite 
pp.  20^15. 

%  Berule,  afterwards  famous  as  cardinal,  resorted  to 
a  pretemled  inspiration,  in  order  to  confirm  the  king's 
resolution.  At  a  private  audience,  he  assumed  a  pro- 
phetic lone,  and  declared  that  the  Almighty  would  con- 
duct him;  that  his  appearance  alone  would  overcome 
all  opposition;  and  that  complete  success  would  attend 
his  purpose,  for  restoring  the  authority  of  Jesus  CbrisS. 
Mirasson,  p.  47. 

tt  Merc.  Frang.,  vol.  vi.  pp.  350—354. 


CHARACTER  OF  d'aUBIGNE. 


335 


pleted  his  journey  in  safety.  After  a  se- 
ries of  unusual  difficulties  and  dangers, 
he  arrived  at  Geneva  on  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, where   he  was  received  with 


public  would  not  fail  of  incurring  the  ex- 
treme displeasure  of  Louis,  by  employ- 
ing a  person  he  held  in  abomination:* 
thus  tacitly  avowing  the  importance  of 


every  demonstration  of  respect  which  this  excellent  man,  of  whom  it  maybe 
the  authorities  of  that  city  could  devise  truly  said,  that  his  uncompromising  prin- 


for  one  whose  ardour  for  religious  liberty 
was  unrivalled.* 

In  addition  to  an  inflexible  disposition, 
which  rendered  D'Aubigne  obnoxious  to 


ciples  alone  prevented  him  from  obtain- 
ing the  highest  honours:  his  prospects  in 
youth  being  more  than  usually  favoura- 
ble, from  the  personal  friendship  of  the 


thecourt,he  had  recently  become  still  more  j  King  of  Navarre,  and  his  acknowledged 
so  by  the  freedom  of  his  publications.  His  merit  surpassing  that  of  many  who  ob- 


Histoire  Universelle.  was  burned  by  the 
common  hangman,  almost  immediately 
after  its  appearance. f    Having  been  an 
.eye-witness  of  the  most  important  mili- 
tary operations  during  the  long  civil  wars; 
moving  in  a  sphere  which  enabled  him  to 
converse  with  the  leaders  of  each  party; 
and  enjoying  a  reputation  for  great  pro- 
bity and  discretion,  which  won  their  con- 
fidence, he  was  well  qualified  to  relate 
the  eventful  scenes  in  which  he  had  taken 
part.    But  the  naked  truth  appeared  in 
the  light  of  an  accusation,  and  the  work 
was  condemned.    The  Jesuits  had  per- 
suaded Henry  IV.  to  forbid  the  composi- 
tion; but  Cardinal  du  Perron  had  that 
order  countermanded:  the  hostility  dis- 
played by  those  ecclesiastics  at  its  subse- 
quent publication  is  quite  natural.  D'Au- 
bigne wrote  likewise  several  humorous 
pieces,  in  which  an  extraordinary  vein  of 
satire  was  remarkable.     Le  Baron  de 
Fceneste,  in  particular,  was  severely  cut- 
ting upon  the  Duke  of  Epernon,  whose 
party  was  powerful,  and  who  was  a  warm 
friend  to  the  Jesuits.    D'Aubigne's  vo- 
luntary exile  was  therefore  easily  ac- 
counted for.    During  his  residence  at  Ge- 
neva, the  general  assembly  of  Rochelle 
sent  messengers  to  testify  their  regret  at 
the  injustice  he  had  received  from  that 
body  in  his  private  affairs;  to  express 
their  sympathy  in  his  exile,  and  the  loss 
they  suffered  by  his  absence;  and  to  au- 
thorize him  to  negotiate  with  the  Swiss 
and  Dutch  Protestants  for  levies  and  sup- 
plies.   He  also  received  proposals  from 
the  Venetian  ambassador  at  Berne  to  take 
employment  in  the  service  of  that  repub- 
lic, as  general  of  the  French  troops  in 
their  pay.    The  latter  proposal  was  near- 
ly agreed  to,  when  Miron,  the  French 
envoy,  sent  word  that  the  Venetian  re- 


tained the  rank  of  marshal.  Theodore 
Agrippa  d'Aubigne  was  born  at  St.  Mau- 
ry, in  Poictou,  in  February,  1550:  he 
died  at  Geneva,  in  April,  1630. 


*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.  pp.  189—192. 
+  4th  January,  1617. 


CHAPTER  LV. 


Assembly  at  Rochelle— Riots  at  Tours— St.  Jean  D'An- 
gely  subdued — Siege  of  Montauban — Violence  of  a 
mob  in  Paris. 


The  abolition  of  the  provincial  inde- 
pendence of  Beam  was  the  pretext  for  a 
general  assembly  at  Rochelle.  It  was  to 
no  purpose  that  the  king  published  a  de- 
claration, forbidding  the  meeting:  the 
huissier  sent  to  signify  the  publication  to 
the  mayor  received  no  other  answer,  than 
that  he  might  leave  when  he  pleased. t 
This  conduct  was  regretted  by  the  prin- 
cipal Huguenots,  who  foresaw  the  natural 
effect  would  be  to  irritate  the  govern- 
ment. The  Duke  de  Rohan  did  all  in 
his  power  to  persuade  his  friends  to  sub- 
mit, but  in  vain:  he  was  accused  of  being 
sold  to  the  court.}  La  Force,  Chatillon, 
and  Favas,  from  interested  motives,  urged 
the  deputies  to  be  firm;  and  a  solemn  fast 
preceded  the  opening  of  the  session,  on 
the  25th  of  December.§ 

Even  if  the  limits  of  the  present  work 
did  not  preclude  the  attempt,  it  would  be 
useless  to  detail  every  proceeding  of  this 
assembly,  represented  by  the  Duke  de 
Rohan  as  the  source  of  all  the  ills  which 
followed. ||  Warnings  and  monitions  were 
addressed  from  every  side.  Telinus,  a 
minister  of  great  celebrity,  published  an 
address;  La  Tremouille  assisted  Rohan 
in  the  endeavour  to  persuade;  and  Lesdi- 


*  D'Aubigne,  Mem.,  pp.  193—200. 
t  Merc.  Prang.,  vol.  vi.  p.  459. 

t  Rohan,  Discours  sur  les  Derniers  Troubles,  p.  101. 

i  Artere,  vol.  ii.  p.  155. 

||  Rohan,  Discours,  &.c,  p.  101. 


336  MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS  AT  ROCHELLE. 


gtiieres  wrote  three  times,  exhorting  the 
Huguenot  body  to  desist  from  setting  the 
royal  authority  at  defiance*  Duplessis 
was  not  discouraged  by  several  failures: 
he  persevered  in  sending  his  memorials 
to  the  assembly,  commissioned  his  son- 
in-law,  Villarnoul,  to  deliver  a  final  ad- 
dress, and  wrote  a  private  letter  to  the 
mayor  of  Rochelle,  in  which  he  exhorted 
him  to  reflect  seriously  on  the  conse- 
quences of  his  dangerous  policy .f 

The  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  made 
it  important  to  secure  the  co-operation  of 
Lesdiguieres;  and  the  king  offered  to  re- 
vive the  dignity  of  constable  in  his  favour, 
on  condition,  however,  that  he  became  a 
Catholic.  Lesdiguieres  received  the  in- 
timation at  Grenoble,  and  immediately 
hastened  to  Paris,  to  express  his  sense  of 
the  obligation,  and  give  evidence  of  his 
loyal  zeal,  by  endeavouring  to  convince 
the  assembly  at  Rochelle  of  their  error. 
He  could  not,  however,  decide  upon  ab- 
juring his  religion;  and  declined  the  pro- 
posed honour,  with  a  recommendation  of 
Luynes  as  a  more  fit  person  to  fill  that 
important  post.  Conde  and  Guise  ap- 
proved of  the  selection,  and  the  nomina- 
tion of  Luynes  was  registered  by  the 
parliament  of  Paris.! 

There  had  been  some  movements  at 
the  close  of  1620,  in  the  Vivarais  and 
Beam,  which  .made  it  more  requisite  to 
enforce  respect  for  the  authority  of  the 
crown;  and  the  king  took  the  field  with 
a  force  adequate  for  suppressing  the  in- 
surrectionary bodies,  as  well  as  for  hum- 
bling the  obstinate  assembly  of  Rochelle. 
At  the  same  time,  to  encourage  the  loyal 
portion  of  the  Protestants,  he  published  a 
declaration,  assuring  them  of  his  inten- 
tion to  maintain  the  edicts  in  their  favour.§ 

It  was  the  king's  intention,  on  leaving 
Fontainebleau,  to  remain  some  time  at 
Blois,  from  which  central  position  the 
"moral  effect  of  his  presence  with  an  army 
might  render  military  operations  needless. 
He  was  however  induced  to  hasten  on  to 
Tours,  where  a  conflict  between  the  Pro- 
testants and  Catholics  had  threatened  to 
produce  serious  consequences.  It  origi- 
nated with  the  funeral  of  a  Protestant, 
named  Martin  Le  Noir,  an  inn -keeper, 
whose  character  was  not  calculated  to 

*  His  letters  are  given  at  length  in  the  .Merc.  Franc. 
t  ArcOre,  vol.  ii.  p.  Ki3. 

j  22d  April,  1021.   Merc.  Franc;.,  vol.  vii.  p.  2'i7. 
}  24th  April,  1(321.    Ibid,  vol.  vii.  p.  280. 


honour  the  religion  he  professed,  if  a  cor- 
rect opinion  can  be  founded  on  a  popular 
refrain.*  As  his  body  was  taken  to  the 
cemetery,  a  number  of  children  followed 
singing  the  couplets  alluded  to;  and  in 
the  market-place  the  people  hooted  at  the 
procession.  At  the  place  of  burial  the 
children  continued  singing;  on  which 
some  of  the  party  turned,  and.  striking 
them,  caused  two  of  the  disturbers  to  fall 
into  the  grave.  The  consequence  of  this 
was  an  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
populace:  the  Protestants  were  attacked 
with  stones,  and  compelled  to  seek  shelter. 
The  ignorant  people,  ever  ready  to  gratify 
the  brutal  feelings  engendered  by  preju- 
dice, and  on  this  occasion  urged  by  re- 
venge, rushed  to  the  cemetery,  and  took 
up  the  body  of  Martin  Le  Noir,  with  the 
intention  of  hanging  and  burning  it.  At 
the  same  time  the  houses  and  stores  of  the 
Protestants  were  broken  into  and  de- 
vastated. The  magistrates  were  unable 
to  quell  the  tumult:  the  body  was  how- 
ever deposited  in  the  grave,  and  such  of 
the  goods  as  were  not  destroyed  were 
placed  in  safety;  but  it  was  beyond  their 
power  to  restore  order.  The  following 
day  the  mob  set  fire  to  the  Protestant 
temple,  and  prevented  the  authorities  from 
interfering  to  stop  the  conflagration.  The 
sedition  continued  with  short  intermissions 
until  the  king's  arrival,  on  the  6th  of  May. 
A  species  of  fury  animated  the  mob,  who 
renewed  their  attacks  on  fresh  pretexts, 
each  succeeding  day;  till  at  length  nearly 
thirty  of  the  ringleaders  being  arrested, 
the  future  tranquillity  of  the  town  was  se- 
cured by  a  severe  example.  Five  were 
condemned  to  walk  barefoot  from  the 
prison  to  the  market-place,  where  they 
were  hanged,  and  their  bodies  burned, 
which  sentence  was  executed  without  any 
disturbance.  The  remainder  were  par- 
doned, and  soon  afterwards  set  at  liberty.! 

From  Tours  the  king  proceeded  to 
Saumur,  where  he  remained  five  days.j 
His  authority  was  there  exercised  rather 
severely.  Duplessis,  whose  loyalty  and 
moderation  had  been  uniformly  praised  at 
court,  was  ordered  to  resign  the  keys  of 

*  Le  plus  grand  cornar 
Qui  suit  en  la  Fiance, 
C'est  Martin  Le  Noir: 
Telle  est  ma  crnyarice. 

Merc.  Franc,  vol.  vii.  p  201. 
t  10th  May,  1021.  Merc.  Fsane.,  pp  291-304.  Ber- 
nard, pp.  20U— 211. 
1  From  12th  to  10th  May. 


PROTESTANTS  BESIEGED 


IN  ST.  JEAN  D'ANGELY. 


337 


Saumur:  impartiality  will  however  admit 
some  excuse  for  this  harsh  decision  :  it 
was  reported  to  the  king  that  the  assem- 
bly of  Rochelle  purposed  sending  a  body 
of  six  thousand  men  to  hold  Saumur,  and 
cut  off  all  communication  with  the  capi- 
tal.* That  such  a  violent  measure  was 
really  contemplated  is  not  proved;  but 
there  is  evidence  of  readiness  to  adopt  it, 
in  the  organization  of  the  Huguenot  forces, 
by  dividing  France  into  eight  circles,  with 
a  commander  appointed  to  each. t  It  was 
in  fact  establishing  a  feudal  republic,  only 
without  entirely  disclaiming  a  nominal 
allegiance;  and  such  a  defiance  was  ne- 
cessarily followed  by  energetic  measures 
on  both  sides. 

The  siege  of  St.  Jean  d'Angely  was 
commenced  on  the  16th  of  May,  by 
Count  d'Auriac,  with  a  division  of  four 
thousand  men.  The  town  was  well  de- 
fended ;  and  the  inhabitants  showed  them- 
selves worthy  of  their  ancestors,  who  had 
sustained  three  sieges  of  considerable 
celebrity.  Even  the  women  shared  the 
labours  and  dangers,  working  night  and 
day  at  the  fortifications,  and  preparing 
cartridges.}:  Soubise  commanded  the 
place; J  and  his  brother,  Rohan,  within 
three  days  after  the  beginning  of  the 
siege,  threw  in  a  reinforcement  of  a  thou- 
sand soldiers,  and  above  one  hundred 
gentlemen ;  after  which  he  proceeded  to 
Guyenne,  the  circle  intrusted  to  him  by 
the  assembly. || 

A  royal  ordinance  was  issued.1T  de- 
claring the  inhabitants  of  Rochelle,  St. 
Jean  d'Angely,  and  their  adherents,  guilty 
of  treason.  Subsequently  a  herald  called 
upon  Soubise  to  open  the  gates  to  the  king, 
under  penalty  of  being  declared  a  traitor, 
with  degradation  from  his  nobility,  and 
the  confiscation  of  all  his  property.  Sou- 
bise having  explained  that  he  was  there 
on  behalf  of  the  assembly  at  Rochelle, 
gave  the  following  answer:  "I  am  the 
king's  very  humble  servant;  but  the  ex- 
ecution of  his  command  is  out  of  my 
power. — Benjamin  de  Rohan."** 

Meanwhile  the  king's  army  had  been 

*  Merc  Frnng.,  vol.  vii  p.  304. 
t  Bernard,  li v  0,  p.  221,  et  seq. 
1  Merc.  Franc.,  p.  533, 

§  Benjamin  de  Rohan,  seigneur  de  Soubise,  was  ele- 
vated to  the  dignity  of  duke  in  1620  ;  but  his  patent 
was  never  registered  by  the  parliament  ;  he  is  however 
generally  known  by  that  title. 

||  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  2,  p.  122. 

IT  Dated  Niort.  27th  May,  1621. 

**  Merc  Frang.,  vol.  vii.  p.  526. 

29 


joined  by  reinforcements  of  men  and  ar- 
tillery, and  the  place  was  severely  can- 
nonaded. The  besieged  made  several 
bold  sallies,  but  without  succeeding  in 
destroying  the  preparations  for  an  assault ; 
and  although  their  danger  became  daily 
more  evident,  they  maintained  the  defence 
with  spirit,  until  Haute  Fontaine,  the  con- 
fidential friend  of  Soubise,  was  killed. 
That  loss,  and  the  fact  of  some  extensive 
mines  being  prepared,  made  Soubise  more 
willing  to  capitulate.  He  accordingly 
wrote  to  the  king's  minister  Luynes,  who 
had  recently  been  named  constable ;  and 
after  several  discussions  on  matters  of 
form,  the  king  sent  word  that  he  should 
make  no  treaty,  but,  at  the  humble  sup- 
plication of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Jean,  he 
would  give  a  full  pardon  to  every  one  on 
the  sole  condition  of  its  being  asked,  and 
on  their  swearing  fidelity  and  obedience 
for  the  future.  The  offer  was  accepted 
and  the  gates  were  thrown  open.*  The 
fortifications  were  destroyed,  and  the 
place  completely  dismantled  ;  not  only  as 
a  measure  of  precaution,  but  also  of  pu- 
nishment, the  royal  ordinance  declaring, 
that,  in  times  of  trouble,  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Jean  d'Angely  were  always  the  first 
to  revolt. f 

During  this  siege  the  king's  authority 
was  established  in  all  the  towns  of  Poictou, 
Saintonge,  and  the  adjoining  provinces. 
The  Duke  of  Vendome  restored  order  in 
Brittany ;  Bouillon  wrote  with  submission 
to  the  king;  La  Tremouille  went  in  per- 
son; Chatillon  and  La  Force  were  either 
paralyzed  in  their  operations  or  seduced 
by  promises.  Rohan  and  his  brother 
alone  remained  faithful  to  the  Protestant 
cause;  and  their  fidelity  was  the  more 
meritorious,  as  Luynes  had  married  their 
niece,  and  great  efforts  had  been  made  to 
win  them  to  the  court  interest. 

The  historian  of  Rochelle,  a  father  of 
the  congregation  of  the  Oratoire,  com- 
plains of  the  inconsistent  conduct  of  the 
Protestants,  who  were  clamorous  for  the 
execution  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  yet 
violated  its  conditions,  by  refusing  to  allow 
the  celebration  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
worship,  and  oppressing  the  followers  of 
that  creed  with  constant  odious  vexations. 
The  Oratorians  were  the  only  Catholic 
clergy  in  Rochelle:  they  had  formed  an 

*  25lh  7une. 

+  The  ordinance  given  at  Cognac  was  registered  at 
Bordeaux,  6th  July,  1621. 


338 


BRAVE  RESISTANCE  OF  MONTAUBAN. 


establishment  in  1G14,  but  the  advance  of  The  Duke  of  Mayenne,  governor  of  the? 
the  king's  forces,  and  the  alarming  state  province,  was  then  laid  up  at  Bordeaux 
of  affairs,  caused  a  strong  feeling  against I  with  a  fever;  not  a  levy  had  been  made, 


them.  In  consequence,  a  vote  of  the  as- 
sembly ordered  them  to  quit  the  city. 
"  The  more  violent,"  says  Father  Arcere, 


nor  any  order  given  for  repressive  mea- 
sures, in  consequence  of  this  insurrection. 
La  Force  availed  himself  of  Mayenne's 


"were  for  burning  them  in  their  church,  inactivity  to  strengthen  his  army;  but  on 
or  pitching  them  over  the  ramparts."  The!  the  news  of  his  operations  reaching  Bor- 
mayor,  however,  assisted  them  in  retiring  deaux,  the  emergency  of  the  case,  and  his 
from  the  city,  and  lamented  his  inability  serious  responsibility  as  governor,  caused 
to  protect  their  continued  stay.  To  avoid  the  duke  to  disregard  his  illness:  he  set 
the  clamours  of  the  multitude,  they  quitted :  out  in  the  night  to  join  the  Duke  of  Eper- 
the  town  at  dinner-time,  in  a  boat  pre-  non,  and  ordered  two  regiments  to  follow 
pared  by  that  magistrate.*  him.*    Nerac  held  out  with  spirit  for  some 

Previously  to  the  king's  departure  for  days :  as  a  diversion,  La  Force  obtained 
Guyenne,  he  ordered  Epernon  to  press  possession  of  Caumont,  and  besieged 
Rochelle,  by  sea  as  well  as  by  land,  i  Sept-Fons :  but  the  king's  forces  were  so 
That  nobleman  decided  on  blockading;  much  superior  in  numbers,  that  ultimately 
that  town,  and  therefore  kept  parties  of  the  insurgents  were  every  where  defeated, 


horsemen  constantly  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, to  prevent  the  arrival  of  provisions. t 
Skirmishes  often  took  place,  and  all  sup- 
ply from  the  land  was  cut  off.  But  it  was 
different  on  the  sea-coast,  the  ships  sta- 
tioned at  the  mouth  of  the  harbour  not 


and  Nerac  surrendered  on  the  9th  of  July. 

Clerac,  another  Gascon  town,  detained 
the  king  from  the  20th  of  July  until  the 
5th  of  August,  after  which  the  siege  of 
Montauban  was  resolved  on.t  Rohan 
hail  apprehended  this  decision,  from  the 


being  able  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  tidings  he  received  of  such  general  sub- 
small  vessels.  In  general  the  confede-| mission  to  the  king;  and  early  in  July  he 
rates  were  superior  at  sea  to  the  king's  i  had  visited  Lower  Languedoc,  to  rally  his 
forces:  and  their  success  induced  them,  I  friends,  and  obtain  supplies  for  the  as- 
at  a  later  period,  to  attempt  a  measure  of  sistance  of  Montauban  ;  which  town  was 
some  importance,  and  bar  the  entrance  to  j  invested  on  the  21st  of  August  by  the 
Brouage,  by  sinking  some  vessels  laden  king  in  person,  attended  by  the  constable, 
with  stones  at  the  mouth  of  that  port,  the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  and  Marshals 
St.  Luc,  the  royalist  marine  commander,  iPraslin,  Chaulne,  Themines,  and  Lesdi- 
having  intimation  of  the  design,  hastily  Iguieres.J    Sully,  who  had  for  some  time 


threw  up  a  redoubt  at  the  water's  edge, 
which  effectually  prevented  the  approach 
of  the  Roehellese.i: 

The  king's  progress  in  the  south  of 
France  was  almost  every  where  hailed  by 
submission.  La  Force  and  his  son,  who 
intended  to  make  a  stand  at  Bergerac,  re- 
tired to  Nerac,  where  the  Huguenots 
hailed  him  as  commander  of  the  circle. § 
Being  joined  by  Rohan,  the  Catholic  coun- 
sellors of  the  justice-chamber  were  dis- 
missed ;  and  after  establishing  La  Force 
in  that  place,  the  duke  set  off  for  Montau 


withdrawn  from  public  life  to  his  states  at 
Quercy,  came  to  the  king's  head-quarters* 
and  offered  to  use  his  influence  with  the 
inhabitants,  whom  he  imagined  he  could 
persuade  into  submission ;  but  his  inten- 
tions were  frustrated  by  the  zeal  and 
firmness  of  the  town-council,  of  which 
body  the  minister  Chamier  was  presi- 
dent. Sully's  recommendations  were  dis- 
regarded, the  council  being  determined  on 
the  question  of  refusing  to  submit:  they 
were  willing,  however,  to  treat  with  the 
king  in  the  name  and  with  the  approval 


ban,  where  he  arrived  in  the  middle  of  of  their  party  at  large;  which  of  course 


July.  In  that  journey  he  was  obliged  to 
take  a  circuitous  route  of  thirty-five 
leagues,  to  avoid  Marshal  Themines,  at 
the  head  of  a  considerable  force. || 


*  Arcere.  vol.  ii.  pp.  167,  lf;H. 
+  Guard,  Vie  dLpernon,  p.  304. 
}  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  175. 

§  3d  June.  1621.  Merc.  Franc;.,  vol.  vii.  p.  COI. 
\  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  ii.  p.  124. 


could  not  be  conceded  by  a  monarch 
flushed  with  success.§  The  obstinacy  of 
this  body  unequivocally  arose  out  of  their 
warm  attachment  to  the  cause  they  had 


»  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  vii.  p.  C03. 
t  Ibid,  p.  653. 

J  Rohan,  Mem.,  p.  129.    Bassompierre,  vol.  ii.  p.  161. 
Merc.  Franc ,  p.  822. 
6  Merc.  Frane.,  vol.  vii.  p.  826. 


THE  SIEGE  RAISED. 


339 


espoused,  and  the  selfish  and  interested 
conduct  of  many  noblemen  of  their  party 
made  them  distrustful  of  Sully's  advice. 
Having  so  often  experienced  fatal  effects 
from  too  much  confidence,  and  being  sti- 
mulated by  a  desire  of  rivalling  the  as- 
sembly at  Rochelle,  they  would  admit  no 
compromise  in  the  contest  for  religious 
liberty.  But,  unfortunately,  that  sacred 
cause  received  an  irreparable  injury  from 
their  well-meant  zeal.  The  republican 
character  of  their  institutions,  and  their 
self-government,  altogether  independent  of 
the  crown,  became  obvious ;  and  from  | 
that  time  the  interests  of  the  monarchy  | 
demanded  a  hostile  policy,  so  far  as  the 
Protestant  body  was  concerned. 

Montauban  was  courageously  defended; 
and  Bassompierre,  who  was  present,  has 
related  some  spirited  scenes  that  took 
place.  Rohan  was,  on  his  side,  actively 
engaged  in  bringing  a  reinforcement  to 
the  besieged  ;  and  in  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber sent  fifteen  hundred  men,  under  the 
command  of  Beaufort,  a  courageous  man,  | 
to  enter  the  town,  if  possible.  The  king 
was  informed  of  the  project,  and  the  I 
guards  were  doubled ;  which  did  not, 
however,  prevent  eight  hundred  of  Beau- 
fort's division  from  breaking  through  the  ; 
camp.  This  incident  was  closely  fol- 
lowed by  several  sorties,  which  greatly 
discouraged  the  king's  troops. 

Both  attack  and  defence  were  well 
sustained,  till  the  end  of  October,  when 
the  constable  decided  on  raising  the  siege. 
He  had  invited  Rohan  to  a  private  con- 
ference at  Castres,  but  the  public  feeling 
being  opposed  to  a  negotiation,  they  met 
at  Reviers,  within  a  league  of  Montauban, 
when  Luynes  used  the  most  friendly  ar- 
guments to  win  over  the  Protestant  com- 
mander. He  even  appealed  to  the  al- 
liance between  their  families,  the  Duchess 
of  Luynes  being  of  the  house  of  Rohan. 
But  the  conference  produced  no  result, 
because  the  constable  would  not  hear  of 
a  general  treaty,  his  object  being  to  detach 
the  leader  from  his  party.*  Rohan's 
firmness  was  ill-requited  by  his  confede- 
rates, and  he  had  reason  to  complain  of 
their  interestedness  before  the  end  of  the 
war. 

When  Luynes  communicated  to  Bas- 
sompierre his  design  of  raising  the  siege, 

*  Rohan;  Mem.  p.  135,  et  ieq. 


he  was  told  in  reply  that  he  did  right  to 
relinquish  a  plan  in  which  he  was  unin- 
tentionally engaged ;  as  it  was  entered 
upon  with  a  full  assurance  from  Bourg- 
Franc,  the  commander,  that  he  would 
open  the  gates.*  This  incident  affords  an 
explanation  of  the  prevailing  readiness  to 
surrender  on  the  king's  approach,  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  unvarying  practice  of  the 
Huguenots  in  former  civil  wars;  and 
Rohan  observes, — "  from  Saumur  to  Mon- 
tauban, there  was  a  general  submission; 
with  no  resistance,  except  at  St.  Jean- 
d'Angely,  which  my  brother  defended  as 
long  as  he  could.  And  the  peace  of 
Montpellier  comprised  no  chiefs  of  pro- 
vinces, except  my  brother  and  myself; 
all  the  others  having  made  their  treaty 
separately  and  on  advantageous  terms."t 
After  the  conversation  already  alluded 
to,  between  Luynes  and  Bassompierre,  a 
conference  was  privately  held  with  some 
of  the  besieged,  but  without  producing 
any  result,  and  the  king  withdrew  his 
troops  early  in  November.  He  confessed 
to  Bassompierre,  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
how  bitterly  he  felt  the  unfavourable  turn 
of  affairs.  Bassompierre's  division  had 
been  conspicuous,  and  Louis  declared  that 
no  other  part  of  the  army  had  given  him 
equal  satisfaction.  In  short,  he  had  re- 
solved on  giving  him  the  chief  command.]; 
During  the  siege  a  considerable  number 
of  nobles  and  gentlemen  were  killed: 
among  the  besieged,  the  minister  Chamier 
was  struck  by  a  cannon  ball,  while  de- 
fending a  breach.§  The  most  eminent 
among  the  assailants  was  the  Duke  of 
Mayenne,  mortally  wounded  in  the  left 
eye  by  a  musket  ball,  while  examining 
the  trenches  with  the  Duke  of  Guise  and 
Count  Schomberg.  He  was  conveyed  to 
his  tent,  and  died  almost  immediately  after 
reaching  it,|j  The  greatest  honours  were 
paid  to  his  remains  in  every  town  through 
which  they  passed ;  but  the  Parisians  ap- 
pear to  have  fancied  nothing  so  congenial 
as  to  attack  the  Protestants.  There  were 
in  circulation  some  menacing  reports, 
during  several  days  after  the  news  of  his 
death  had  reached  the  capital,  and  on  the 
Sunday  following'  the  road  to  Charenton 
was  well  guarded,  to  protect  the  Protest- 

*  Bassompierre.  vol.  ii.  p  232. 

t  Rohan,  Discours  sur  les  Verniers  Troubles,  p.  101. 

t  Bassompierre,  vol.  ii.  p.  235. 

$  Merc.  Franc;.,  vol.  viii.  p.  (505. 

|  16th  Sept.  1024.    Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  849. 


340 


ROMANIST  MOBS  OF  PARIS. 


ants  in  going  to  and  from  their  temple; 
the  Duke  of  Montbazon,  governor  of 
Paris,  the  Chevalier  du  Guet,  the  provost,  j 
lieutenant  civil,  &c,  being  stationed  at 
the  porte  St.  Antoine.  The  morning  ser- 
vice passed  off  quietly  ;  but  in  the  after-  j 
noon  a  band  of  vagabonds,  concealed 
among  the  vines,  commenced  an  attack 
on  some  carnages  returning  to  the  city. 
When  the  archers  hastened  forward  to 
protect  that  party,  another  band  fell  upon 
some  Protestants  on  foot,  at  a  little  dis- 
tance. As  they  were  armed  with  swords 
and  pistols,  a  skirmish  ensued,  in  which 
several  were  mortally  wounded.  The 
affray,  once  commenced,  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  outside  of  Paris:  the  confu- 
sion was  still  greater  within  the  gates,  and 
an  aged  female  Protestant  was  murdered 
near  Mayenne's  hotel. 

Nor  were  the  Protestants  the  only  vic- 
tims, for  the  mob  became  more  and  more 
outrageous  in  their  proceedings;  and  as 
many  Catholics  were  taking  their  Sunday 
walk  in  the  country,  they  were  robbed  of 
whatever  they  had  about  them,  the  popu- 1 
lace  pretending  to  search  their  persons  I 
for  crosses  and  rosaries,  as  evidence  of ; 
their  being  Catholics. 

The  mob  then  proceeded  to  Charenton, 
being  strengthened  by  a  reinforcement  of 
bad  characters  of  every  kind,  with  a 
swarm  of  apprentices  and  workmen,  free 
for  the  day,  and  ready  for  any  kind  of 
mischief.  The  door  of  the  temple  was 
forced  open  ;  the  benches,  desks  and  books 
were  piled  up  in  a  heap;  the  houses  of 
the  consistory  and  guardian  were  pil- 
laged; and  the  temple  itself  set  on  fire; 
after  which  the  mob,  about  four  hundred 
in  number,  returned  to  Paris,  shouting 
Vive  le  Roi,  It  required  all  the  watchful 
care  of  the  authorities  to  prevent  still 
more  serious  consequences,  for  many  of 
the  populace  were  bent  upon  killing  the 
Huguenots.  Companies  were  however 
formed,  and  stationed  in  each  quarter, 
and  the  night  passed  off  quietly.  The 
following  day  the  parliament  issued  a  de- 
cree, authorizing  the  prosecution  of  the 
delinquents,  and  placing  the  Protestants 
under  the  protection  and  safeguard  of  that 
court.*  Yet  the  mob  persisted  :  houses 
belonging  to  Protestants  were  plundered  ; 
and  four  men  being  arrested  in  the  act  of 

*  27th  Sept.  1621. 


carrying  away  clothes,  were  summarily 
punished  by  a  decree  of  parliament,  given 
the  following  day: — Two  were  con- 
demned to  be  hanged,  and  their  com- 
panions to  be  whipped  and  banished  for 
nine  years.  The  sentence  was  executed 
the  same  day  at  the  Place  de  Greve,  and 
the  severity  of  the  example  restored  or- 
der.* 


CHAPTER  LVI. 


Military  movements  in  the  south— Expedition  to  the 
Isle  of  Ries,  under  Soubise— La  Force  submits  to  the 
king— Sieges  of  Negrepelisse  and  Montpellier — Riche-* 
lieu  named  Prime  Minister. 


During  this  civil  war  the  affairs  of  the 
Huguenots  became  so  extensively  diver- 
sified, that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  give  a 
connected  view  of  the  events  occurring 
among  the  many  divisions  comprised  in 
their  confederation;  for  the  interest  is  no 
longer  arrested  by  one  body,  around  the 
history  of  which  the  episodes  of  its  satel- 
lites can  be  successively  unfolded,  but 
proceedings  of  nearly  equal  importance 
claim  and  fix  attention  in  opposite  direc- 
tions. On  one  side  Soubise,  regardless 
of  his  recent  oath,  appeared  in  arms  at 
Oleron,  where  he  committed  serious  de- 
vastations, levied  contributions,  and  de- 
stroyed the  churches.f  At  Nismes  the 
assembly  of  deputies  passed  a  decree 
for  depriving  Chatillon  of  the  command 
intrusted  to  him  by  the  assembly  at  Ro- 
chelle.J  The  complaint  against  him  com- 
prised ten  heads  of  accusation,  which  in 
substance  declared  that  his  loyalty  and 
sense  of  duty  were  impediments  to  his 
usefulness  for  the  party.  This  decision 
drew  forth  a  long  apology  from  the  ac- 
cused nobleman,  whose  aim  and  desire 
were  described  as  directed  to  the  pre- 
servation of  peace  in  Languedoc ;  at  the 
same  time  he  charges  his  accusers  with 
selfish  and  seditious  motives. § 

At  Montpellier  the  Catholic  clergy  were 
ordered  to  discontinue  their  worship,  and 
close  their  churches :  the  following  day  a 
pillage  commenced,  and  many  sacrilegious 
outrages  were  committed.||    The  govern- 

*  Merc.  Franc;.,  vol.  vii.  pp.  851—857. 
f  Nov.  8th,  1621.    Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p,  174. 
X  Nov.  21st.   Merc.  Frang.,  vol.  vii.  p.  686. 
$  Ibid.  vol.  viii.  p  93. 

|  Dec.  2d,  1621.  Soulier,  HUt.  du  Calvinisms,  p.  474. 


VARIOUS  SUCCESSES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


341 


ment  of  Languedoc  devolving  on  Rohan,  Ion  the  subject.  Luynes,  being  confident 
when  the  assembly  deprived  ChAtillon  of!  of  taking  the  town,  assumed  a  high  tone, 
that  command,  he  was  received  with  great  and  expressed  a  determination  to  exclude 
demonstration  of  respect  at  Montpellier.  it  from  the  edict  of  pacification,  unless  a 


The  vigour  with  which  the  king  had  be 
sieged  Montauban  was  a  presage  of  what 
might  be  expected  there,  and  great  ac- 
tivity was  displayed  in  preparing  for  de- 


citadel  were  erected  :  in  consequence  the 
matter  was  dropped.  Afterwards,  when 
Rohan  had  thrown  in  supplies,  and  the 
chances   of  success   were  diminished, 


fence.*  Lesdiguieres,  who  had  succeeded  !  Luynes,  invited  him  to  renew  the  confe- 
in  suppressing  an  insurrection  in  the  ad-  rence.  When  the  siege  was  raised,  the 
joining  province,  was  ambitious  of  figuring  constable  consented  that  Rohan  should 
as  mediator  with  the  insurgents  of  Mont-  obtain  the  approbation  of  the  Protestant 
pellier;  and  accordingly  sent  Ducros,  pre-  assembly,  which  was  a  great  point  gained ; 
sident  of  the  parliament  of  Grenoble,  to  but  the  negotiations  again  failed  of  pro- 
converse  with  Rohan  on  the  best  means  jducing  any  result.  The  death  of  Luynes 
for  effecting  a  pacification.  The  presi-  opened  a  new  field  of  ambition  and  in- 
dent had  been  selected  on  account  of  the 1  trigue ;  and  the  friends  of  Conde,  who 
high  consideration  he  enjoyed  among  the  j  then  acquired  influence,  persuaded  the 
principal  Protestants;  but  unhappily  some'  king  that  the  fact  of  receiving  authority  to 
violent  partisans  circulated  a  report  that! treat  in  the  name  of  the  assembly  could 
his  object  was  to  detach  Rohan  from  their  not  be  too  severely  reprobated*  The 
cause,  and  a  plan  was  arranged  for  killing !  same  influence  may  have  originated  the 
him.    It  was  executed  with  the  atrocity ;  king's  decree,  declaring  Rohan  guilty  of 


of  an  age  of  violence  and  fanaticism,  and 
Rohan  deemed  it  necessary  to  punish 
such  an  outrage  by  having  four  of  the 
ringleaders  hanged. f 

Monheurt,  a  little  insignificant  town  on 
the  Garonne,  was  likewise  a  point  of  con- 
siderable interest  at  this  period,  as  the 
king  besieged  it  in  person.  The  explosion 
of  some  mines  produced  a  sufficient  im- 
pression upon  the  besieged  to  make  them 
desirous  of  capitulation  :  that  however  the 
king  would  not  permit,  and  insisted  upon 
an  unqualified  surrender.  However,  in 
the  evening  the  besieged  received  an  as- 
surance of  the  monarch's  desire  to  show 
clemency,  and  that  all  who  submitted 
would  be  at  liberty  to  retire.  The  offer 
was  generally  accepted ;  after  which  the 
town  was  given  up  to  plunder,  and  then 
burned.^: 

During  the  siege  of  Montauban  the 
English  ambassador  had  endeavoured  to 
persuade  Rohan  to  consent  to  a  treat}', 
calculated  to  establish  a'  general  peace, 
compatible  with  the  dignity  of  the  French 
crown.  At  first  the  duke  referred  the 
proposal  to  the  assembly  at  Rochelle;  but 
as  there  appeared  to  the  ambassador  a 
probability  of  the  loss  of  Montauban,  he 
persuaded  Rohan  to  meet  the  constable 


*  Rohan,  liaisons  dc  la  Paizfaictc  devanl  Montpellier, 
p  92. 

t  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  viii.  p.  117  —Soulier,  p.  480. 
I  Dec.  12tli.   Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  vii.  pp.  827—829. 


high  treason. 

The  constable's  death  removed  the 
queen's  bitterest  enemy,  and  Conde's 
chief  rival;  and  if  we  may  rely  on  the 
testimony  of  Bassompierre,  the  event 
must  have  afforded  some  satisfaction  even 
to  Louis  himself.  In  treating  of  the  siege 
of  Montauban,  the  marshal  observes: 
''The  king's  dislike  to  the  constable  aug- 
mented; while  he  took  less  pains  to  keep 
in  favour,  either  from  feeling  assured  of 
his  majesty's  affection,  or  because  im- 
portant affairs  on  hand  prevented  his 
thinking  of  it;  or  because  his  greatness 
blinded  him:  so  that  the  king's  discontent 
increased  very  much,  and  every  time  that 
he  spoke  of  him  in  private,  he  displayed 
more  and  more  violent  resentment. "f 

Though  the  king  had  returned  to  Paris 
for  the  remainder  of  the  winter,  the  con- 
federates pursued  their  isolated  opera- 
tions; which  became  important  from  their 
extent,  as  the  Huguenot  force  was  not 
less  than  twenty-five  thousand  men.}  The 
Marquis  de  La  Force  quitted  Montauban, 
to  establish  his  authority  in  Quercy  and 
Lower  Guycnne,  where  he  was  received 
with  ardour,  and  treated  as  a  sovereign, 
notwithstanding  the  decree  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  which  condemned  him  and 
his  sons  to  be  beheaded  in  effigy,  deprived 


29* 


*  Rohnii,  liaisons,  etc.,  p.  85. 
+  Bassompierre,  vol.  ii  p. 257. 
t  Merc.  Franc;.,  voj.  viii.  p  418. 


342 


VARIOUS  SUCCESSES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


them  of  their  nobility,  and  confiscated  the 
family  estates  *  La  Force,  far  from  being 
alarmed  by  this  proceeding,  levied  money 
by  virtue  of  his  commission  from  the  gene- 
ral assembly  of  the  Reformed  Churches, 
and  transported  to  Ste.  Foy  the  chamber 
founded  at  Nerac,  pursuant  to  the  edict 
of  Nantes,  declaring  its  authority  equal  to 
that  of  the  other  parliaments.  The  Duke 
d'Elbceuf  and  marshal  Themines  had  been 
already  sent  by  the  king  to  reduce  the 
province  to  submission;  and  early  in 
January,  1622,  they  took  the  field.  The 
results  of  the  subsequent  military  move- 
ments were  long  doubtful.  Elbceuf  found 
it  requisite  to  abandon  the  siege  of  several 
places,  and  the  town  of  Clerac  was  taken 
by  the  Marquis  de  Lusignan,  co-operating 
with  La  Force,  who  himself  obtained  pos- 
session of  Tonneins.  The  latter  town 
afterwards  sustained  a  long  and  arduous 
siege,  in  which  the  garrison  displayed  un- 
common resolution,  their  difficulties  being 
aggravated  by  the  want  of  provisions. 
La  Force  made  two  attempts  to  relieve 
the  place,  in  which  his  son  Montpouillon 
commanded,  but  was  driven  off  by  the 
Duke  d'Elbceuf.  The  siege  lasted  till 
May,  when  the  garrison  obtained  a  fa- 
vourable capitulation,  but  the  town  was 
burned  as  an  example.! 

The  assembly  at  Rochelle  was  en- 
couraged by  the  energetic  resistance  of 
their  leaders,  and  Soubise,  whose  ope- 
rations were  in  their  own  neighbourhood, 
gave  the  royalists  full  occupation,  both  by 
sea  and  on  shore.  Woodford,  the  Eng- 
lish ambassador's  secretary,  was  sent  to 
complain  of  the  misconduct  of  their  naval 
captains,  who  plundered  the  English  ves- 
sels trading  to  Bordeaux.  The  envoy 
took  occasion  to  represent  how  utterly 
improbable  it  was  that  their  sovereign 
would  ever  treat  with  revolted  subjects, 
even  on  the  mediation  of  foreign  powers, 
and  advised  submission.  The  assembly, 
in  reply,  expressed  a  readiness  to  adopt 
his  recommendation,  and  begged  him  to 
obtain  a  safe-conduct  for  their  deputies.^ 
The  measure  was  however  laid  aside; 
and  instead  of  submitting  to  the  king,  a 
body  of  three  thousand  men  under  Sou- 
bise marched  into  Lower  Poictou,  where 

*  Nov.  15th,  1821. 

t  Merc  Franc  ,  vol.  viii.  pp.  445,  et  seq.  There  is  a 
minute  iletail  of  the  operations  anil  skirmishes  in  the 
JWcmoircs  de  Puntis,  |jv.|iv. 

J  Jan.  Olh,  1622.   Arcure,  vol.  ii  .p.  175. 


he  obtained  possession  of  several  places, 
and  sent  five  standards  to  Rochelle  as 
trophies.  His  progress  was  stayed  by 
the  Count  de  La  Rochefoucault,  who  kept 
him  in  check  by  a  superior  force,  hastily 
levied,  consisting  of  four  thousand  in- 
fantry and  six  hundred  horsemen.* 

The  king  again  quitted  Paris  to  pursue 
the  advantages  which  had  attended  his 
military  journeys  the  preceding  years. 
On  reaching  Saumur,  he  found  that  the 
Protestants  did  not  conceal  their  hopes  of 
a  change  of  circumstances,  from  the  suc- 
cesses gained  by  Soubise.  The  fortifica- 
tions were  in  consequence  destroyed,  and 
the  town  annexed  to  the  government  of 
Anjou.f 

Soubise  meanwhile  had  taken  a  posi- 
tion in  the  isle  of  Rie,t  where  he  appeared 
full  of  confidence,  and  ready  to  resist  the 
attacks  of  the  royal  army.  The  surround- 
ing country  was  difficult  of  access,  being 
intersected  by  canals;  and  a  moderate 
degree  of  precaution,  in  establishing  posts 
at  the  few  practicable  passes  would  have 
given  him  an  impregnable  position.  Un- 
der cover  of  the  night  the  king's  troops 
crossed  over  to  the  island  at  low  water, 
and  Soubise  endeavoured  to  retreat  from 
a  force  so  superior  to  his  own,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  it  would  have  been  much  less 
hazardous  to  engage.  Four  thousand  of 
his  men,  who  perceived  the  irremediable 
fault  of  their  commander,  and  despaired 
of  gaining  the  ships  at  anchor,  laid  down 
their  arms.  About  fifteen  hundred  were 
killed  by  the  soldiers  of  La  Rochefoucault, 
and  by  the  peasantry,  who  were  highly 
incensed  against  them,  as  the  causes  of»- 
the  war ;  from  six  to  seven  hundred  fugi- 
tives were  made  prisoners,  among  whom 
were  one  hundred  and  fifty  gentlemen. 
Soubise  arrived  at  Rochelle  with  about 
thirty  horsemen,  the  wreck  of  a  respecta- 
ble body  of  cavalry ;  and  out  of  seven 
thousand  infantry,  not  four  hundred  ef- 
fected their  escape.§ 

The  results  of  this  expedition  announced 
a  change  in  the  views  of  the  government, 
by  an  unusual  display  of  severity.  The 


*  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  viii.  p.  530.— Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p. 
175. 

t  April.  1622.    Merc  Franc  ,  vol.  viii.  p.  547. 

X  Rie  or  Ries  must  not  be  confounded  with  Rhe  or 
Re:  the  former  in  Poictou,  is  separated  from  the  main 
land  hy  a  fordable  stream  ,  Rhe  is  divided  from  Aunis 
by  an  arm  of  the  sea. 

§  16th  April,  1622.  Bassompierre,  vol.  ii.  p.  306.— 
Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  viii.  p.  554. 


SEVERITIES  OF  THE  KING. — LOSSES  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS.  343 


sentence  of  death  passed  upon  rebels  was, 
perfectly  conformable  to  the  practice  of 
all  civilized  nations:  but  in  every  other 
case  during  this  war  an  act  of  grace  had 
followed  the  success  of  the  king's  arms; 
and  there  was  no  reason  why  the  unfor- 
tunate followers  of  Soubise  should  have 
suffered  the  consequences  of  an  excep- 
tional rigour.  The  Prince  of  Conde  per- 
suaded the  king  to  punish  with  firmness. 
His  majesty,  says  a  contemporary,  left  the 
affair  to  his  council.  Persons  of  quality 
were  treated  as  prisoners  of  war;  but  as 
for  the  soldiers,  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  were  conducted  to  Nantes — thirteen 
were  hanged;  and  the  remainder  sent  to 
the  galleys.* 

With  a  view  to  improve  the  advantages 
of  the  late  victory,  by  seizing  vessels  be- 
longing to  the  Huguenots,  or  at  any  rate 
destroying  some  of  the  sailors,  La  Rftche- 
foucault  ordered  several  of  his  prisoners 
to  run  along  the  bank,  and  call  for  help. 
The  commanders  immediately  stood  in 
towards  the  shore,  to  receive  their  com- 
panions, while  La  Rochefoucault's  soldiers 
advanced  to  wait  the  proper  moment  for 
action.  A  resolute  and  devoted  Protest- 
ant, named  Job  Ferran,  perceived  the 
danger  to  which  his  friends  were  exposed; 
climbing  a  high  rock,  he  called  out,  "  Trea- 
son !  Treason  !"  and  precipitated  himself 
on  the  shore.  Some  Huguenot  sailors 
who  had  already  landed  carried  him  to 
one  of  their  ships,  where  he  died  a  few 
days  afterwards,  from  the  effects  of  his 
fall:  his  last  moments  were,  however, 
soothed  by  the  reflection  that  his  death 
had  saved  the  Protestant  flotilla.t 

About  the  same  time  the  Huguenots 
had  to  lament  the  loss  of  the  county  of 
Foix,  where  their  interests  had  been  well 
secured  by  Jane  d'Albret,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  successive  Protestant  governors. 
In  December,  1621,  the  charge  being  re- 
signed, La  Forest,  a  Catholic,  was  named, 
and  the  Jesuit  Villatte,  was  employed  to 
convert  the  population.  In  an  account 
published  at  Toulouse/it  is  stated  that  the 
Huguenot  minister  Molinier  confessed  his 
inability  to  resist  the  Jesuit's  arguments; 
and  the  majority  of  his  flock  abjured  their 
errors,  as  an  evidence  of  their  sincerity. 
For  the  suitable  celebration  of  Easter  they 


*  27th  April,  1C22.    Merc.  Fran<?.,  vol.  viii.  pp.  554, 
et  seg. 
+  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  178. 


consented  to  demolish  their  temple.  To 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  that  event  a 
declaration  was  signed  by  a  hundred  and 
twenty-two  converts;  and  at  the  head  of 
the  list  was  Pierre  Fer,  an  individual  who 
went  to  Geneva  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
ceiving from  Calvin  himself  a  minister  to 
preach  the  reformation  at  Foix;  and 
having  attained  the  age  of  a  hundred-and- 
ten  years,  was  induced  to  concur  in  its 
suppression.* 

Royan,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Gironde,  was  besieged  by  the  king  in  the 
beginning  of  May.  The  assembly  at  Ro- 
chelle  sent  supplies  and  reinforcements  by 
sea ;  but  it  was  to  no  purpose,  for  the 
sixth  day  of  the  siege  the  garrison  de- 
manded and  obtained  a  capitulation,  by 
which  they  were  allowed  to  withdraw  by 
sea  to  Rochelle,  with  arms  and  baggage, 
leaving  behind  them  only  the  cannons  and 
ammunition/!" 

La  Force,  who  had  taken  up  his  head- 
quarters at  Ste.-Foy,  beheld  different  di- 
visions of  the  royal  army  directing  their 
march  towards  him;  and  concluding, 
from  the  fate  of  other  places,  that  his  cita- 
del must  be  subdued,  he  wrote  to  de  Lo- 
menie,  the  king's  secretary,  expressing  a 
deep  regret  for  his  rebellion,  and  presented 
articles  of  capitulation  for  himself,  his 
children,  and  the  nobles  and  gentlemen 
who  had  followed  him.  These  terms 
would  in  the  present  day  be  deemed  ex- 
travagant; yet  with  one  or  two  excep- 
tions, every  thing  asked  for  was  granted, 
and  even  the  points  objected  to  were  not 
positively  refused.  In  short,  La  Force 
obtained  amnesty,  approval,  continuance 
of  old  privileges  and  rights;  all  decrees 
against  him  or  his  followers  were  de- 
clared null;  and  the  rank  of  marshal,  with 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  and  pen- 
sions to  his  children,  was  accorded  by 
Louis,  so  important  did  it  seem  to  his  ad- 
visers, and  especially  the  Prince  of  Conde. 
to  win  over  a  Protestant  chieftain,  and 
leave  nothing  behind  him  in  arms  in 
Guyenne.  The  articles  being  signed  and 
exchanged,  the  Prince  of  Conde  and  the 
Duke  d'Elbceuf  took  possession  of  the 
town,  to  prepare  for  the  king's  entry.}: 
The  towns  of  Negrepelisse  and  Saint- 

*  Merc.  Frang.  vol.  viii.  pp  480—401. 
t  11th  May,  1(522.    Merc.  Franj.,  p.  582.  Bassom- 
pierre,  vol.  ii  p  325. 

%  24th  May,  Merc.  Franc.,  p.  625.— Bassompieire,  p. 
329. 


344 


RECANTATION  OF  LESDIGUIERES.' 


Antonin  were  less  fortunate  than  Ste.- 
Foy.  The  former  place  was  taken  after 
a  short  siege;  and  the  inhabitants,  with- 
out'distinction  of  age  or  sex,  were  massa- 
cred. Some  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
citadel  were  obliged  to  surrender  the  fol- 
lowing day,  when  all  the  men  were 
hanged.  The  pretext  for  this  severity 
was  an  accusation  of  the  inhabitants 
having  murdered  a  regiment  left  there  in 
garrison  by  the  Duke  of  Mayenne;  and 
the  vengeance  of  the  conquerors  was 
completed  only  by  the  entire  destruction 
of  the  town,  which  was  set  on  fire  in 
several  quarters  at  once.* 

The  king  attacked  Negrepelisse  pro- 
fessedly with  a  view  to  take  revenge  upon 
the  inhabitants :  there  was  no  summons 
to  surrender;  but  a  general  assault  di- 
rectly the  royal  army  arrived.  De  Pontis 
relates  that  he  was  summoned  to  the 
king's  presence  to  report  his  observations 
on  the  state  of  the  town,  he  having  been 
appointed  to  take  a  survey.  "You  will 
attack  the  place,"  observed  the  king,  "on 
both  sides  at  once;  and  you  must  place 
something  white  in  your  hats,  lest  when 
you  meet  in  the  town  you  should  kill  one 
another;  for  I  command  you  to  give  no 
quarter  to  any  man,  because  they  have 
irritated  me,  and  shall  be  served  as  they 
treated  the  others."  The  combat  lasted 
some  hours,  and  the  garrison  made  a 
most  courageous  defence :  at  last  find- 
ing themselves  overwhelmed  by  superior 
force,  they  asked  for  quarter;  which  being 
refused,  they  resolved  to  sell  their  lives 
dearly,  and  to  a  man  died  fighting.  The 
sack  was  dreadful  in  the  extreme:  rob- 
bery and  violation  occurred  in  every 
house,  with  scarcely  an  exception. t 

St.-Antonin  had  soon  after  the  fatal 
honour  of  a  visit  from  the  king,  who 
joined  his  army  before  its  walls.  The 
siege  lasted  seven  days;  and  when  the 
garrison  offered  to  capitulate,  it  was  re- 
fused terms.  They  surrendered  at  dis- 
cretion, in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  royal 
clemency.  Eleven  of  those  who  had  been 
most  active  in  the  resistance  were  hanged 
on  the  ravelin ;  and  among  them  the  mi- 


*  10th  June,  1022.    Merc.  Franc.,  p.  037. 

■f  Ponti.vol.  i.  pp.  192—203.  This  work  has  been 
Ihe  subject  of  literary  controversy,  and  is  by  some  con- 
sidered apocryphal ;  the  author  composed  it  after  his 
retirement  to  Port-Royal,  and  Ins  statement  is  evi- 
dently founded  on  fact,  even  supposing  •'  De  Pontis" 
to  be  a  fictitious  name. 


nister,  who  had  been  a  cordelier,  a  coin- 
cidence which  gave  rise  to  some  epigrams 
among  the  wits  in  the  king's  army.*' 

These  continued  misfortunes  of  the 
protestant  party  were  followed  by  the 
abjuration  of  Lesdiguieres,  who  on  a 
former  occasion  had  refused  the  appoint- 
ment of  constable,  on  that  condition. 
Marshal  Crequi  had  only  to  announce  his 
mission,  in  the  presence  of  the  parliament 
of  Grenoble.  Claude  Bullion,  who  had 
already  abjured,  addressed  this  question 
to  the  marshal :  '•  Do  you  believe  in  tran- 
substantiation  I"  "  Yes."  "  Then  you 
are  to  be  constable."  Lesdiguieres  re- 
plied, "That  he  was  ever  obedient  to  the 
command  of  his  majesty,"  and  turning  to 
the  counsellors,  added :  "  So,  now,  gen- 
tlemen, we'll  go  to  mass."f  This  abjura- 
tion was  celebrated  with  great  pomp,  and 
was  followed  by  ceremonies  which  lasted 
four  days.  He  received  the  sword  of 
state  from  the  king's  own  hand  before 
Montpellier,  and  Bassompierre  replaced 
him  in  the  list  of  marshals.} 

The  king's  successes  continued;  and 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  parliament  of  Tou- 
louse, announcing  the  prosperous  results 
of  the  campaign,  in  which  he  had  sub- 
dued a  dozen  fortified  towns ;  and  con- 
gratulating that  body  on  the  rebels  of 
Languedoc  being  shut  up  in  three  places: 
viz:  Nismes,  Usez,  and  Montpellier,  with- 
out any  hope  of  assistance  from  their  con- 
federates. 5  The  siege  of  the  latter  city 
was  already  contemplated ;  but,  as  a 
means  of  conciliation,  the  secretary  Bul- 
lion was  sent  to  offer  the  king's  pardon 
if  the  town  submitted.  The  answer  he 
brought  back  was  a  refusal  to  admit  the 
king;  but  that  if  his  majesty  would  retire 
a  distance  of  ten  leagues,  they  would 
open  their  gates  to  the  constable.  This 
gave  rise  to  a  consultation,  at  which  were 
present  all  the  great  commanders  of  the 
king's  party.  Bullion,  after  making  his 
report,  explained  that  the  severities  ex- 
perienced at  the  recent  sieges  had  alarmed 
the  people  of  Montpellier ;  that  they  were 
well  disposed,  and  would  receive  his  capi- 
tulation as  dutiful  supplicants;  and,  there- 
fore, he  advised  his  sovereign  to  concede 
on  a  point  of  no  consequence,  especially 

►  22d  June,  1022.   Mere.  Franc.,  vol.  viii.  p.  048. 
■j-  24th  Juiy.  1622    Merc.  Fran?.,  p.  083.    Ainelot  de 
la  Houaaaye,  Mem.  Hist ,  vol.  i  p.  442 
1  2'Jth  August,  1022.    Basse  mpierre,  vol.  ii.  p.  385. 
$  .Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  viii.  p.  8U2. 


HOSTILITIES  AT  ROCHELLE. 


345 


as  by  the  time  so  gained  he  would 
speedily  obtain  the  submission  of  Nismes 
and  Usez.  The  Prince  of  Conde  could 
hardly  suppress  his  impatience  at  this  dis- 
course ;  and  declared  that  such  a  deci- 
sion would  be  infamous.  The  king  was 
obliged  to  restrain  the  prince's  impe- 
tuosity, and  insisted  on  his  allowing  every 
counsellor  to  deliver  his  sentiments. 
Many  of  them  agreed  with  Bullion;  but 
Bassompierre  enlarged  upon  the  incon- 
sistency of  a  king  withdrawing  from  one 
of  his  own  towns,  before  his  subjects 
would  perform  the  ordinary  homage  of 
acknowledging  his  authority.  Conde  se- 
conded the  marshal's  opinion,  and  Louis 
sent  word,  "  That  he  gave  terms  to  his 
subjects,  but  did  not  receive  any ;  and  if 
they  did  not  accept  his  proposal,  they 
might  prepare  to  be  compelled  by  force."* 
The  garrison  was  inflexible,  and  orders 
were  given  to  commence  the  siege,  which 
was  continued  with  great  animation  until 
the  8th  of  October.t  when  the  Duke  de 
Rohan  approached  with  a  body  of  troops 
to  reinforce  the  town.  The  king  was  ad- 
vised to  invite  the  protestant  commander 
to  treat  of  a  peace,  and  the  constable  was 
ordered  to  meet  him  on  that  business. 
The  preliminaries  being  concluded,  Rohan 
passed  and  repassed  through  the  royal 
camp,  in  his  visits  to  the  town,  for  the 
purpose  of  persuading  the  inhabitants, 
who  were  obstinate  in  refusing  to  admit 
the  king's  troops.  An  entire  week  was 
occupied  in  this  manner;  but  Rohan's 
perseverance  and  influence  at  last  enabled 
him  to  appear  before  the  king  with  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  the  adhesion 
of  Nismes  and  Usez,  deputies  from  which 
places  implored  the  king's  pardon  on  their 
knees,  in  the  name  of  all  the  protestants 
in  France.}  The  edict  of  pacification  and 
amnesty  was  signed  on  the  19th  of  Octo- 
ber; and  the  following  day  Louis  made 
his  entry,  when  every  thing  was  as  tran- 
quil as  if  the  siege  had  not  taken  place.§ 

Hostilities  continued  some  time  later  at 
Rochelle ;  and  four  successive  engage- 


*  Bassompierre,  vol  ii  p  391. 

+  De  Pontia describes  the  different  attacks  in  which 
he  was  engaged  :  but  from  the  period  of  his  being 
wounded  he  ceases  to  notice  the  siege,  and  r<  latcs  his 
conversations  with  two  monks.  The  celebrated  Zamet 
was  killed  by  a  cannon  ball  before  this  town.  Mem., 
liv.  v. 

t  Lettre  du  chancelier  Sillery,  inserted  in  the  Mem.  de 
Jticltelieu.  par  Aubury,  vol.  i.  p.  522. 

§  Merc.  Franc.,  vo1-  v'"-  PP>  810—844.  Bassompierre, 
pp.  429  -430. 


ments  took  place  between  the  king's  fleet, 
commanded  by  the  Count  de  Soissons, 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  M.  de  St.  Luc. 
The  advantage  of  these  encounters  was 
decidedly  in  favour  of  the  royalists,  al- 
though the  brave  sailors  of  Rochelle  fully 
sustained  their  old  reputation.  The  Duke 
of  Guise,  having  resolved  to  annihilate  the 
fleet  of  the  confederates,  followed  up  his 
victories;  and  would  have  succeeded  if  a 
violent  storm  had  not  arisen  on  the  day 
fixed  for  his  project.  The  hurricane 
lasted  till  the  6th  of  November ;  and,  in 
the  interval,  intelligence  was  received  of 
peace  being  concluded.  Guiton,  the  pro- 
testant admiral,  at  first  refused  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  treaty;  but  the  inevitable 
consequences  of  Guise's  plan  becoming 
apparent  to  the  insurgent  leaders,  and 
their  means  of  defence  being  sadly  crip- 
pled by  disasters,  a  deputation  from  the 
town  announced  the  adhesion  of  the  as- 
sembly to  the  pacification.* 

The  articles  of  the  edict  of  pacification 
were  similar  to  those  on  former  occasions : 
Rohan,  Soubise,  and  other  leaders,  ob- 
tained indemnity  for  their  losses;  and  fair 
promises  were  held  out  that  the  .protest- 
ants at  large  should  be  assured  of  their 
religious  rights.  They  were,  however, 
no  longer  in  a  situation  to  enforce  their 
claim,  having  lost  all  their  towns,  except 
Rochelle  and  Montauban  :  many  of  their 
nobles  had  gone  over  to  the  court ;  and 
others,  despairing  of  the  cause,  were  pre- 
pared to  abjure.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  surprising  that  the  treaty 
soon  became  a  dead  letter.  The  clergy 
disapproved  of  it,  and  would  have  pre- 
ferred seeing  the  king  follow  up  his  ad- 
vantages. The  Chancellor  Sillery,  writing 
to  his  brother  at  Rome,  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  justify  the  measure,  and  observed 
in  his  letter :  "  The  ambassador  will  ex- 
plain to  his  holiness  how  the  Huguenots 
have  always  gained  by  war,  and  lost 
ground  in  time  of  peace ;  which  it  is  to  be 
hoped  will  again  ensue  from  the  good 
conduct  and  piety  of  his  majesty."!  Puy- 
sieux,  the  chancellor's  son,  did  not  scruple 
to  assure  the  nuncio,  that  peace  had  been 
made  with  the  intention  of  more  effectually 
crushing  the  reformed;  and  it  was  speedily 
seen  that  the  stipulations  of  the  edict 

*  llth  Nov.,  1622.  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  192.  Merc- 
Franc,  ,  vol.  viii.  p.  865. 

t  The  letter,  dated  Paris,  4th  Nov.,  1022,  is  given  by 
Aubery,  vol.  i.  p.  522. 


346 


RICHELIEU  APPOINTED  TO  THE  MINISTRY. 


would  all  be  violated.  In  the  first  place, 
the  fortifications  of  Montpellier  were  to  be 
razed ;  but  as  the  king's  troops  would  not 
quit  the  town,  Rohan,  after  several  inef- 
fectual applications  to  the  king,  declared 
that  he  should  cease  the  demolition  of  the 
works.  This  instantly  produced  an  order 
to  Valence,  who  commanded  for  the  king ; 
but  the  independent  spirit  Rohan  had 
manifested  did  not  fail  to  incur  displea- 
sure; and  Valence  went  so  far  as  to 
arrest  the  duke  soon  after  he  entered 
Montpellier,  to  superintend  the  election  of 
protestant  consuls.* 

A  similar  disposition  was  displayed  at 
Rochelle.  The  deputies,  on  appearing 
before  the  king  at  Lyons,  obtained  a  let- 
ter, ordering  Arnauld,  governor  of  Fort 
St.  Louis,  to  demolish  the  place  within 
eight  days,  after  the  protestants  had  de- 
stroyed what  was  agreed  upon  by  treaty. 
Arnauld,  however,  received  counter-or- 
ders at  the  same  time;  and  when  the  in- 
habitants of  Rochelle  presented  a  copy  of 
the  king's  letter,  he  replied,  with  a  smile, 
that  the  copy  of  the  order  sufficed  to  de- 
stroy only  a  copy  of  the  fort.  The  ori- 
ginal letter' -was  then  produced:  he  de- 
clared complete  willingness  to  obey  orders; 
but  observed  that  he  must  have  a  full  and 
perfect  discharge,  and  would,  in  conse- 
quence, write  to  the  courl.j 

Arnauld  entered  fully  into  the  spirit  of 
the  government ;  he  not  only  kept  his 
men  actively  employed  in  strengthening 
his  position,  but  engaged  an  emissary  to 
prepare  for  obtaining  possession  of  the 
town  by  stratagem.  The  individual  em- 
ployed was  named  Vincent  Yvon :  he 
was  suspected  of  treacherous  correspon- 
dence; but  proof  failing,  he  was  merely 
confined,  as  a  measure  of  precaution. 
While  in  prison,  he  imagined  a  plan  for 
piercing  a  passage  through  the  wall  to  the 
sea,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  securing  a 
retreat,  and  for  admitting  soldiers.  His 
work  advanced  but  slowly;  and  he  made 
a  tempting  proposal  to  one  of  his  jailers 
to  assist  him.  The  offer  met  with  an  ap- 
parent welcome,  but  was  received  with 
the  indignation  of  a  patriot,  whose  feelings 
were  concealed  for  better  foiling  the  plan. 
The  jailer  sent  for  his  brother,  and  after- 
wards for  La  Chapeliere,  a  minister,  whom 

*  Feb.  1623.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  ix.  p.  432.  Rohan, 
Mem.,  pp.  194—8. 

+  Jan.,  1(123.  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  193.  Merc.  Franc., 
vol.  is.  p.  438. 


he  introduced  to  Yvon:  he  was  exceed- 
ingly frank,  and  declared  that  in  the  night 
the  soldiers  from  Fort  Louis  would  enter 
the  town ;  and,  at  a  suitable  moment, 
open  the  gates  to  their  comrades,  con- 
cealed in  the  environs;  after  which,  all 
who  made  resistance  would  be  killed.  La 
Chapeliere  was  astonished  at  the  scheme, 
and  felt  assured  that  the  mayor  was  an 
accomplice.  It  became  dangerous  to 
speak  of  his  discovery,  but  it  would  be 
criminal  to  conceal  it.  He  consulted  his 
friends:  they  decided  on  informing  the 
mayor,  but  the  proper  moment  had  passed, 
for  Yvon  perceived  that  he  was  detected, 
and  had  effected  his  escape.  The  mayor, 
indignant  at  the  suspicion  raised  against 
him,  told  La  Chapeliere,  with  a  menacing 
gest,  that,  but  for  his  sacred  character, 
the  outrage  should  be  washed  away  with 
his  blood.  The  people  would  have  pu- 
nished the  jailers  as  accomplices;  but 
they  were  sent  out  of  the  town,  and  the 
distrust  and  bad  feeling  which  arose  out 
of  this  incident  did  not  subside  for  some 
time* 

In  September,  a  national  synod  was 
held  at  Charenton,  in  which  scarcely  any 
thing  was  discussed,  except  doctrinal 
questions ;  and  soon  afterwards,  a  report 
being  circulated  that  the  Huguenots  were 
likely  to  take  arms,  a  royal  proclamation 
was  given,  to  tranquillize  the  Protestants, 
and  assure  them  of  the  king's  intention  to 
observe  the  edicts.f 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year, 
Richelieu  was  admitted  into  the  cabinet. 
His  character  offers  traits  of  decided  great- 
ness; and  his  situation  as  minister  of  a 
weak  and  deceitful  king  presents  sufficient 
excuse  for  the  duplicity  and  craft  re- 
corded to  his  prejudice.  As  a  prince  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  he  was  necessarily 
opposed  to  the  Huguenots:  yet  state 
policy  appears  to  have  been  his  chief  mo- 
tive and  guide:  for,  although  no  consi- 
derations of  humanity  were  ever  allowed 
to  interfere  with  his  designs,  he  had  too 
great  a  soul  to  become  a  mere  persecutor; 
and  the  imprudent  zeal  of  the  Protestant 
assemblies,  in  constantly  bringing  their 
political  independence  under  the  eye  of 
the  government,  could  not  fail  to  arrest 
the  cardinal's  attention,  when  he  assumed 
the  direction  of  affairs.    In  his  opinion,  no 

*  Arcerw,  voi.  ii.  p.  195. 

f  10th  Nov.,  1C23.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  ix.  p.  C93, 


DESIGNS  OF  RICHELIEU. 


347 


nation  could  be  strong,  that  permitted  a 
variety  of  creeds  or  allowed  foreign  in- 
fluence in  its  cabinet.  His  views  were 
directed  towards  gradually  realizing  the 
former  object :  the  latter  essential  he 
quickly  obtained,  by  extensive  changes  in 
various  departments  of  the  state,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  list  of  ambassadors.  The 
King  of  Spain  no  longer  had  the  means  of 
learning  all  that  passed  in  the  councils  of 
France;  and  the  pope  soon  perceived  an 
alteration  in  the  language  used  to  his 
nuncio. 

Such  indications  of  resolution  excited 
the  apprehensions  of  the  Protestants;  and 
their  alarm  was  not  without  cause,  as 
preparations  were  publicly  made  for 
blockading  llochelle,  and  a  garrison  still 
kept  possession  of  Montpellier. 

Soubise  imagined  the  moment  favoura- 
ble for  effacing  the  reproach  of  his  late 
unfavourable  expedition,  and  confided  to 
his  brother  a  project  for  destroying  the 
king's  ships  at  Blavet.    Rohan  agreed  to 
second  him  if  success  appeared  possible ; 
while,  in  case  of  failure,  the  expedition 
was   to   be  disavowed.*    Soubise  was 
obliged  to  use  artifice  in  preparing  for  his 
enterprise;  and  his  intentions  being  dis- 
covered by  the  magistrates  of  Rochelle, 
they  desired  him  to  quit  the  isle  of  Rhe, 
and  avoid  compromising  them.f  Soubise 
departed,  and  succeeded  in  his  attempt  on 
the  port  of  Blavet.f    This  good  fortune, 
however,  did  not  enable  him  to  take  Fort 
Louis,  as  the  Duke  de  Vendome  hastened 
from  Nantes,  with  a  strong  body  of  troops: 
by  means  of  chains  and  cables  he  pre- 
vented Soubise  from  leaving  the  harbour, 
and  greatly  damaged  his  vessels  by  a  de- 
structive fire,  from  a  newly-made  battery. 
Soubise  finding  himself  so  much  exposed, 
resolved  to  escape  by  night;  his  men,  in 
boats,  cutting  the  cables  'under  a  heavy 
discharge  of  musketry.    Sixteen  vessels 
escaped,  but  two  of  his  ships  grounded, 
and  were  taken  by  Vendome 


loyalty  to  the  crown,*  and  strongly  disap- 
proved of  the  conduct  of  Soubise,  who 
was  soon  after  proclaimed  a  rebel  and  a 
traitor,  by  royal  ordonnance.  The  Pro- 
testants in  all  parts  of  France  repudiated 
Soubise,  until  the  success  of  his  bold 
effort  was  known;  when  an  attempt  at  con- 
ciliation was  made,  but  to  no  purpose. 
It  then  became  necessary  for  Rohan  to 
support  his  brother's  cause ;  and  prove 
that  a  wish  to  restore  peace  had  been  his 
reason  for  delay,  not  the  want  of  means, 
as  his  enemies  published;  and  he  took  the 
field  early  in  May.  Marshal  Themines 
was  employed  against  him.t  The  result  of 
the  campaign  was  unfortunate  to  Rohan, 
although  no  action  of  importance  took 
place.  The  Duke  de  Montmorency  also 
defeated  Soubise,'in  the  isle  ofRhe;J  and 
a  sea-fight  equally  disastrous,  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  capitulation  of  the  island. 
In  the  summer,  the  assembly  of  Milhaud 
attempted  a  pacification ;  and  in  the  be- 
ginning of  162G,  the  king,  being  moved 
by  repeated  entreaties,  consented  to  give 
an  edict  for  the  restoration  of  peace  and 
tranquillity-^ 


CHAPTER  LVII. 


5iege  of  Rochelle. 


From  the  time  Richelieu  became  prime 
minister  three  great  projects  engaged  his 
attention.  To  elevate  the  regal  authority, 
by  destroying  the  remains  of  feudal  inde- 
pendence— to  raise  the  importance  of 
France,  by  lowering  the  pride  of  Austria 
— and  to  terminate  all  domestic  diffe- 
rences, by  suppressing  the  few  liberties 
still  enjoyed  by  the  Huguenots.  As  cir- 
cumstances required,  he  would  appear  to 
desist;  but  his  intentions  were  unceasingly 
I followed  up  unto  completion.  Pretexts 
he  lost  of  every  kind  were  used  to  cover  his  de- 


li kewise  several  of  the  king's  vessels, 
which  had  fallen  into  his  hands  on  his  ar- 
rival. He  succeeded  in  gaining  Oleron, 
whence  he  sent  cruizers  to  annoy  the 
king's  adherents.§ 

The  Protestant  deputies  at  Paris,  alarm- 
ed at  such  a  rash  project,  declared  their 

*  Rohan.  Diseours  sur  les  Verniers  Troubles,  p.  102 
t  Arcere,  vol.  11.  p.t206. 
\  1711  January,  3625. 

1>  Rohan,  Mem.,  p.  '207.   Merc.  Franc  ,  vol.  x.  p.  850. 


signs;  and  few  would  dare  to  counteract 
them,  after  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate 
Chalais,  whose  head  paid  the  forfeit  of 
abetting  the  king's  brother  in  opposing 
the  cardinal. || 

*  Desadveu  et  Protestation  des  Deputez,  &c,  21st 
January,  1625.    Merc.  Frang. 

t  Rohan,  Mem.,  p.  211.    Merc.  Frang.,  vol.  xi.  p.  745. 

t  18th  September  1625.   Merc.  Franc.  ,  vol.  xi.  p.  889. 

§  5th  February,  1626.    Merc  Franc.,  vol.  xi.  p.  119. 

||  Henry  de  Talleyrand,  Marquis  de  Chalaie,  behead- 
ed at  Nantes,  19th  August,  1620.   There  is  a  Relation 


348 


THE  WAR  RENEWED  AT  ROCHELLE. 


However,  the  proceedings  of  the  Hu- 
guenots at  this  period  were  far  from  dis- 
pleasing to  the  government;  and  we  have 
the  testimony  of  the  Jesuit  Daniel,  that 
at  the  synod  held  at  Castres,  in  July, 
1626,  every  thing  passed  off  quietly,  and 
with  submission  to  the  king's  will.  The 
correspondence  of  the  Protestant  body 
with  Spain  was  disavowed  ;  and  a  pre- 
vious vote,  excluding  their  ministers  from 
political  assemblies,  was  confirmed.  But 
unfortunately  the  presence  of  emissaries 
for  reviving  insurrection  in  various  pro- 
vinces was  made  known  to  Richelieu  ; 
and  he  turned  his  serious  attention  to  de- 
priving that  party  of  the  means  of  disturb- 
ing the  kingdom* 

England  was  likewise  suffering  under 
a  vizierate:  the  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
celebrated  for  his  astonishing  elevation, 
and  untimely  end,  swayed  the  councils  of 
king  Charles,  without  a  rival.  His  cha- 
racter cannot  be  placed  in  comparison 
with  that  of  Richelieu;  for  while  the  lat- 
ter steadily  pursued  the  mazy  intrigues 
essential  to  his  policy,  the  former  was 
immersed  in  pleasure;  and  instead  of  the 
laudable  endeavour  to  surpass  the  cardi- 
nal as  a  statesman,  he  thought  only  of  re- 
senting a  personal  humiliation,  received 
during  his  recent  visit  to  Paris,  as  ambas- 
sador to  receive  the  Queen  of  England 
from  her  family.  Buckingham  had  the 
presumption  to  declare  his  passion  for  the 
Queen  of  France;  and  in  the  vain  sup- 
position thaj  his  advances  had  been  re- 
ceived with  approbation,  he  returned  on 
the  conclusion  of  his  mission:  but  his 
dream  of  happiness  was  annihilated  by  a 
peremptory  order  to  leave  the  country ,f 
A  war  with  France  then  became  Buck- 
ingham's object,  as  it  might  afford  him 
an  opportunity  to  return  to  Paris. J 

The  Abbe  Scaglia,  agent  of  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  and  a  secret  enemy  of  the  car- 
dinal, animated  the  quarrel  between  the 
prime  ministers;  and  Buckingham,  at  his 
suggestion,  sent  away  all  the  queen's 
French  attendants, §  with  the  exception  of 
one  retained  as  chaplain,  the  term  confes- 
sor being  odious  to  the  puritan  party, 

&c.  in  Auhery,  vol.  i.  p.  570;  see  also  Merc.  Frang.. 
vol.  xii  p.  391. 

*  Daniel,  Hist,  de  France,  vol.  xii.  p.  526. 

t  Count  Roederer  intimates  that  ihe  queen  did  en- 
courage him.  Mem.  pour  servir  d  I'Histoirc  de  la  So- 
ciettpolie,  p.  50. 

J  Rohan.  Mem.  Hist.  p.  279.  This  is  also  stated  by 
Lord  Clarendon  and  Bishop  Burnet. 

$  July,  1026.   Merc.  Frang..  vol.  xii.  p.  200. 


then  rising  into  importance.  To  embroil 
the  governments  yet  more,  Scaglia  per- 
suaded the  young  statesman  that  the 
French  Protestants  were  exposed  to  great 
dangers,  and  that  King  Charles  was 
bound  in  honour  to  maintain  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  treaty  guarantied  by  him. 
Soubise  joined  his  entreaties  to  those  of 
Scaglia,  and  Buckingham  was  induced  to 
send  a  secret  agent  to  the  Duke  de  Rohan, 
to  concert  some  plan  on  behalf  of  the 
Huguenots.* 

The  vexations  to  which  the  Queen  of 
England  was  exposed  were  soon  made 
known  to  her  brother,  who  commissioned 
Marshal  Bassompierre  to  insist  on  the 
recall  of  her  attendants.  The  marshal 
had  not  been  many  days  in  London,  be- 
fore he  had  orders  to  send  back  Sancy,  a 
father  of  the  Oratoire,  who  accompanied 
him  as  confessor.  To  this  Bassompierre 
would  not  submit;  and  his  refusal  was 
accompanied  with  a  threat,  that  he  would 
quit  the  country.  The  intimation  was 
repeated,  but  with  no  better  effect;  and 
after  some  prolonged  discussion,  the  am- 
bassador gained  his  point,  and  ultimately 
succeeded  in  his  negotiation  respecting 
the  queen.t 

This  affair,  added  to  the  seizure  of 
some  vessels  on  the  coast  of  Normandy, 
afforded  a  pretext  for  Buckingham  to  pro- 
ceed on  a  mission  to  Paris:  but  his  jour- 
ney was  to  no  purpose,  for  Bassompierre, 
who  returned  from  London  almost  at  the 
same  time,  was  ordered  by  the  queen  to 
intimate  that  his  visit  would  be  disagree- 
able, and  that  he  must  desist.J  Being 
thus  frustrated  in  an  attempt  to  behold 
the  queen,  he  was  more  than  ever  bent 
on  a  renewal  of  hostilities;  and  sent  Lord 
Montague  to  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  and 
Rohan,  successively,  assuring  them  that 
thirty  thousand  men  should  be  sent  to 
support  the  Huguenots,  if  a  diversion 
were  promised  at  the  same  time  on  the 
side  of  Piedmont.§ 

An  assembly  of  notables  was  at  this 
period  convoked  in  Paris,  the  sittings  of 
which  lasted  the  whole  winter. ||    The  de- 

*  Rohan,  Discours  svr  les  Demiers  Troubles,  p.  104  ; 
and  Mem.,  liv.  iv.  p.  275.  Violart,  Hist,  du  Ministere 
d'rfrmand  Jean,  Cardinal  d 'Richelieu,  vol.  i.  p.  380.  This 
author,  who  died  in  1644,  was  bishop  of  Avranches. 
His  work  terminates  in  1033;  the  remainder  was  sup- 
pressed. 

t  Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p  32,  et  seq. 

t  22d  Dec,  1626.   Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p.  53. 

6  Rohan,  Mem.,  p.  211.   Violart,  vol.  i.  p.  683. 

[I  Aubery,  vol.  i.  p.  581.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xii.  p. 


THE  WAR  RENEWED  AT  ROCHELLE. 


349 


liberations  were  not  very  important ;  but 
as  a  royal  declaration*  which  arose  out 
of  a  request  presented  by  the  order  of 
nobles,  announced  the  king's  intention  of 
bringing  all  his  subjects  into  the  unity  of 
the  Catholic  church,  the  Protestants  found 
cause  for  alarm,  notwithstanding  the  as- 
surance that  their  conversion  was  to  be 
effected  only  by  means  of  patience,  mild- 
ness, and  good  example.  They  found 
that  not  only  Fort  Louis,  near  Rochelle, 
was  strengthened ;  but  that  Thoiras,  the 
governor,  had  commenced  another  strong 
citadel  at  St.-Martin,  in  the  isle  of  Rhe. 
The  demolition  agreed  to  on  their  side 
was  instantly  suspended ;  and  a  gentle- 
man named  St.-Blanchard  was  sent  to 
London,  to  join  his  efforts  to  those  of  Sou- 
bise,  and  show  the  inconvenience  which 
must  arise  to  the  British  government,  if 
the  liberty  of  Rochelle  were  not  main- 
tained. King  Charles  was  inclined  to  as- 
sist the  Huguenots.  Buckingham's  policy 
was  in  complete  unison,  and  a  powerful 
armament  was  prepared.! 

The  English  fleet  came  in  sight  of  Ro- 
chelle, in  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  July. 
1627;  and  anchored  before  the  isle  of 
Rhe,  the  following  day.  Buckingham 
sent  his  secretary,  accompanied  by  Sou- 
bise  and  St.-Blanchard,  to  communicate 
with  the  mayor  and  his  council.  The 
authorities  were,  however,  all  engaged  in 
the  devotional  services  of  a  public  fast; 
and  the  interview  was  delayed  till  the 
morrow. 

The  secretary  having  addressed  the 
council,  presented  a  manifest,  signed  by 
Buckingham,  and  concluding  in  these 
terms:  "The  object  of  the  king  (of  Eng- 
land) is  to  establish  the  churches.  He 
feels  interested  in  their  welfare,  and  de- 
sires to  promote  their  happiness.  In  this 
case,  if  the  churches  wish  not  his  assist- 
ance, the  beating  of  these  drums,  the  dis- 
play of  these  standards  shall  cease;  and 
the  noise  of  war  be  buried  in  silence.  It 
is  for  your  sake  and  service  they  appear."} 

Rochelle  was  then  divided  by  two  fac- 
tions. The  majority  of  the  municipal  au- 
thorities were  for  submission  to  the  king; 
they  had  recently  imprisoned  two  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  accused  of  enrolling  men 

*  Dated  lfith  February,  1627. 

t  Bassompierie,  vol.  hi.  p. 61.  LfClerc,  Vic  d' Armand. 
Jean,  Cardinal  de  ftirhrlieu,  vol  j.  p  332. 

t  Hervaiilt,  Journal,  fee.,  pp.  1—12.    Rohan,  Mem., 
p.  282.    Merc.  Franc  ,  vol.  xiii.  p.  803. 
30 


for  the  English  forces;  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  messengers  would  have  been 
admitted,  if  the  Dowager-duchess  of  Rohan 
had  not  gone  to  welcome  her  son  :  Buck- 
ingham's proposal  was  not  therefore  gene- 
rally approved.*  The  consequences  of 
another  war  were  to  be  dreaded;  and 
even  the  partisans  of  independence  were 
afraid  to  avow  their  sentiments  without 
reserve.  A  medium  decision  was  adopted; 
and  a  message  was  sent  to  inform  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  that  while  they  pre- 
sented the  grateful  acknowledgments  of 
the  Rochellese  to  the  King  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, they  must  defer  adopting  any  reso- 
lution, until  they  had  consulted  the  other 
reformed  churches  of  France. t 

When  Soubise  set  out  for  the  city,  two 
resolutions  had  been  agreed  to  ■  first,  that 
their  operations  should  commence  with 
the  isle  of  Oleron,  on  account  of  its 
greater  facility  of  conquest,  no  less  than 
for  the  advantages  which  its  occupation 
would  afford ;  and  secondly,  that  Buck- 
ingham should  make  no  attempt  before 
his  colleague's  return.  However,  when 
St.-Blanchard  came  to  report  progress  to 
Buckingham,  he  found  every  thing  com- 
pletely changed  :  an  attack  on  the  isle  of 
R.he  was  decided  upon  ;  and  every  thing 
prepared  for  operations.^ 

The  landing  was  met  by  a  spirited  op- 
position on  the  part  of  Thoiras  the  French 
governor;  his  resistance  cost  the  lives  of 
about  six  hundred  of  the  assailants;  and 
among  them  St.-Blanchard  himself,  who 
commanded  a  division.  Buckingham  suc- 
ceeded in  landing  three  thousand  men ; 
and  if  he  had  followed  up  his  advantage 
when  Thoiras  retreated,  he  might  have 
established  himself  in  the  island,  and  pre- 
vented the  fall  of  Rochelle.  This  was 
urged  by  Soubise,  who  joined  him  the 
following  day;  but  some  valuable  time 
was  lost  in  landing  guns  and  military 
stores,  during  which  Thoiras  was  enabled 
to  rally  his  men,  and  prepare  for  a  siege 
in  the  fort  of  St.-Martin.§ 

Richelieu  had  been  duly  informed  of 
Buckingham's  preparations  for  invading 
France,  and  measures  were  taken  for 
counteracting  him,  before  he  landed.  The 
news  of  his  being  in  the  isle  of  Rhe,  and 

*  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  230. 

t  Rohan.  Mem.,  Iiv.  4,  p.  28G.   Mervaull,  p.  13. 
t  Ibid.  Iiv.  4.  p.  288. 

§  Mervault,  p.  15.  Arnere,  vol.  ji.  p.  23.5  Rohan, 
Mem.,  p.  28i).    Merc.  Franc  ,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  835,  et  seq. 


350 


SIEGE  OF  ROCHELLE. 


the  siege  of  Thoiras  in  his  little  fortress, 
caused  an  increase  of  activity  in  every 
department.  Pinnaces  were  fitted  out 
from  all  the  French  ports,  to  operate  upon 
the  coasts ;  and  as  Oleron  was  a  position 
of  evident  importance,  a  strong  reinforce- 
ment was  sent  thither  immediately.* 

The  Duke  d'Angouleme  was  the  first 
royalist  general  who  approached  Ro-^ 
chelle  :  he  arrived  before  its  walls  on  the 
dawn  of  the  10th  of  August;  and  his  ap-, 
pearanre  created  much  alarm  in  the  town. 
A  deputation  of  the  citizens  was  sent  out 
to  assure  him  that  they  were  loyal  sub- 
jects of  the  king,  and  were  not  concerned 
in  any  manner  in  the  invasion  of  the, 
English.f 

Thoiras  meanwhile  held  out  firmly  in 
the  fort  St.-Martin.  Buckingham  had 
converted  the  siege  into  a  blockade;  and 
having  taken  measures  for  preventing  the 
arrival  of  any  supplies,  it  was  calculated' 
that  in  a  few  days  the  besieged  would  be : 
forced  to  surrender.  The  elements  were 
however  adverse  to  the  English:  Buck- 
ingham's vessels  were  dispersed:  his 
floating  batteries  and  defences  were  all; 
carried  away  during  a  stormy  night;  and 
on  the  following  day,  a  dozen  pinnaces 
entered  the  citadel  with  an  ample  supply 
of  provisions.! 

The  Duke  d'Angouleme  was  at  the 
same  time  endeavouiing  to  persuade  the 
Rochellesc  to  submit;  and  Comminges, 
the  new  commander  of  Fort  Louis,  had 
an  interview  with  some  of  the  citizens; 
but  the  royal  proclamation§  was  not 
heeded,  although  the  arguments  used 
were  not  entirely  disregarded.  The 
mayor  declared  that  if  the  king  would 
frankly  execute  the  treaty  of  Montpellier, 
and  place  Fort  Louis  in  the  hands  of 
Chatillon,  La  Force,  or  La  Tremouille, 
the  inhabitants  would  instantly  fly  to  fillj 
his  majesty's  ranks,  and  obey  his  orders 
in  repelling  the  English  ||  The  Duke 
d'Ansouleme  then  considered  it  incum- 
bent on  him  to  prevent  the  arrival  of  all 
supplies;  a  strong  intrenchment  was 
thrown  up  for  that  purpose;  and  a  dis- 
charge from  one  of  the  city  batteries 


*  Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p.  61.   Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  236. 
Merc.  Fraii£.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  3. 
t  Mervault,  p.  18. 

X  Till  Sept.    Mervault,  p.  23.    Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xiii. 

p.  864. 

§  Dated  5th  August;  published  at  Rochelle  on  the 
15th.  ,  ... 

||  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  246.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xiu.  p. 
911. 


upon  the  workmen  was  the  declaratiori 
of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  town.* 

During  the  remainder  of  the  month, 
the  English  cruisers  were  successful,  and 
captured  so  many  vessels  bound  to  the 
citadel,  that  at  the  beginning  of  October, 
Thoiras  agreed  to  surrender,  if  not  re- 
lieved by  ihe  eighth.  Again  the  winds 
favoured  the  besieged;  on  the  night  of 
the  seventh,  a  gale  prevented  the  English 
vessels  from  barring  the  passage,  and  a 
flotilla  of  pinnaces  carried  another  supply 
to  the  citadel. f 

On  the  first  intelligence  of  Bucking- 
ham's intended  expedition,  Louis  resolved 
on  inarching  into  Aunis  with  a  respecta- 
ble force,  in  order  to  parry  the  threatened 
blow:  the  intention  was  however  frus- 
trated by  illness,  which  delayed  his  de- 
parture until  late  in  the  summer4  The 
sovereign's  presence  was  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  this  age,  when  command- 
ers frequently  acted  for  their  own  interest; 
and  immediately  on  his  recovery,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  disturbed  province.  He 
arrived  before  Rochelle  on  the  12th  of 
October.  The  citadel  of  St.  Martin  still 
held  out;  and  orders  were  given  for  trans- 
porting troops  to  the  Isle  of  Rhe,  for  Re- 
lieving Thoiras  and  his  gallant  garrison; 
and  endeavouring  to  expel  the  English 
from  the  Island. § 

The  position  of  the  Huguenots  was 
now  greatly  altered,  as,  by  a  treaty  con- 
cluded with  Buckingham,  they  had  virtu- 
ally cancelled  their  allegiance  to  France, 
the  stipulations  of  the  convention  giving 
them  every  prerogative  of  an  independent 
republic,  with  the  assurance  of  support 
from  England.  Louis  and  his  discern- 
ing minister  redoubled  their  efforts  to 
suppress  a  rebellion,  calculated  to  pro- 
duce the  most  calamitous  results,  as  it 
gave  England  access  to  the  provinces  for- 
merly subjected  to  that  crown.  Had 
Buckingham  sincerely  wished  to  promote 
the  Protestant  cause  in  France,  it  would 
not  have  been  difficult  to  establish  an  in- 
dependent state  in  the  maritime  districts; 
and  a  prospective  of  importance  in  the 
new  government  might  have  induced 
many  nobles  to  enter  zealously  into  the 
plan:  but  King  Charles  was  already  at 


*  10th  Sept.   Mervault,  p.  03.    Merc  Franc.,  p.  912. 
t  Mervault.  p.  32.    Merc.  Fran£.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  140. 
J  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  4,  p.  327. 

i  Merc.  Fran vol.  xiv.  p.  146.  Bassompierre,  vol. 
iii.  p.  69. 


SIEGE  OF 


variance  with  the  Presbyterians  of  Scot- 
land, and  found  the  English  puritans  al- 
most beyond  his  conirol:  religious  sym- 
pathy was  not  likely  therefore  to  send  a 
reinforcement  from  the  shores  of  Britain. 
The  unfortunate  monarch  allowed  his  mi- 
llion to  embark  in  a  scheme  fraught  with 
ruin  to  the  Huguenots,  and  deserving  to 
be  stigmatized  as  wanton  and  perfidious, 
if  no  efficient  assistance  were  intended: 
but  no  measures  appear  to  have  been 
adopted  for  encouraging  that  enthusiasm, 
which  would  have  produced  private  ex- 
peditions in  favour  of  Ilochelle;  nor  was 
any  encouragement  given  for  the  depar- 
ture of  enthusiastic  sectarians  as  vo- 
lunteers. The  public  voice  condemned 
Buckingham  as  frivolous  and  inexpe- 
rienced; but  Charles  was  obstinate  in 
maintaining  the  favourite  in  his  com- 
mand. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  council  of  Ro- 
chelle  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  ac- 
cept the  unqualified  protection  of  Eng- 
land, as  appears  from  their  hesitation  in 
admitting  Soubise  on  Buckingham's  ar- 
rival. As  auxiliaries,  the  English  were 
welcome:  but  the  Huguenots  were  too 
prudent  to  renounce  the  independence  of 
their  city,  as  the  price  of  foreign  support; 
and  while  they  desired  the  alliance  of 
King  Charles,  they  were  decidedly 
against  his  domination.  From  the  time 
that  Buckingham  discovered  the  exist- 
ence of  those  sentiments,  his  co-opera- 
tion was  relaxed;  his  efforts  in  the  isle 
of  Rhe  were  of  little  value;  and  although 
he  insisted  upon  the  inhabitants  selling 
provisions  to  his  troops,  he  never  reci- 
procated, by  contributing  to  the  city 
stores  when  he  received  supplies.  Thus, 
after  destroying  every  hope  of  reconci- 
liation with  their  natural  sovereign,  they 
discovered  that  their  new  ally  was  shame- 
fully lukewarm  in  their  cause;  and  had 
the  additional  mortification  of  finding 
their  own  resources  very  much  crippled 
by  his  demands. 

Buckingham's  expectations  of  taking 
the  fort  St.  Martin  soon  grew  feeble. 
Vessels  with  provisions  reached  the  be- 
sieged citadel  almost  every  day,  and  a 
division  of  twelve  hundred  men  effected 
a  landing  on  the  island.  Other  forces 
were  collecting,  and  as  success  would  be 
impossible  after  their  arrival,  he  decided 
upon  making  a  desperate  final  attack, 


ROCJ1ELLE.  351 


previous  to  re-embarking  his  men.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  morning  of  the  Gth  of 
November,  he  assaulted  the  citadel  on 
both  sides;  but  with  a  most  discouraging 
result,  for  the  scaling  ladders  were  too 
short,  and  the  force  was  inadequate  to 
the  service;  the  place  being  defended  by 
above  fifteen  hundred  men,  with  four 
bastions,  well  furnished  with  every  thing 
requisite  for  defence.* 

The  contest  lasted  two  hours,  when 
Buckingham  ordered  a  retreat:  two  days 
afterwards  he  abandoned  the  siege,  and 
quitted  the  island.  Marshal  Schomberg 
had  landed  with  a  body  of  four  thousand 
men;  and  had  not  the  retreating  force 
been  well  covered  by  a  body  of  cavalry, 
the  greater  part  of  the  English  would 
have  been  slain  or  captured  by  the  mar- 
shal. Bassompierre  says  that  above 
twelve  hundred  English  were  killed  or 
taken  prisoners.t 

However,  before  the  English  fleet  quit- 
ted the  shores  of  Aunis,  Buckingham 
sent  a  letter  to  the  mayor  and  council  of 
Rochelle,  by  the  minister,  David  Vincent, 
and  two  companions.  In  that  communi- 
cation he  exhorted  the  town  to  make 
terms  with  the  king,  who  would  readily 
grant  their  demands  while  the  English 
force  was  at  hand.  Should  they  be  un- 
willing to  adopt  that  suggestion,  he  gave 
them  the  choice  of  two  other  measures: 
he  would  enter  the  city  with  two  thou- 
sand men,  to  assist  in  its  defence;  or  re- 
turn to  England  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing a  sufficient  reinforcement,  for 
raising  the  siege.J 

Buckingham  well  knew  the  distressed 
condition  of  the  besieged  city;  yet  he 
took  away  with  him  three  hundred  tons 
of  corn,  which  was  sold  on  his  arrival  in 
England,  on  the  pretext  that  it  was  spoil- 
ing^ The  Protestant  agents,  who  ac- 
companied or  followed  him  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives,  obtained  splendid  promises, 
which  were  followed  by  interminable  de- 
lays. Fresh  agents  came  over  from  Ro- 
chelle, braving  the  extreme  risk,  as  cer- 
tain deaih  awaited  them  in  the  event  of 
detection  by  the  French  king's  authori- 
ties; and  several  expiated  on  the  scaffold 
their  zeal  in  the  cause.    The  deputies  in 

*  Rohan.  Mem.,  liv.  4,  p  329. 

t  Merc.  Franr;.,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  166—204.   Mervault,  iu 
loc.    Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p.  92. 
X  12th  Nov.    Mervault,  p.  45. 
i  Rohan,  Mim.,  liv.  4,  p.  332. 


352 


SIEGE  OF  ROCHELLE. 


England  were  informed  of  the  complete 
inutility  of  presenting  any  complaints 
against  the  favourite,  but  they  solicited  an 
audience  of  the  king;  when  they  im- 
plored assistance,  and  especially  provi- 
sions, of  which  their  city  was  in  great 
need.  When  they  concluded  by  dis- 
playing the  overwhelming  force  pre- 
paring for  their  destruction,  Charles  as- 
sured them  he  would  press  the  departure 
of  an  expedition  for  their  relief;  and 
would  risk  the  whole  force  of  his  king- 
dom, rather  than  suffer  Rochelle  to  fall.* 
The  retreat  of  the  English  force  ena- 
bled Louis  to  press  the  city  more  closely, 
and  a  severe  blockade  was  resolved  on. 
Additional  vessels  were  equipped,  to 
scour  the  coast,  and  prevent  the  arrival  of 
supplies.  An  unbroken  line  of  fortifica- 
tions, in  course  of  time,  completely  sealed 
all  communication  by  land;  and  the  avant- 
port,  or  gulf  of  Rochelle,  was  barred  by 
a  strong  wall  or  pier.  Within  six  months 
from  the  commencement  of  the  siege,  all 
access  or  egress  was  absolutely  impos- 
sible, t 

The  population  of  Rochelle  amounted 
to  nearly  eight  and  twenty  thousand 
souls.  Every  one  of  sufficient  age  was 
a  soldier.  Guiton,  the  mayor,  displayed 
admirable  resolution;  and  the  energy  kin- 
dled by  religious  feeling,  increased  the 
zeal  of  the  citizens.  Being  quite  con- 
fident that  the  reiterated  promises  of 
Charles  I.  would  soon  be  followed  by 
assistance,  they  refused  a  final  proposal 
for  adjusting  their  quarrel  with  the  French 
king;  who  offered  them  liberty  of  con- 
science, and  the  personal  privileges  con- 
ferred by  the  edict  of  Nantes,  provided 
they  would  receive  his  officers,  and  dis- 
mantle their  fortifications;  the  besieged 
claimed  the  right  of  consulting  with  their 
confederates,  which  could  not  be  granted; 
and  with  a  resolution  and  boldness  which 
seemed  to  partake  of  the  characteristics 
of  desperation,  they  displayed  many  in- 
stances of  absolute  heroism  in  several 
sorties,  and  in  the  conflicts  which  conti- 
nually took  place  before  their  walls. J 

For  a  time  small  vessels  occasionally 
broke  through  the  king's  ships,  and 
brought  supplies  of  provisions  to  the 
town:  but  that  resource  became  gradu- 
ally enfeebled,  as  the  works  of  the  mole 

*  Ibid.  liv.  4,  p.  333.  f  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p  267. 

t  January,  1628.  Merc.  Fran?.,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  587,  8. 


advanced;  and  often  the  bearer  of  de- 
spatches was  compelled,  for  his  safety, 
to  throw  his  letters  into  the  sea,  as  the 
gibbet  was  inevitable  if  they  were  found 
upon  his  person  by  the  enemy. 

One  instance  is  worthy  of  note,  as  it 
exemplifies  the  perseverance  and  deter- 
mination of  the  citizens: — the  bearer  of 
a  letter  was  arrested,  and  by  means  of 
the  torture  compelled  to  confess  where 
he  had  concealed  it.  He  had  swallowed 
a  silver  almond,  in  which  it  was  placed; 
and  it  was  discovered  after  an  imprison- 
ment of  four  days,  during  which  interval 
the  king's  apothecary  administered  pow- 
erful medicines.  The  man  was  hanged; 
and  after  the  surrender  of  the  town,  the 
silver-smith  who  made  the  almond  suf- 
fered the  same  punishment.* 

In  February,  the  king  set  out  for  Paris, 
leaving  Richelieu  to  command  as  his 
lieutenant.  The  cardinal  sent  a  trum- 
peter with  a  letter,  exhorting  the  people 
to  submit;  and  the  question  was  dis- 
cussed in  the  council,  but  with  no  result. 
Richelieu  then  prepared  a  grand  attack, 
which  was  confided  to  Marshals  Bassom- 
pierre  and  Schomberg;  after  two  attempts 
ion  the  night  of  the  11th  of  March,  the 
i  scheme  was  renounced  as  impracticable: 
the  besieged  set  apart  a  day  for  public 
thanksgiving,  on  account  of  their  deli- 
verance.! 

A  violent  storm  had  done  considerable 
damage  to  the  mole,  and  several  vessels 
succeeded  in  entering  the  port.  The 
commander  of  an  English  pinnace  which 
grounded  was  fortunately  able  to  gain  the 
town  in  a  small  boat,  when  he  delivered 
to  the  mayor  and  council  a  packet  of  let- 
ters from  their  deputies  in  England.  At 
the  ebb-tide,  the  king's  troops  attacked 
the  pinnace,  and  another  English  vessel 
in  a  like  predicament;  but  the  crews  de- 
fended themselves  so  well,  that  boats 
from  the  city  had  time  to  join  them,  and 
with  the  rising  tide,  towed  them  into 
port.  There  was  a  cargo  of  corn  in 
each — a  most  valuable  acquisition  for  a 
famished  city  .J 

The  letters  delivered  on  this  occasion 
gave  a  detailed  account  of  the  negotiations 
of  their  agents  in  England,  from  the  pre- 
vious  November,   when  Buckingham 


*  Merc.  Frart£.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  667. 
t  Mervault,  p.  62.   Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p.  122. 
%  22d  March,  Mervaull,  p.  64.  Bassompierre,  vol.  iii. 
p.  124. 


SURRENDER  OF  ROCIIELLE. 


353 


withdrew  from  the  isle  of  Rhe.  The 
deputies  were  Jacques  David,  eclievin  or 
alderman,  on  behalf  of  the  corporation; 
Jean  de  Hinsse,  on  the  part  of  the  citi- 
zens: and  Philip  Vincent,  a  minister, 
who  represented  the  consistory.*  Inter- 
views with  Buckingham  were  easily  ob- 
tained; and  it  was  not  very  difficult  for 
them  to  have  an  audience  of  King 
Charles,  on  all  which  occasions  they 
were  assured  that  the  fleet  should  put  to 
sea  without  delay,  to  relieve  Rochelle. 
Charles  was  remarkably  earnest  in  his 
last  promise;  and  whende  Hinsse  bowed 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  interview,  he 
said,  "  Assure  the  Rochellese  that  I  will 
not  abandon  them."  The  besieged  were 
greatly  encouraged  by  the  perusal  of  such 
despatches;  and  they  rejoiced  still  more 
when  the  English  fleet,  commanded  by 
the  earl  of  Denbigh,  Buckingham's  bro- 
ther-in  law,  appeared  off  the  isle  of  Rhe, 
on  the  11th  of  May.  The  flotilla  con- 
sisted of  eleven  ships  of  war;  from  thirty 
to  forty  small  armed  vessels,  and  as  many  i 
more  laden  with  corn  and  provisions;! 
but  whether  Denbigh  had  secret  orders,  i 
or  was  naturally  pusillanimous,  he  re- 
fused to  attempt  the  chief  purpose  of  his 
expedition,  although  requested  by  some 
French  gentlemen  onboard.  He  set  sail 
for  England  after  remaining  a  week  in 
the  roads,  leaving  the  besieged  in  amaze- 
ment at  such  inexplicable  conduct;  and 
nearly  reduced  to  despair,  by  the  de- 
struction of  the  brilliant  hopes  his  arrival 
had  created.! 

As  Denbigh  was  not  blamed  for  the, 
disgraceful  failure  of  his  expedition,  the j 
Huguenots  have  accused  Buckingham  of 
wantonly  deceiving  them ;  and  the  energy  I 
of  desperation  induced  several  to  risk  their 
lives  in  traversing  the  king's  camp,  for 
purpose  of  making  a  final  appeal  to  Charles 
I.  A  gentleman  of  Poictou,  named  Lai 
Grossetierre,  succeeded  in  the  attempt, 
and  delivered  a  memorial  to  that  prince,!  | 
who  sent  several  letters  with  the  assurance  ■ 
that  his  fleet  should  return  in  greater  j 
force;  and  that  nothing  should  be  spared 
for  raising  the  siege,  even  at  the  cost  of 
every  one  of  his  ships.j  The  messengers 
to  whom  these  letters  were  intrusted  had 


*  Arcere.  vol.  ii.  p.  "278. 
t  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  i!i|. 
1  Dated  isili  Mny,  lii-Jg.  Mervaull,  p.  117. 
§  Letters  ilalud  l'Jtli  and  27lli  of  May.    Mervault,  p. 
520. 


the  remarkable  good  fortune  to  pass  the 
king's  camp  safely;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  their  failure  would  not  have  been 
more  advantageous  to  the  besieged  Hu- 
guenots. Bassompierre  had  entered  into 
preliminaries  for  a  capitulation  ;  and  Ri- 
chelieu had  sent  a  letter  to  Guiton,  the 
mayor.  The  cardinal  gave  the  king's 
promise  that  the  lives  of  the  garrison  and 
inhabitants  should  be  spared,  if  the  town 
surrendered  within  three  days.  The  hol- 
low promises  of  the  English  monarch 
elated  the  citizens,  whose  religious  enthu- 
siasm imparted  strength  to  endure  suffer- 
ings and  privations  almost  unparalleled ; 
and  the  cardinal's  messenger  was  sent 
away  with  a  reply,  which  could  not  fail  of 
exciting  irritation :  "  Tell  the  cardinal," 
said  Guiton  to  the  drummer  who  brought 
the  letter,  "  that  I  am  his  very  humble 
servant."* 

Meanwhile  the  English  parliament  ex-, 
pressed  great  impatience  at  the  unskilful 
management  of  both  the  recent  expedi- 
tions. The  Huguenots  also  obtained  an 
audience  of  Charles  to  remonstrate  upon 
the  slow  and  negligent  preparations  for 
the  relief  of  Rochelle.  The  expedition 
was  at  length  completed,  and  Bucking- 
ham proceeded  to  Portsmouth  to  take  the 
command :  he  was  there  much  engaged 
with  Soubise,  and  the  French  gentlemen, 
who  incessantly  urged  the  departure  of 
the  fleet,  and  remonstrated  on  every  oc- 
casion at  the  delays,  which  inflicted  pro- 
longed misery  upon  their  confederates. 
After  one  of  these  conversations,  in  which 
Soubise  had  been  very  animated,  Buck- 
ingham was  struck  in  the  breast  with  a 
knife,  and  almost  instantly  expired.  A 
hasty  impression  that  the  blow  was  given 
by  a  French  hand  nearly  cost  the  lives  of 
Soubise  and  his  friends,  whose  angry  tone 
and  gestures  had  been  noticed,  although 
the  bystanders  could  not  comprehend 
their  observations.  The  assassin,  Felton, 
was  soon  found ;  he  made  no  effort  to 
escape,  and  referred  to  a  paper  in  his  hat 
for  an  explanation  of  his  motives,  a  pre- 
caution he  had  taken,  under  the  convic- 
tion that  he  should  perish  in  his  dire  at- 
tempt, f.  • 

This  event  caused  a  further  delay;  but 


30 


*  7th  July,  Arccre,  vol.  ii.  p.  294;  8lh,  according  tt, 
.Mervault. 

t  23d  August.  1038.  Vincent's  Journal,  quoted  by 
Mervault.    Violart,  vol.  i.  p.  300.   Clarendon  ,  book  '. 


354 


SURRENDER  OF  ROCHELLE. 


the  Rochellese  manfully  bore  up  under 
their  trials.  The  earl  of  Lindsey  sue-' 
ceeded  Buckingham  in  the  command; 
and  arrived  off  the  isle  of  Rhe,  at  the  end 
of  September.  But  the  mole  and  other 
works  were  by  this  time  so  strong,  that 
it  would  have  been  rash  to  attempt  am 
attack.  Another  month  passed  off  with-; 
out  any  effort  to  relieve  the  city;  and  the: 
successive  preparations  for  attacking  the, 
mole  terminated  in  a  few  exchanges  of i 
shot.  At  length  the  cravings  of  nature 
triumphed  over  the  firmness  of  principle; 
and  Richelieu  having  given  great  facilities 
for  an  adjustment,  passports  were  sent  for 
deputies  to  proceed  to  the  king's  camp,  to 
discuss  the  terms  of  surrender.  When 
we  consider  the  severity  shown  to  many 
unfortunate  messengers  during  the  siege, 
some  of  whom  were  hanged  after  the  re- 
duction of  the  town,  for  the  mere  fact  of 
conveying  letters  to  or  from  the  besieged, 
there  is  ground  for  surprise  that  the  inha- 
bitants in  general  were  treated  so  leniently. 
Richelieu  evidently  discerned  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  humane  policy ; 
and  his  comprehensive  views  of  affairs 
caused  him  to  be  satisfied  with  annihi- 
lating a  little  republic,  which  had  defied 
the  crown  of  France  during  seventy  years. 
The  gates  of  Rochelle  were  thrown  open 
on  the  30th  of  October,  after  a  siege  of 
nearly  fifteen  months;  during  which  period 
the  inhabitants  were  reduced  from  above 
twenty-seven  thousand  to  five;  and  out 
of  nearly  six  hundred  Englishmen,  left  by 
Buckingham,  only  sixty-two  survived.* 

Perfect  order  was  maintained  on  the 
entrance  of  the  king's  troops;  and  the 
disappointment  of  the  vanquished  was 
greatly  soothed  by  their  deliverance  from 
starvation,  an  abundant  supply  of  provi- 
sions being  gratuitously  distributed  by 
the  cardinal.  He  inaugurated  the  con- 
quest of  the  Protestant  town,  by  cele- 
brating mass  with  great  pomp,  on  the 
festival  of  All  Saints.t 

Still  there  were  examples  of  severity. 
The  duchess  of  Rohan  and  her  daughter 
were  not  named  in  the  capitulation,  and 
the  king's  advisers  excluded  her  from  its 
benefits.  The  duke  states  that  his  mo- 
ther abstained  from  personal  mention,  to 
avoid  the  charge  of  having  influenced  the 
surrender.    She  was  punished  for  the 

*  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  323. 

t  Merc.  Franc  ,  vol.  xiv.  p.  708. 


exertions  of  her  sons;  and  was  taken  cap- 
tive to  Niort,  with  her  daughter.  "  Ri- 
gour without  precedent,"  observes  her 
son,  "  that  a  person  of  her  quality,  at  the 
age  of  seventy,  on  quitting  a  siege  on 
which  she  and  her  daughter  had  lived  for 
three  months  on  horse-flesh,  and  four  or 
five  ounces  of  bread  per  day,  should  be 
held  captive,  deprived  of  the  exercises  of 
religion,  and  with  only  one  attendant  for 
her  service."* 

The  amnesty  was  limited,  in  its  effects, 
to  the  personal  liberties  and  property  of 
the  inhabitants.  As  a  corporation,  Ro- 
chelle was  to  be  severely  punished;  and 
before  the  king's  departure  an  ordinance 
was  published,  abrogating  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  city,  confiscating  the 
municipal  estates,  and  ordering  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  fortifications.  It 
was  even  forbidden  to  erect  a  garden-wall 
near  the  town.  The  magistracy,  on 
which  the  Rochellese  had  for  centuries 
prided  themselves,  was  abolished;  and 
the  "  city  of  refuge  "  was  no  longer  per- 
mitted to  receive  a  foreigner  without  the 
king's  permission;  nor  were  any  Pro- 
testants allowed  to  reside  there,  unless 
they  had  been  established  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  Buckingham's  expedition.! 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

Condu's  expedition  against  the  insurgent?— Rohan's 
treaty  with  Spain— Sack  of  Privas— Pacification  of 
1029— Synod  at  Charenton— Death  of  Rohan,  Mont- 
morency, and  Urban  Grandier. 

Conformably  to  the  agreement  be- 
tween the'  Dukes  of  Buckingham  and 
Rohan,  the  latter  had  proceeded  in  the 
summer  of  1627  into  Languedoc,  where 
he  summoned  his  adherents  and  prepared 
to  co-operate  with  his  allies.  He  pub- 
lished a  manifesto,  containing  his  reasons 
for  seeking  the  assistance  of  England,  in 
support  of  the  reformed  churches  of 
France.  That  declaration  was  circulated 
through  all  the  towns  in  which  Protest- 
ants resided;  and  there  was  in  Languedoc 
alone  a  powerful  party,  resolved  to  sup- 
port his  cause.  An  assembly  was  held 
at  Uzes,  to  invite  Rohan  to  resume  the 
post  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  Pro- 


*  Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  4,  p.  42-2. 
t  Arcere,  vol.  ii.  p.  326. 


PROTESTANTS  OF  LANGUEDOC. 


355 


tesiant  forces;  and,  previous  to  separation, 
the  members  signed  an  oath  of  union  and 
fidelity.* 

The  inhabitants  of  Milhaud  protested 
against  the  assembly  of  Uzes;  and  the 
consuls  of  Montauban  addressed  the  king, 
declaring  their  disapprobation  of  Rohan's 
treason. f  But  he  felt  confident  of  general 
support  in  that  province;  and  vigorously 
pressed  his  measures  for  combating  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  who  was  commissioned 
by  the  king  to  oppose  his  progress.^ 

Some  minute  details  of  this  expedition 
have  been  preserved,  from  which  we  may 
infer  the  dreadful  degree  of  animosity  ex- 
cited against  the  unfortunate  Huguenots, 
who  had  accepted  a  tempting  offer  from 
the  English  minister,  and  were  now  ir- 
reparably compromised.  The  national 
feeling  was  so  much  worked  upon,  that 
the  Protestants,  being  charged  with  par- 
ticipating in  an  English  invasion,  were 
exposed  to  the  utmost  degree  of  hatred. 

The  Huguenots  of  the  Vivarias  had 
elected  for  their  chieftain  a  very  daring 
and  courageous  man,  named  Brisou;  and 
when  Conde  quitted  Lyons,  this  com- 
mander was  the  first  to  call  forth  the 
prince's  powers.  Brison  had  posted  him- 
self at  Soyon,  a  town  on  the  Rhone,  most 
advantageously  situated  for  defence,  if 
the  garrison  had  been  at  all  adequate. 
After  some  heavy  discharges  of  artillery, 
the  besieged  proposed  a  parley,  and  de- 
manded a  truce  until  the  following  day. 
Their  proposal  being  rejected,  they  de- 
clared they  would  hold  out,  and  at  mid- 
night made  their  escape  quietly  to  another 
refuge.^ 

Conde's  subsequent  behaviour  was  wan- 
tonly severe.  The  report  sent  to  the  go- 
vernment shows  a  cold,  unfeeling  insen- 
sibility on  the  part  of  the  narrator,  no 
less  than  an  excessive  animosity  in  the 
prince's  orders.  "  He  set  fire  to  the  vil- 
lage held  by  Brison,  and  hanged  some 
soldiers  who  had  been  surprised;  anions 
others  a  cordelier,  newly  unfrocked, 
whom  they  found  with  an  arquebuse. 
He  gave  up  to  plunder  the  dwelling  of 
Du  Bays,  first  consul  of  Nismes,  in 


hatred  of  the  faction  to  which  he  be- 
longed."* 

Brison's  career  was  soon  after  termi- 
nated. He  sustained  his  character  to  the 
last,  and  surprised  Vals,  a  town  in  the 
Vivarias.  But  Conde  was  delivered  from 
an  opponent  who  was  not  sufficiently  dig- 
nified to  throw  a  lustre  on  the  contest; 
for  being  at  Privas,  within  a  few  days 
afterwards,  he  was  requested  to  hold  a 
child  of  his  lieutenant  at  the  font  of  a 
neighbouring  village.  Military  honours 
signalized  the  chieftain's  presence;  and  a 
salute  was  fired  as  he  left  the  rural  tem- 
ple. One  of  the  pieces  was  loaded  with 
ball,  and  Brison  being  struck,  was  killed 
on  the  spot.  His  successor  in  the  com- 
mand was  Montbrun  St.  Andre.f 

When  the  prince  arrived  at  Toulouse, 
the  parliament,  encouraged  by  his  pre- 
sence, and  instigated  by  the  Dukes  of 
Montmorency,  Epernon,  and  Ventadour, 
passed  several  exceedingly  severe  edicts 
against  the  rebels.  One  was  personally 
against  the  Duke  of  Rohan,  who  was  de- 
graded from  his  rank  and  dignities,  and 
condemned  to  be  torn  asunder  by  four 
horses. :[  The  sentence  was  executed  in 
effigy  on  the  fifth  of  February,  1628;  and 
if  Rohan's  good  fortune  had  not  preserved 
him  from  capture,  he  might  and  probably 
would  have  expiated  his  rebellion  on  the 
scaffold.  A  harsh  spirit  prevailed;  and 
it  was  very  common  for  agents  and 
emissaries,  if  taken,  to  be  hanged.  This 
happened  to  a  shoemaker  of  Montauban, 
who  had  carried  a  letter  to  Rohan,  and 
was  returning  with  the  answer:  being  ar- 
rested at  Galihac,  he  was  taken  to  Tou- 
louse, where  he  was  condemned  and 
forthwith  executed. § 

It  would  answer  no  useful  purpose  to 
describe  all  the  movements  and  encoun- 
ters between  the  king's  forces  and  the 
Protestants  under  Rohan.  A  variety  of 
anecdotes  are  recorded  by  contempora- 
ries, which  show  the  strong  feelings  ex- 
cited on  both  sides;  and  on  perusing  the 
chronicles  of  these  times,  the  number  of 
summary  executions  appears  awfully  nu- 
merous. 

There  were  three  leaders  in  the  south 


♦  September  llih,  1627.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xiv.  p. 
309  —Rohan,  Mem.,  liv.  4,  p.  297. 

1  Merc  Franc.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  340. 

I  Commission  dated  Niort,  October  10th,  1627.  Merc. 
Franc.,  p  316. 

$  December  12th,  1697.   Merc.  Franc,  vol.  xiv.  p.  4. 


*  Ri-lation  du  Voyage  de  Monsieur  le  Prince,  given  b> 
Aubery.  vol.  i  p.  604. 

f  January,  4th.  1628.    Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  43. 

t  Decree  dated  29th  January,  1628.  Merc.  Franc  , 
vol.  xiv.  p.  53. 

{  16th  February,  1628.   Merc.  Franc  ,  vol.  xiv.  p.  59. 


356 


TREATY  WITH  SPAIN. 


of  France:  Conde,  who  was  striving  to 
gain  importance  by  serving  the  king; 
Montmorency,  whose  aim  was  to  be- 
come independent  like  Lesdignieres;  and 
Rohan,  who  maintained  the  Protestant 
cause  against  them  both.  The  military 
operations  were  on  a  small  scale,  and 
there  were  very  few  actions  worthy  of 
note.  However,  Rohan's  efforts  prove 
him  a  more  than  ordinary  man,  when  it 
is  considered  that  he  had  to  withstand  the 
forces  of  several  provinces;  his  resistance 
in  Langnedoc  entitles  him  to  great  credit; 
and  if  the  siege  of  Rochelle  had  been 
raised,  would  assuredly  have  procured 
him  much  renown,  by  the  consequences 
to  which  it  must  have  given  rise. 

The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Rochelle 
created  great  consternation,  not  only 
among  Rohan's  forces,  but  in  all  the  Pro- 
testant towns.  Every  confederate,  from 
that  time,  felt  the  necessity  of  making  the 
best  terms  in  his  power.  And  many 
went  so  far  as  openly  to  justify  such  in- 
tentions; alleging  that  as  the  war  was 
undertaken  with  the  design  of  saving  Ro- 
chelle, that  town  having  fallen,  it  was 
incumbent  upon  them  to  make  peace, 
without  exposing  their  cause  to  extremi-j 
ties.  Romish  agents  at  the  same  time 
announced  that  promptitude  was  essential 
for  all  who  wished  to  make  terms,  as  the  | 
first  submissions  would  be  best  rewarded. 
A  royal  proclamation  likewise  declared, 
that  a  decree  of  amnesty  and  oblivion! 
would  be  granted  to  all  individuals  or 
communities,  who  in  token  of  submission 
were  willing  to  apply  for  the  favour.* 

Although  the  promises  of  Charles  L 
had  proved  valueless,  the  Huguenots  still 
clung  to  the  idea  of  English  protection;  I 
and  Rohan  addressed  that  monarch,  im-| 
ploring  his  assistance.!  At  the  same 
time,  with  an  inconsistency  to  be  ex- 
plained only  by  the  desperate  state  of  his  , 
affairs,  he  sent  an  agent  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  to  supplicate  his  aid;  and  in  return 
for  the  Spanish  subsidies,  he  engaged  to 
keep  a  stipulated  force  in  the  field,  to 
make  any  diversion  requisite  for  pro- 
moting the  views  and  measures  of  the 
most  Catholic  king.  Philip  was  highly 
pleased  at  such  an  opportunity  for  annoy- 
ing the  French  government,  and  con- 

*  I5tli  December.  1028.  Merc.  Franc,,  vol.  xv.  p.  31. 
Rohan,  liv.  4.  p.  423. 

t  letter  dated  Nismes,  12lli  March,  1029.  Merc. 
frant;.,  vol.  xv.  p.  285. 


eluded  a  treaty  to  this  effect:  the  Duke- 
de  Rohan  was  to  receive  six  hundred 
thousand  ducats  per  annum,  payable  half 
yearly:  he  was  to  keep  up  a  force  of 
twelve  thousand  men,  and  hold  himself 
ready  to  march  in  any  direction  where 
the  Spanish  government  required  a  diver- 
sion; and  he  was  further  prohibited  from 
concluding  any  treaty  of  peace,  without 
the  consent  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

This  treaty  is  disgraceful  to  the  Duke 
of  Rohan,  if  its  conclusion  can  be  sub- 
stantiated. The  text  of  the  proposals 
and  convention  is  preserved  in  a  semi- 
official record;*  but  it  does  not  appear 
after  all  that  Rohan  ever  received  the 
promised  subsidy,  although  the  negotia- 
tion can  hardly  be  doubted;  for  the  as- 
sembly of  Nismes  requested  him  to  write 
to  Cassel,  his  agent  at  Madrid,  that  he 
could  not  subsist  without  money,  and  that 
a  pacification  in  France  must  speedily  take 
place,  unless  a  supply  arrived  shortly. f 
This  is  certainly  an  admission  of  the 
treaty. 

Bernard  Pels,  a  Dutchman,  one  of 
Rohan's  agents  in  Spain,  was  about  this 
time  arrested  at  Lunel,  and  conducted  to 
Toulouse,  where  torture  was  used  to 
elicit  particulars  on  the  nature  of  his  mis- 
sion, and  the  names  of  his  confederates. 
He  was  afterwards  tried,  and  capitally 
condemned,  as  guilty  of  high  treason:  a 
sentence  which  it  requires  some  inge- 
nuity to  justify,  as  the  crown  of  France 
had  not  a  shadow  of  claim  to  his  alle- 
giance. The  severity  of  his  punishment 
proves  the  strong  apprehensions  of  Louis 
and  his  minister,  that  such  a  dangerous 
correspondence  existed  between  the  court 
of  Madrid  and  the  Huguenots. 1 

The  king,  attended  by  Richelieu, 
quitted  the  capital  early  this  year,  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  the  siesre  of  Casal. 
By  activity  and  energy  at  Suze,  he  com- 
pelled the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  consent  to  a 
treaty;  and  returned  to  Languedoc  much 
earlier  than  could  have  been  expected. 
His  presence  speedily  produced  a  marked 
effect  on  the  operations  of  his  forces;  and 
the  appearance  of  his  standard  was  the 
forerunner  of  success.    Privas  was  plun- 


*  Dated  Madrid,  3d  May,  1029,  according  to  Merc. 
Fran?.,  vol.  xv.  p.  403. 

t  Rnhan,  Mem.,  liv.  4,  p.  444. 

!  Pels  was  beheaded  10th  June,  1629.  Merc.  Franc  . 
vol.  xv.  p.  4B& 


SACK  OF  PRIVAS. 


357 


dered  and  burned,  after  a  siege  of  fifteen 
days.* 

Richelieu  considered  that  the  devasta- 
tion of  Prrvas  required  some  palliation, 
and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  queen,  in  which 
he  represents  the  catastrophe  as  an  in- 
voluntary severity.  He  states  that  five 
or  six  hundred  men  who  had  retreated 
into  a  fort,  having  surrendered  at  discre- 
tion, the  king  resolved  on  hanging  some, 
sending  others  to  the  galleys,  and  par- 
doning the  least  culpable.  But  as  the 
guards  entered  the  place,  a  desperate  Hu- 
guenot, named  Chambelan,  took  a  lighted 
match,  and  declared  to  his  companions, 
that  as  he  would  rather  perish  in  the 
ruins  than  be  hanged,  he  should  set  fire 
to  the  magazine,  which  he  instantly 
effected.  Many  were  killed  on  both 
sides;  and  the  troops,  in  the  fury  of  their 
vengeance,  slew  several  of  their  own 
party.  "It  seems,"  says  the  cardinal, 
"  like  a  particular  judgment  of  God  upon 
this  town,  which  has  always  been  the 
seat  of  heresy  in  these  quarters.  There 
was  no  intention  of  giving  up  the  place 
to  pillage:  but  in  the  night  it  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  gates  thrown  open  for  the 
soldiers  to  enter  in  crowds  to  plunder. 
Every  thing  possible  was  done  to  prevent 
its  being  burnt;  yet  not  a  house  has 
escaped  the  flames.  Orders  were  given 
to  prevent  those  in  the  fort  from  being 
molested  by  the  troops,  but  they  violently 
exposed  themselves  to  destruction,  leap- 
ing down  from  their  fortifications,  and  in- 
censing the  soldiers  against  them,  by  their 
desperate  attempt  to  destroy  themselves 
with  the  king's  followers."! 

Many  strong  towns  were  successively 
surrendered  to  the  king;  and  a  general 
wish  for  peace  was  found  to  exist  among 
the  Protestants.  Rohan  foresaw  that  the 
edicts  would  be  completely  annulled,  if 
private  treaties  were  entered  into;  and 
that  a  general  pacification,  although  dis- 
advantageous, would  be  less  injurious  to 
the  cause. I  He  accordingly  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  the  royal  camp,  requesting  a 
few  days'  suspension  of  hostilities,  with 
permission  for  the  assembly  at  Nismes  to 
join  him  at  Anduze,  without  molestation. 
This  after  some  difficulty  was  granted. 


*  2Qlh  May,  Merc.  Frang.,  p.  479. 
t  Letter  dated  Privas,  3Uth  May,  1029.    Aubery.  vol. 
i.  p.  617. 

I  Rohan,  Discours  sur  Us  Dernicrs  Troubles,  p.  112, 
and  Mcmoires,  liv.  4,  at  the  end. 


The  deputies  from  Nismes  were  rather 
extravagant  in  their  pretensions,  which 
for  some  time  seemed  likely  to  prevent 
all  negotiation;  but  a  treaty  was  con- 
cluded and  signed  at  Alais  on  the  27th  of 
June.*  The  stipulations  were  perhaps 
as  favourable  as  the  ill  fortune  of  the  Pro- 
testants could  have  led  them  to  expect; 
and  while  they  had  to  lament  the  loss  of 
their  fortified  town,  they  had  liberty 
of  conscience  and  freedom  of  worship 
again  allowed  them  by  edict.  Experience 
had,  however,  shown  how  little  reliance 
could  be  placed  upon  such  guarantees, 
even  in  the  days  of  Henry  IV.;  and  cor- 
diality was  not  established  between  the 
rival  creeds.  The  people  of  Montauban 
would  not  agree  to  the  treaty:  this  ob- 
stinacy gained  them  the  empty  distinction, 
of  a  siege.  Bassompierre  invested  the 
place;  and  after  a  few  days,  entered  to 
complete  Richelieu's  triumph,  by  sub- 
duing the  last  town  in  which  there  re- 
mained any  symptoms  of  revolt.t 

No  sooner  was  the  civil  war  terminated, 
than  the  princes  and  leading  nobility  dis- 
covered the  immense  advantages  which 
Richelieu  would  derive  from  the  circum- 
stance, to  establish  himself  firmly  as 
prime  minister.  The  court  soon  became 
a  scene  of  extensive  rivalry  and  dispute; 
and  Louis  was  so  harassed  in  his  do- 
mestic circle  by  the  quarrels  of  his  family, 
that  he  acquired  a  habit  of  considering 
Richelieu  as  indispensable  to  his  happi- 
ness and  comfort. 

The  queen-mother's  hatred  to  the  car- 
dinal was  undisguised;  and  subsequently, 
when  she  considered  it  necessary  to 
justify  herself,  she  declared  in  a  letter  to 
the  parliament,  that  she  should  never 
have  resolved  on  quitting  France,  if  it  had 
not  been  to  preserve  her  life  from  the 
hands  of  Richelieu. ± 

But  the  cardinal  was  not  the  only  cause 
of  her  displeasure  and  vexation:  Gaston 
d'Orleans  wished  to  marry  the  princess 
Mary  de  Gonzague,  a  measure  strenu- 
ously opposed  by  his  mother,  who  was 
desirous  that  he  should  wed  her  niece,  a 
Tuscan  princess.    In  the  midst  of  these 


*  Menard,  Hisloire  de  Jfime*,  vol.  v.  p.  580.  Rohan, 
Mcmoires,  liv.  4.  The  edict  in  favour  of  the  Puke  de 
Ktih.in  and  the  Sicur  de  Soubise,  dated  Nismes,  July, 
1029,  is  given  by  Benoit,  \ol.  ii  (Preuves.) 

t20th  August,  1029.  Merc.  Franc;.,  vol.  xv.  p.  537. 
Bassompierre,  vol.  iii.  p.  222. 

t  Letter  dated  Avesnes,  27tli  July,  1031.  Aubery, 
vol.  ii.  p.  124. 


35S 


SYNOD  AT  CHARENTON. 


family  disputes,  an  ineffectual  effort  was  charge,  far  more  serious,  as  calculated  to 
made  to  effect  Richelieu's  dismissal;*  but  bring  odium  upon  the  Protestant  body: 
the  failure  only  served  to  render  his  posi-  Beraut,  minister  of  Montauban,  had  pub- 
tion  stronger,  while  it  assured  his  ene-  lished  a  work,  declaring  that  preachers 
mies  of  increased  hostility  on  his  part,  had  a  right  to  take  arms  in  the  cause  of 
The  king's  movements  towards  Orleans,  religion.  For  this  he  had  been  prohi- 
where  his  brother  lived  in  retirement,  bited  by  the  king's  order  from  assisting 
made  that  prince  suspicious  of  some  evil  at  the  synod;*  but  being  questioned  on 
design,  and  in  the  middle  of  March  he  the  subject,  he  excused  himself  on  ac- 
escaped  into  Lorrain.  count  of  the  heated  state  of  public  opinion 

In  July,  the  queen-mother  quitted  Com-  at  the  time,  he  wrote  and  acquiesced  in 
piegne  for  La  Capelle,  a  town  in  Picardy,  the  condemnation  of  the  work.  At  the 
where  she  hoped  to  be  joined  by  sufficient  request  of  the  synod,  he  obtained  the 
partisans,  among  the  French  malcontents  king's  permission  to  join  the  assembly, 
and  Spanish  mercenaries  from  Flanders,  The  ministers  Amirault  and  de  Villars 
for  resisting  any  effort  to  conduct  her  were  deputed  by  the  meeting  to  present 
back  to  her  place  of  confinement.  How-  the  statement  of  their  grievances  to  the 
ever,  from  the  measures  adopted  on  the  j king,  then  staying  at  Oompiegne.  They 
occasion,  she  was  compelled  to  change  petitioned  for  the  right  of  ministers  to 


her  plan,  and  withdrew  into  Flanders.t 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  affairs 
of  the  Protestants  obtained  very  little  at- 
tention from  the  government.  Their  po- 
litical importance  had  ceased;  and  the 
time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  depriving 
them  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  All 
Europe  knew  the  resolution  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  to  make  common  cause  with 
Protestants  under  persecution:  prudence 
consequently  demanded  liberal  treatment 
for  them  at  this  time.  They  had  not 
been  allowed  to  hold  a  synod  for  some 

years;  and  the  king  gave  them  permission 'Louis  XUT.,  although  that  monarch  ap- 
to  meet  at  Charenlon, in  September,  1631,' peared  willing  to  receive  him  with  cor- 
An  historian,  avowedly  unfavourable  totality.  The  tone  of  his  memoirs  in- 
them,  observes,  that  the  disputes  between  I  dicates  a  feeling  of  disappointment  and 


preach  in  any  Protestant  temple,  whereas 
a  recent  decision  had  forbidden  them  to 
abandon  their  special  charges — a  cessa- 
tion of  proceedings  instituted  against 
some  ministers  of  Languedoc,  for  preach- 
ing their  avowed  doctrines — admission  of 
Protestants  to  public  charges — and  the 
liberation  of  some  of  their  brethren  from 
the  galleys. t  From  this  list  of  their  de- 
mands, a  tolerable  idea  may  be  formed  of 
their  condition  at  this  epoch. 

Rohan's  principles  were  a  decided  ob- 
stacle to  his  remaining  at  the  court  of 


the  king,  his  mother,  and  brother,  seemed 
to  present  them  with  an  occasion  for  re- 
volting; and  therefore  the  government 
endeavoured  to  satisfy  the  most  reasona- 
ble of  their  demands.j 

When  the  deputies  were  assembled, 
Gallard,  the  king's  commissary,  informed 
them  that  his  majesty  would  be  a  good 
father  and  sovereign  to  them,  but  he  for- 
bade their  making  protestations  and  re- 
monstrances. He  directed  their  attention 
to  several  infractions  of  the  king's  orders; 
such  as  receiving  foreigners  into  the 
ministry,  and  French  preachers  going 
abroad.     There  was  however  another 


*  llth  November,  1G30,  commonly  termed  la  journce 
dcs  dupes. 

t  The  inquirj',  instituted  by  the  king's  order,  con 
tains  the  most  minute  details  ; — "  Tile  queen  set  out 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  night  of  lHih  July,  1631)  in  a  coach 
belonging  to  Madame  du  Fresuoy,  drawn  by  six  bay 
horses,"  Sec.  &c.   Aubery,  vol.  ii.  p.  115. 

j  Bernard,  p.  280. 


vexation  at  the  calumnious  reports  put 
into  circulation  by  some  who,  having  ab- 
jured Protestantism,  deemed  it  essential 
to  their  interests  that  his  motives  should 
be  assailed.  In  a  discourse  composed 
with  the  idea  of  justifying  his  conduct 
and  character,  he  observes:  "It  is  a 
thankless  toil  to  serve  the  public,  espe- 
cially a  feeble  and  voluntary  party,  for  if 
each  does  not  find  what  he  anticipated, 
all  cry  out  against  their  leader.  This  I 
now  experience — I  am  blamed  by  the 
people,  who  have  not  the  relief  they  ex- 
pected: being  stimulated  by  false  brethren, 
who,  to  increase  their  importance  with 
the  opposite  party,  make  it  their  business 
to  represent  me,  as  they  in  reality  are/j 

*  Benoit  states  that  the  king  wished  to  exclude  lias- 
nage,  pastor  of  Caventan,  on  account  of  the  zeal  be 
had  displayed  during  the  siege  of  Rochelle.  Hist,  tic 
I' Edit  de  Nantes,  vol  ii.  p.  519. 

t  Merc.  Franc,  vol.  xvii.  p.  723. 

J  Rohan,  Discours  sur  les  Dcrniers  Troubles,  p.  9X> 


DEATH  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ROHAN. 


359 


This  nobleman  being  grandson  of  Isa- 1 of  his  age.  His  opinions  on  military 
bella  d'Albret,  daughter  of  John,  King  of  tactics  have  been  highly  prized,  especial- 
Navarre,  would  have  succeeded  to  that  ly  on  questions  relating  to  mountain  war- 
crown  had  Henry  IV.  died  childless,  j  fare.  It  has  been  said  of  him,  that  he 
His  birth  entitled  him  to  much  more  im-j  followed  the  traces  of  Sertorius,  and  Im- 
portance at  court  than  the  circumstances  came  t lie  model  of  Catinat.  He  had 
of  the  time  permitted;  he  therefore  with-  great  talent  as  a  writer;  and  Voltaire  has 
drew  to  Venice  at  the  close  of  the  civil  passed  some  high  encomiums  on  his  ac- 
wars,  and  was  appointed  generalissimo  count  of  the  Valteline  wars.  He  detest- 
of  that  republic.  In  that  capacity  he  ed  avarice,  and  spared  no  expense  for 
had  made  ample  preparations  for  repair- !  spies,  whom  he  termed  the  eyes  of  an 
ing  the  disasters  of  some  recent  cam-  army.*  An  idea  obtained  circulation  that 
paigns,  when  his  projects  were  annihi-  he  was  in  treaty  with  the  Porte  for  the 
lated  by  the  treaty  of  Cherasco,  con- ;  purchase  of  Cyprus,  in  order  to  establish 
eluded  in  June,  1631.  He  was  after-a  free  government,  where  the  persecuted 
wards  sent  by  Louis  as  his  ambassador  Protestants  might  find  a  refuge.  The 
to  the  Orisons,  and  was  actively  engaged  project  failed  in  consequence  of  the  death 
in  similar  employs  until  March",  1637,  of  the  patriarch  Cyril,  who  had  promoted 
■when  a  treaty  which  he  had  concluded'  the  negotiation.! 

respecting  the  Valteline  caused  consider- 1  The  remainder  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
able  dissatisfaction  at  court;  and  to  avoid  XIII.  presents  very  few  incidents  claim- 
the  effects  of  Richelieu's  animosity,  he 'ing  notice  in  this  work.  Richelieu  was 
retired  to  Geneva.  Although  his  con-!  firm,  he  was  even  severe:  but  his  ene- 
duct  in  the  Valteline  gave  ample  proof  mies  must  admit  he  possessed  greatness 
of  his  bravery  and  talent,  he  dared  not  of  mind;  and  his  advice  tempered  and 
return  into  France,  being  persuaded  that  neutralized  the  tendency  to  cruelty  and 
the  prime  minister  would  make  him  re- .bigotry  which  corroded  the  weak  mo- 
sponsible  for  the  misfortunes  attendant  narch's  breast. 

on  an  event  which  had  arisen  entirely  The  fate  of  Montmorency  will  always 
out  of  that  statesman's  policy .*  be  a  stigma  upon  the  cardinal's  govern- 

Grotius,  in  a  letter  to  Oxenstiern,  states  ment.J  That  nobleman's  sentence  was 
that  the  court  of  France  was  alarmed  at 'as  strictly  just,  as  Marshal  Marillac's  was 
the  correspondence  between  Rohan  and  legally  iniquitous;  but  Montmorency  had 
Saxe-Weimar,  who  had  great  deference  j  rendered  great  assistance  in  consolidating 
for  his  talents.  Richelieu  apprehended ,  the  throne;  for  which  Louis  had  many 
some  project  for  reviving  the  Protestant  times  expressed  his  gratitude:  indeed  it 
interest  in  the  Cevennes.  Rohan  was  is  doubtful  whether  Richelieu  could  have 
sent  to  Venice  with  a  view  of  drawing  suppressed  the  Huguenot  party  in  Lan- 
him  away  from  Geneva;  but  he  metjguedoc  without  his  co-operation.  His 
Weimar,  and  instead  of  proceeding  to ;  name  was  moreover  popular;  and  his 
Venice  joined  his  army.  While  charging: character  stood  very  high  for  social  ex- 
at  the  head  of  a  body  of  troops,  at  the|cellence:  those  circumstances  combined 
battle  of  Rhinfeldt,  he  received  a  wound,  have  thrown  a  halo  around  his  name,  and 
which  ultimately  proved  fatal.t  The  ■  probably  ensured  his  fate;  for  his  insur- 
king  wrote  Rohan  a  letter  of  thanks  for|rection  might  have  been  pardoned,  if 
the  victory  he  had  been  instrumental  in  i  Richelieu's  plan  of  government  had  not 
gaining;  but  it  was  generally  supposed  j  required  the  sacrifice  of  every  rival, 
that  Richelieu's  satisfaction  at  the  defeati  Marillac's  sentence  is  by  all  admitted 
of  the  Imperialists  was  inferior  to  his  J  to  be  odious  in  the  extreme:  but  Riche- 
pleasure  on  being  freed  from  a  powerful  lien's  apologists  contend  that  the  marshal 
enemy.}  was  guilty  of  the  basest  ingratitude,  in 

Henry,  Duke  of  Rohan  was,  by  gene-  conspiring  against  his  benefactor;  and 
ral  admission,  one  of  the  greatest  men  thus  divert  a  portion  of  the  odium  from 


*  D'Avrigny,  Mem.,  Lhrovologiqucs,  vol.  i.  p.  308.  r 

*  He  was  won mleil  2Hih  of  February,  and  died  ].3th 
Of  April,  I(i:i8,  JE.  59.  His  body  was  carried  to  Geneva, 
and  buried  with  great  honours.    Levassor,  liv.  43. 

t  Leclerc,  Vie  Ue  Hichciieu,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 


*  Levassor,  liv.  63. 

t  Amelot  de  la  Floussaye,  Jlftm.,  Hist.,  vol.  ii.  p.  26. 

t  Montmorency  was  beheaded  at  Toulouse,  30th  Oc- 
tober, 1632;  Marillac  at  1'aris.  in  May  of  the  same 
year. 


360 


TORTURE  AND  DEATH  OF  GRANDIER. 


the  statesman,  whose  firm  administration 
excited  much  discontent,  and  provoked 
continual  plots  against  bis  person.  He 
was,  therefore,  in  self-defence,  compelled 
to  adopt  tyrannical  measures;  and  a  long 
catalogue  of  victims  is  displayed  in  the 
annals  of  this  reign.  The  Huguenots 
were  not,  however,  the  objects  of  his  ju- 
dicial rigour;  and  on  one  occasion  when 
two  students  of  Saumur  were  convicted 
of  mingling,  in  a  frolic,  with  the  faithful 
at  the  midnight  mass,  on  which  occasion 
they  irreverently  received  the  sacrament 
of  the  Eucharist,  the  sentence  was  free 
from  the  cruelty  which  had  long  charac- 
terized such  judgments.  They  were  ba- 
nished from  Paris  for  three  years — from 
Saumur,  for  ever;  were  fined  twelve 
hundred  livres;  and  the  punishment  of 
death  was  threatened  if  the  offence  were 
repeated.* 

Urban  Grandier,  a  priest,  is  among  the 
names  rendered  famous  for  a  melancholy 
fate.  The  Ursuline  convent  at  Loudun 
was  disturbed  by  apparitions;  and  subse- 
quently the  nuns  displayed  all  the  symp- 
toms of  demoniacal  possession;  which 
facts  were  related  in  the  proces-verbaux 
of  three  consecutive  ceremonials  for  ex- 
orcising the  place.j  Grandier  was  a 
man  of  considerable  talents,  and  had 
written  a  treatise  condemning  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy;  for  which  it  is  however 
probable  he  would  never  have  been  mo- 
lested, had  he  not  published  a  satirical 
libel  upon  Richelieu.  He  was  accused 
of  having  bewitched  the  Ursuline  nuns; 
and  writers  in  the  cardinal's  employ  have 
asserted  that  his  simulated  apparitions 
were  only  covers  for  effecting  impure 
designs.  It  was  believed  at.  court  that 
he  was  the  cause  of  the  demoniacal  pos- 
session, and  to  doubt  it  became  a  state 
offence.  Grandier  was  arrested  in  De- 
cember, 1G33;  and  as  the  sentence  which 
condemned  him  to  be  burned  alive  was 
not  given  till  August  following,  it  would 
appear  that  he  defended  himself  with 
ability.  It  was  however  in  vain;  for 
Laubardemont,  one  of  Richelieu's  crea- 
tures, and  the  Jesuit  Lactance,  who  was 
there  to  exorcise  the  nuns,  condemned 
him  for  magic,  sorcery,  impiety,  &c. 
Grandier  endured  a  long  martyrdom,  be- 


*  Arret  ilu  Parlement  dp  Paris,  17lh  February,  1632. 
Merc.  Franc  .  vol.  xviii.  p. 26. 

t  7lli  October,  14th  November,  and  4th  December, 
1632.   Merc.  Franc.,  vol.  xx.  pp.  487—764. 


ing  tortured  for  some  time  with  ingenious 
devices.  To  inspire  the  public  with  a 
hatred  of  his  memory,  Father  Lactance 
held  a  heated  iron  crucifix  to  Grandier's 
lips:  the  sufferer  drew  back  with  the 
pain,  and  the  Jesuit  pointed  out  to  the 
by-standers  how  the  heretic  abhorred  the 
symbol  of  redemption.* 

The  Count  de  Lude  exposed  the  infa- 
mous imposture,  which  was  continued 
after  Grandier  had  expired  in  the  flames. 
Pretending  to  have  a  choice  relic  in  a 
casket,  he  expressed  a  desire  to  test  the 
(reality  of  the  possession,  by  holding  it 
near  to  one  of  those  suffering  from  the 
i  demon.  The  nun  in  consequence  threw 
I  herself  into  violent  convulsions  directly 
j the  holy  relic  was  near  her;  and  a  tre- 
mendous outcry  was  raised  against  the 
count,  when  he  opened  his  box,  and  dis- 
played a  bunch  of  hair  and  some  fea- 
thers, t  The  deception  was  then  evident; 
and  the  exorcists  lost  the  gratuity  allowed 
them  by  the  government. 

From  this  time  the  affairs  of  France 
assumed  an  entirely  different  character. 
Richelieu  interfered  in  the  general  con- 
cerns of  Europe;  and  the  military  ope- 
rations in  Germany,  by  engaging  atten- 
tion and  occupying  the  active  spirits  of 
the  age,  completely  finished  the  civil 
wars,  and  introduced  a  new  system  of 
policy,  more  hostile  to  the  power  and  in- 
fluence of  the  nobles,  and  for  a  time  se- 
vere towards  all  classes:  it  was  however 
requisite,  after  so  many  years  of  anarchy, 
to  pass  under  the  ordeal  of  tyranny,  as 
the  price  of  restored  order. 

Ere  we  quit  this  era  of  the  Huguenot 
annals,  there  remains  only  to  allude  to 
the  death  of  Sully,  whose  patriotism  and 
loyalty  were  made  to  harmonize  with  his 
religious  principles,  in  attachment  to 
which  he  remained  unchanged  until  his 
denth.  We  have  found  him,  even  while 
suffering  a  species  of  vexatious  banish- 
ment, forget  his  injuries,  and  act  as  me- 
diator before  the  walls  of  Montauban;  for 
which  service  he  was  subsequently  re- 
warded with  the  marshal's  baton. 

It  is  related  that  notwithstanding  Sul- 
ly's firm  and  uncompromising  views 
upon  his  religious  tenets^  he  entertained 


*  Hist,  des  Diables  de  Loudun.  Merc.  Franc.,  vol. 
sx. 

t  Arcana  Gallica,  p.  96. 

t  Yet,  according  to  Benoit,  his  conduct  at  the  reli- 
gious services  was  very  irreverent;  he  kept  the  con- 
gregation waiting  for  his  appearance,  remained  covered 


STATE  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  UNDER  LOUIS  XIV. 


361 


great  partiality  for  some  Capucins,  by 
whom  he  was  visited:  and  that  a  short 
time  before  his  death,  he  wished  to  con- 
verse with  them,  but  the  duchess  refused 
them  admittance,  and  threatened  to  have 
them  thrown  into  the  moat,  unless  they 
retired.  That  lady  was  an  exceedingly 
zealous  Protestant;  and  her  daughter,  the 
Duchess  of  Rohan,  followed  her  exam- 
ple: they  washed  with  their  own  hands 
the  linen  of  the  communion  table;  but, 
with  that  single  exception,  all  Sully's 
children  embraced  the  Romish  faith.* 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

Mazarin's  administration — Encroachments  on  the 
edicts  by  Louis  XIV — Madame  de  Maintenon'a  in 
fluence — Commencement  of  Hie  dragonnades. 

From  the  pacification  of  1629  until 
1661,  when  Louis  XIV.  assumed  the  di- 
rection of  affairs,  the  general  history  of 
the  Huguenots  presents  few  important 
incidents.  There  were  from  time  to  time 
individual  cases  of  complaint,  and  iso- 
lated instances  of  hostility;  for  the  spirit 
of  the  league  was  not  extinct,  and  the 
more  zealous  partisans  of  Rome  were 
only  restrained  from  urging  their  favour- 
ite measure  by  the  commanding  genius 
of  the  celebrated  cardinals  who  succes- 
sively administered  the  affairs  of  France. 
Popular  prejudice  would  frequently  burst 
forth  in  an  access  of  animosity,  under  the 
garb  of  zeal  for  religion;  and  whenever, 
through  some  technical  irregularity,  the 
protecting  clauses  of  the  edict  of  Nantes 
could  be  evaded  or  infringed,  the  circum- 
stance was  regarded  as  a  victory  over 
heresy.  Unfortunately  for  the  Protest- 
ants, no  effort  was  made  by  them  to  ap- 
pease the  hostile  opinion  of  the  people; 
they  repeatedly  asserted  in  their  discus- 
sions and  publications,  that  the  pope  was 
Antichrist,  and  that  the  church  of  Rome 
was  signified  in  Scripture  by  Babylon. 
The  Catholic  clergy  became  more  and 
more  animated  in  the  quarrel;  and  from 
the  superior  advantages  of  the  Romish 
religion  the  result  could  not  be  doubtful. 
The  church,  as  a  powerful  body  in  the 


and  played  with  a  favourite  dog  during  the  sermon 
Jlist.  de  FEdit  de  JVtattei,  vol.  ii.  p.  536. 

*  Supplementauz  Memoires  de  Sully,  par  I'abbfe  de 
I'Ecluse. 

31 


state,  was  enabled  to  confer  a  service  on 
the  crown,  in  voting  grants,  termed  dons 
gratuils,  or  free  gifts.  The  Protestants, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  poor:  nearly  all 
the  noble  members  of  their  community 
had  been  seduced  into  abjuration,  by  the 
hopes  of  lucrative  employs  and  honoura- 
ble distinctions.  And  as  the  votes  of 
each  assembly  of  the  clergy  was  accom- 
panied by  some  request  for  edicts  against 
the  Protestants,  it  is  rather  a  cause  for 
surprise  that  the  edict  of  Nantes  should 
have  remained  in  force  so  long,  than  that 
it  was  ultimately  revoked.  The  high  ec- 
clesiastical rank  of  Richelieu  and  Maza- 
rin  doubtless  enabled  them,  to  repel  the 
successive  demands  of  the  clergy,  while 
a  layman  enjoying  the  sovereign's  confi- 
dence in  the  same  degree  could  hardly 
have  escaped  the  suspicion  of  secretly 
favouring  heresy:  but  as  princes  of  the 
church,  they  were  able  to  postpone  near- 
ly every  project  against  freedom  of  con- 
science; and  as  they  both  gave  the  most 
liberal  recompenses  to  encourage  deser- 
tion from  the  Huguenot  cause,  no  com- 
plaint could  consistently  be  raised  against 
their  policv. 

Richelieu  was  magnificent  in  his  pro- 
jects, and  elevated  in  his  ideas.  His  dis- 
position led  him  to  patronize  literature 
and  the  fine  arts.  He  was  a  generous 
friend,  but  an  implacable  enemy;  and 
having  succeeded  in  restoring  the  regal 
authority,  he  swayed  it  conformable  to 
his  own  caprices  and  feelings.  He  was 
both  hated  and  feared  by  the  king,  whose 
councils  he  directed;  and  would  have 
been  speedily  removed  from  his  exalted 
situation,  if  Louis  had  been  more  vigo- 
rous, or  the  kingdom  less  agitated.  Be- 
ing well  served  by  Father  Joseph,  he 
firmly  established  his  authority;  and 
every  effort  to  overthrow  him  recoiled 
upon  his  rivals  and  adversaries. 

Louis  XIII.  soon  followed  his  minis- 
ter to  the  grave:*  his  character  appears 
in  a  most  disadvantageous  light,  on  ac- 
count of  the  severe  examples  to  which 
the  disorganized  state  of  society  gave 
rise.  He  was  inclined  to  piety,  but, 
under  the  influence  of  injudicious  or 
crafty  advisers,  he  became  so  infatuated, 
that  he  wrote  to  the  pope  in  1631,  de- 
claring his  readiness  to  break  the  exist- 

*  Richelieu  died  4th  December,  1642 ;  Louis  XIII- 
14th  May,  1G43. 


362 


CHARACTERS  OF  RICHELIEU  AND  .MAZARIN. 


ing  treaties  with  his  northern  allies,  pro- 
vided tlie  King  of  Spain  would  join  him 
in  extirpating  protestantism.*  His  do- 
mestic misfortunes  arose  principally  from 
his  readiness  to  receive  impressions  of 
distrust:  the  inevitable  consequence  was 
a  series  of  family  feuds,  which  never 
failed  to  kindle  political  troubles.  After 
making  every  allowance  for  his  weak- 
ness, and  placing  upon  his  advisers  the 
responsibility  of  many  unjust  condemna- 
tions during  his  reign,  his  name  and  cha- 
racter are  very  far  from  commanding  the 
respect  of  posterity. 

Mazarin's  government  appears  to  have 
been  destined  to  form  a  contrast  with 
that  of  his  predecessor.  The  predomi- 
nant feeling  of  the  public  against  Riche- 
lieu was  hatred;  against  Mazarin,  it  was 
contempt:  yet  both  succeeded  in  com- 
pletely subjugating  all  orders  of  the  stale. 
Each  excelled  in  crafty  manoeuvre;  but 
although  Mazarin  was  the  object  of 
avowed  jealousy,  and  exposed  to  the 
efforts  of  open  hostilities,  he  never  sought 
his  revenge  by  means  of  the  scaffold. 
His  besetting  weakness  was  a  love  of 
money;  and  the  success  of  his  schemes 
was  probably  the  true  cause  of  the  enmity 
to  which  he  was  exposed.  His  talent  is 
admitted  by  his  enemies.  His  plans 
were  less  gigantic  than  those  of  Riche- 
lieu, but  much  better  arranged  and  di- 
gested. He  was  less  inclined  to  shine  in 
forming  new  alliances  and  combinations, 
than  to  follow  up  the  measures  begun  by 
his  predecessor.  With  Conde  and  Tu- 
renne  to  command  the  forces;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  finding  the  nobles  greatly 
humbled  by  the  augmented  stability  of 
the  monarchy,  it  was  to  be  naturally  ex- 
pected that  the  results  of  his  administra- 
tion woidd  be  more,  extensive  than  those 
produced  by  Richelieu,  upon  whose 
foundation  his  political  edifice  was  raised. 

In  his  foreign  negotiations,  he  had  to 
assume  an  attitude  altogether  different. 
The  power  of  France  had  made  great  ad- 
vances; Spain  was  considerably  weaker; 
the  peace  of  Westphalia  had  changed  the 
tactics  of  several  cabinets;  and  the  rise 
of  Cromwell  completely  altered  the  as- 
pect of  French  diplomacy  with  England. 
To  this  last  reason  may  be  probably 
ascribed  Mazarin's    tenderness  for  the 


Protestants.  He  prized  Cromwell's  al- 
liance, and  was  aware  of  the  strong  feel- 
ing of  sympathy  and  brotherhood  existing 
between  the  British  presbyterians  and  the 
Huguenots.  The  Protector  was  solicited 
to  form  an  alliance  with  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  who  even  offered  to  become  a 
Protestant;  and  Cromwell  sent  an  agent 
privately  to  notice  the  state  of  the  re- 
formed in  France.  He  reported  that 
they  were  well  treated,  because  Mazarin 
caused  the  edicts  to  be  carefully  observed; 
and  stated,  in  addition,  that  Conde  was 
not  much  esteemed  by  the  Huguenots.* 

An  inclination  to  tolerance  has  exposed 
Mazarin  to  some  severe  animadversions 
from  the  more  violent  writers  among  the 
French  clergy.  One,  particularly  noted 
for  his  acrimony  against  the  Protestants, 
after  representing  as  a  riot  what  was 
merely  a  display  of  feeling,  on  account  of 
a  Protestant  youth  being  induced  to  turn 
Romanist,  complains  of  the  cardinal's 
truckling  to  the  Huguenots.  Mazarin's 
letter  to  the  consistory  of  Nismes,  where 
it  occurred,  is  thus  estimated:  "It  con- 
tains expressions  as  unworthy  of  the  pur- 
ple, and  of  his  ministerial  character,  as  it 
is  conformable  to  the  subtle  and  dissem- 
bling spirit  which  sustained,  and  may  be 
said  to  have  guided  him  to  the  end  of  a 
difficult  and  thwarted  administration."! 

During  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde,  the 
cardinal's  enemies  endeavoured,  but  in 
vain,  to  enrol  the  Hugueno-s  among  their 
partisans.  Conde's  friends  seized  some 
forts  at  Rochelle;  and  the  prince  hoped, 
by  establishing  himself  in  that  port,  to 
secure  a  communication  with  foreign 
countries.  But  the  loyal  spirit  of '.he  in- 
habitants enabled  the  king's  general, 
D'Eslissac,  to  regain  possession  after  a 
siege  of  three  days.  Conde  had,  by  that 
time  advanced  to  Muron.  within  six 
leagues  of  Rochelle:  but,  on  learning  that 
the  forts  had  surrendered,  he  precipitately 
withdrew  his  forces  into  Saintonge.  The 
Count  de  Daugnion,  Conde's  chief  agent 
in  the  enterprise,  maintained  himself  at 
Brouage,  which  place  was,  for  some 
time,  the  centre  of  a  most  daring  system 
of  insurrectionary  warfare:  his  soldiers 
infested  the  surrounding  country,  and 
vessels,  under  his  flag,  annoyed  the  com- 
merce of  that  coast.    He  had  even  the 


*  D'Avrigny,  Mem.  Citron. ,  vol.  i.  p.  3G5. 


*  Burnet,  Hist,  of  his  Own  Times,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 
t  Oaveirac,  Apologia  de  L  uis  XIV.,  p.  21)3. 


PLANS  TO  CONVERT  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


363 


audacity  to  solicit  aid  from  Cromwell, 
who  promised  to  send  him  ten  thousand 
infantry  and  three  thousand  cavalry. 
That  assistance  never  came;  and  a  Spa- 
nish naval  expedition,  with  which  he  was 
to  co-operate,  was  completely  defeated  by 
the  Duke  de  Vendome.  Still  Daugnion 
was  determined  to  defend  his  desperate 
cause;  and  the  court,  considering  it  better 
to  win,  than  to  have  the  trouble  of  sub-' 
duing  so  desperate  a  man,  sent  the  Bishop 
of  Saintes  to  treat  with  him:  his  submis- 
sion was  purchased  with  a  marshal's  I 
baton,  and  live  hundred  thousand  livres.* 

Having  failed  at  Ilochelle,  Conde  pro- 
ceeded to  Montauban,  still  relying  on  the  i 
insurrectionary  disposition  attributed  to 
the  protestants.  There  he  had  some! 
grounds  for  anticipating  success  for  his 
overtures,  as  the  parliament  of  Toulouse 
had  lately  passed  decrees  condemning 
Mazarin's  conduct;  and  that  body  was. 
prevented  from  declaring  openly  for  the 
prince,  solely  through  fear  of  the  Hugue-! 
riots,  who  were  in  the  king's  party.  On 
presenting  himself  before  the  town,  a 
trumpeter  was  sent  to  call  on  the  people 
to  submit;  appealing  to  the  services  ren- 
dered by  Conde's  ancestors  to  the  pro- 
testant  cause;  and  promising,  on  his  part, 
the  maintenance  of  their  liberties  if  they 
embraced  his  interests.  But  his  offers 
were  unanimously  rejected ;  and  St.  Luc, 
the  king's  general,  who,  after  a  recent  de- 
feat by  the  prince,  had  taken  shelter  there, 
finding  himself  so  well  supported,  sent 
back  the  trumpeter  with  a  message  that 
the  town  was  prepared  to  resist  his  attack. 
The  prince  had  not  materials  for  carrying 
on  a  siege,  and  withdrew  to  Moissac,  a 
small  town  at  a  distance  of  three  leagues, 
whence  a  body  of  troops  from  Montauban 
soon  after  dislodged  him.t 

Never  were  circumstances  more  favour- 
able for  the  Huguenots  to  make  an  at- 
tempt for  regaining  their  lost  advantages 
than  during  the  civil  wars  of  the  Fronde, 
which  lasted  from  1649  to  1653;  but 
there  appears  to  have  existed  no  such  de- 
sire in  that  body.  Conde's  project  for 
seizing  Rochelle  was  in  1651 ;  and  we 
have  Mazarin's  testimony  to  the  cmiet  dis- 
position of  the  Protestants.  He  is  repre- 
sented to  have  said  concerning  them — "  I 

•  Arciru,  vol.  ii.  p.  341.  His  edict  of  amnesty  is  dated 
18lh  March.  lt>53. 

t  Coste,  Hist,  de  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de  Conde, 
p.  '.«JS. 


have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  little 
flock :  if  they  browze  upon  bad  herbs,  at 
least  they  do  not  go  astray."*  For  their 
encouragement,  the  king  published  a  de- 
claration.! in  which  positive  proofs  of 
their  fidelity  and  affection  were  recorded, 
and  confirming  the  various  edicts  in  their 
favour,  notwithstanding  any  judgments  or 
decrees  given  against  them.  Louis  like- 
wise wrote  a  letter  to  the  consistory  of 
Montauban,  thanking  its  members  for  the 
marks  of  their  attachment  to  his  service, 
and  permitting  them  to  restore  the  fortifi- 
cations of  their  town.l  A  comparison  of 
the  above  dates  will  sufficiently  prove 
that  the  royal  promise  was  not  given  with 
a  view  to  future  advantage  in  the  civil 
war;  because  the  declaration  was  not 
made  until  most  of  the  partisans  of  the 
Fronde  had  submitted :  still  it  is  mali- 
ciously recorded  by  an  apologist  and  flat- 
terer of  Louis  XIV.,  that  he  gave  the  de- 
claration in  order  to  prevent  the  Protest- 
ants from  joining  the  malcontents;  and, 
because  it  was  given  from  no  other  mo- 
tive, the  request  of  the  clergy  procured  its 
revocation  in  1656.§ 

This  reversal  of  a  declaration,  which 
should  have  been  deemed  sacred  and  ir- 
revocable, caused  much  apprehension 
among  the  Protestants.  For  some  years 
the  attention  of  many  eminent  persons  in 
the  church,  and  among  the  offices  of  par- 
liament, had  been  directed  towards  the 
most  efficacious  means  for  delivering 
France  from  the  presence  of  heresy.  Va- 
rious measures  were  proposed  for  hasten- 
ing the  general  conversion  of  the  Hugue- 
nots ;  and  the  plan  first  adopted,  cor- 
ruption, was  attended  with  great  success : 
however,  the  middle  and  lower  classes 
could  not  be  bribed  by  such  inducements. 
Men  of  high  birth  were  dazzled  with  the 
perspective  of  rank  and  honours;  but  the 
peaceable  manufacturers  and  tradesmen 
continued  steadfast  in  the  reformed  faith. 
A  notion,  as  ridiculous  as  it  was  tyranni- 
cal, had  been  extensively  adopted — "  That 
it  was  essential  for  all  the  subjects  of  a 
sovereign  to  have  the  same  creed."  This 
was  maintained  by  Paul  Hay  du  Chatelet, 
an  advocate-general,  who  suffered  im- 
prisonment for  nobly  refusing  to  join  in 
the  iniquitous  judgment  of  Marshal  Maril- 


*  KUlhiSre,  F.claircissemens  historiques,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 
•f  Dated  St.  Uennain.  21st  May,  105i. 
1  Coste,  p.  303. 

§  Soulier,  Hist,  du  Caloinisme,  p.  552. 


364 


PEACEFUL  STATE  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


lac.  In  the  dispensation  of  justice,  that 
magistrate  was  alive  to  its  first  principles  : 
but  in  discussing  the  rights  of  conscience, 
he  was  lost  amid  the  subtleties  of  the 
Romish  doctrines;  and  seems  to  have 
been  insensible  to  the  value  of  quiet 


nier,  who  had  embraced  the  Romish  reli- 
gion, and  who,  in  order  to  prove  his  sin- 
cerity, endeavoured  to  injure  his  late 
companions.  This  act  contains,  among 
other  clauses,  that  their  brethren  in  Eng- 
land would  come  to  their  assistance,  on 


orderly  conduct  in  a  numerous  body  of; condition  that  the  towns  and  places,  at 
men,  unless  they  concurred  with  the  state  I  their  disposal,  should  be  given    up  to 


authorities  on  religious  opinions.  In  his 
remarks  upon  the  Protestants,  he  as- 
sumes that  they  cherish  feelings  of  hatred 
to  public  order,  and  are  ever  ready  for 
revolt,  confusion,  and  anarchy.  These 
general  accusations  were,  however,  unim- 
porlant,  compared  with  his  demand  for 
repealing  the  edict  of  Nantes,  which,  he 
observes,  "  was  exacted  by  violence,  and 
in  arms;  and  which  was,  after  all,  only  a 
temporary  measure,  to  await  their  being 
instructed  in  the  truth  for  which  they  have 

had  sufficient  time  When  the  edict 

was  given,  the  happiness  of  France  was 
promoted  by  it;  and  if  the  same  motive 
now  demands  its  revocation,  there  needs 
no  hesitation,  it  must  be  repealed  or  set 
aside."  He  then  proposes  fifteen  me- 
thods for  inducing  a  general  conversion; 
by  which  the  protestant  religion  might  be 
made  to  disappear,  without  resorting  to 


open  persecution:  one  of  these  methods! blame 


them  *  When  the  document  was  pub- 
lished, it  was  declared  a  calumny  and 
fabrication ;  and  protestant  writers  im- 
pugned and  criticised  it  with  severity. 
The  charge  was  unquestionably  serious; 
yet  the  convention  appears  intended  to  be 
acted  upon  only  in  the  event  of  antici- 
pated persecution.  Admitting  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  piece.it  was  not  with  the 
English  government,  but  with  private  in- 
dividuals they  treated;  and  it  proves  that 
the  English  negotiators  merely  made  a 
stipulation  to  preserve  themselves  from  a 
repetition  of  the  treacheries  committed  by 
Huguenot  commanders  in  former  civil 
wars;  when  it  frequently  happened  that 
a  chieftain,  being  offered  advantageous 
terms  by  the  court,  would  conclude  a 
separate  treaty,  and  abandon  his  confede- 
rates. And  on  this  head  even  the  grand- 
son of  Coligny  was  not  exempt  from 


will  suffice  to  exemplify  the  spirit  in 
which  the  whole  are  conceived:  it  con- 
sists in  suing  the  Protestants  for  their 
common  debts,  and  thus  obtain  decrees 
of  seizure  and  sale  of  their  temples,  which 
cannot  be  admitted  as  in  mortmain.* 

Such  sentiments  being  avowed,  every 
decision  of  the  parliaments  against  the 
Protestants  appeared  as  an  evidence  that 
the  suggestions  were  being  acted  upon. 
For  the  Huguenots,  under  such  circum- 
stances, to  prepare  for  the  coming  storm, 
was  no  more  than  common  sense  would 
induce  any  one  to  expect.  And  when 
their  lawful  sovereign  could  so  far  despise 
the  obligations  of  honour,  as  to  revoke  the 
declaration  of  1652  merely  because  the 
reasons  for  making  it  no  longer  existed — 
when  this  wanton  breach  of  faith  is  con- 
sidered, there  is  great  excuse  to  be  made 
for  the  Huguenots  seeking  for  foreign 
assistance  in  case  of  need.  An  act  is  said 
to  have  been  signed  at  the  synod  of  Mont- 
pazier,  in  1659;  it  was  presented  to  the 
king  in  1677  by  a  minister  named  Mou 


When  Louis  took  into  his  own  hands 
the  reins  of  government  the  Protestants 
were  entitled  to  some  very  valuable 
rights;  and  that  their  conduct  proved  they 
deserved  them,  we  have  the  testimony  of 
that  monarch  himself,  who  at  a  later  period 
of  his  reign  dictated  memoirs  for  the  in- 
struction of  his  son.  Mazarin's  unpopu- 
larity called  for  some  explanation,  why  an 
obnoxious  minister  was  allowed  to  ex- 
ercise authority  after  he  had  attained  his 
majority;  and  Louis  XIV.  justifies  himself 
by  enumerating  the  commotions  at  the 
commencement  of  his  reign.  The  Prince 
of  Conde  at  the  head  of  the  malcontents; 
the  parliament  inclined  to  infringe  upon 
the  royal  prerogatives;  and  much  in- 
terested feeling  among  the  nobility,  formed 
a  serious  combination,  by  subduing  which 
Mazarin  gained  his  esteem  and  gratitude. 
Surely,  if  the  Protestants  had  given  him 
apprehension,  their  discontent  would  have 
been  included  among  the  causes  which 
had  combined  to  direct  his  policy.  To 
borrow  the  expression  of  one  who  had 


*  Traite  de  la  politique  de  France,  cb.  iii. 


*  Soulier,  p.  553. 


NEW  PERSECUTIONS. 


365 


devoted  much  time  and  labour  to  re-  and  a  change  of  policy,  encouraged  them 
searches  on  this  epoch,  "He  complains  of  j  to  make  another  effort.  A  decree  of  the 
the  clergy,  the  Jansenists,  the  nobility,  the  '  intendant  of  Rochelle  was  confirmed  ;  and 
courtiers,  the  magistrates,  the  financiers ;  I  the  ordinance  was  afterwards  converted 
and  does  not  make  the  slightest  mention  jinto  a  general  law.  Its  dispositions  were 
of  the  Calvinists."*  And  in  reviewing  |  very  severe ;  for  a  relapse  into  heresy  ex- 
the  characters  of  those  selected  to  fill  the  I  posed  the  individual  to  perpetual  banish* 
various  departments  of  the  state,  the  king  ;  ment.  But  its  remote  consequences  were 
observes:  "La  Vrilliere  and  Duplessis  still  more  oppressive:  for  the  Protestant 
were  worthy  men,  but  with  intelligence  i  ministers  were  forbidden  to  expostulate 
merely  proportioned  to  the  exercise  of  j  with,  or  exhort  their  converted  brethren  ; 
their  charges,  which  embraced  nothing  ]  and  the  presence  of  such  at  their  preach- 
iwportant."\  The  affairs  of  the  Protest- lings  was  a  sufficient  cause  for  closing  a 
ants  especially  occupied  La  Vrilliere,  and  temple  and  dispersing  a  Mock.  Remorse 
the  preceding  remark  upon  his  abilities  [frequently  led  there  some  who,  in  an  un- 
is  an  additional  proof  that  no  charge  of  , guarded  moment,  had  been  induced  to 
disaffection  could  at  that  time  be  brought  i abjure;  they  usually  manifested  contrition 
against  the  Huguenots. 1  on  witnessing  their  brethren  and  friends 

In  further  corroboration  may  be  cited  [engaged  in  a  form  of  worship  which  they 
a  letter  from  Louis  to  the  Duke  de  St.  had  vowed  to  renounce  and  condemn: 
Aignan  :"  You  have  acted  very  prudently,  I  the  pastor's  feelings  naturally  led  him  to 
in  not  precipitating  any  thing,  upon  the  [  revive,  if  possible,  the  penitent's  former 
information  sent  you  respecting  some  in-  sentiments;  and  most  of  the  Protestant 
habitants  of  Havre,  of  the  pretended  re-  churches  coming  in  this  manner  under  the 
formed  religion.  Those  who  profess  it,  [penalty  of  the  law,  their  numbers  were 
being  no  less  faithful  to  me  than  my  I  rapidly  reduced  in  consequence. 


other  subjects,  they  must  not  be  treated 
with  less  attention  and  kindness."^ 


In  166G  the  Catholic  clergy  made  an- 
other step  towards  the  subversion  of  relt- 


It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  gious  liberty.  There  had  been  many 
the  efforts  of  the  intolerant  party  were  [cases  before  the  courts  entirely  new  in 
laid  aside  at  this  period.  A  polemical  their  nature;  and  the  interpretation  of  the 
fever  tormented  the  whole  nation;  and  law  had  often  required  a  declaratory  de- 
there  are  many  instances  of  individuals  J  cree.  Impartial  decisions  had  sometimes 
having  changed  their  religion,  who  after- 1  been  given :  but  for  the  greater  part, 
wards  returned  to  their  first  faith. ||  As  j  those  decrees  were  favourable  to  the  state 
the  conversions  were  mostly  from  Pro- j  religion.*  The  clergy  demanded  and  ob- 
testantism  to  popery,  every  powerful  in-- tainted  that  those  decisions  should  be  im- 
terest  leading  in  that  direction,  the  clergy  bodied  in  a  general  law.  The  Protestants 
endeavoured  to  obtain  a  law  for  prevent-  (then  apprehended  a  design  for  their  com- 
ing relapse  after  abjuration.  The  Bishops  !  plete  ruin  ;  and,  within  a  few  years,  num- 
of  Languedoc  had  attempted  it  in  1638;ibers  abandoned  their  country,  to  seek  in 
Richelieu,  however,  refused  to  confirm  the  !  other  lands  that  equal  protection  of  the 

laws,  which  they  could  not  hope  to  enjoy 
in  France.  An  edict  against  emigration 
was  issued  in  lGGD.t  The  tyrannical 
enactments  on  this  subject  afford  materials 
for  extensive  commentary.  Edict  fol- 
lowed edict  in  rapid  succession;  and  the 
degree  of  penalty  proceeded  in  an  awfu! 
gradation  from  fine  to  imprisonment,  the 
galleys,  and  death. 


provisional  decrees  given  by  the  authori- 
ties of  the  province.  In  1660',  the  assem- 
bly of  the  clergy  renewed  the  application, 
but  Mazarin  withstood  their  demand;  and 
after  his  death,  the  new  administration 


*  Riilbiure.  vi>l.  i.  p.  30.  This  author  is  not  quilt; 
justified  in  liis  assertion;  firir  thti  Memoircs  do  mention 
the  Protestants,  though  not  compluiningly ;  "  L'on 
in'avail  (lit  que  flans  h>  faubourg  St.  Germain  il  sVtaii 
fait  pareux  qijelques  assemblers,  et  que  Ton  y  preleu 
dait  etablir  des  ecoles  de  cette  secte;  uiais  je  fis  si  hjen 
entendre  que  je  ne  voulnis  pas  soutfrir  ces  nouveautes, 
qu'elles  cesstrent  incontinent.''  Men.  vol.  i.  p  31.  The 
king  himself  thus  testifies  Iheir  ready  submission. 

t  M  unoires  de  Louis  XIV.,  ecrits  par  lui  nienie,  vol. 
I.  p.  6. 

t  BufhiSre,  vol.  i.  p.  31. 

$  Letter  dated  St.  Germain,  1st  April,  1G6G.  La  Beau- 
melle,  vol.  vi.  p.  21G. 
i  Among  others.  Bayle- 


*  The  adverse  feeling  of  the  judicial  authorities  may 
he  gathered  from  an  incident  which  occurred  in  May 
11362.  The  minister  Amyraolt  was  concerned  in  a 
cause' before  the  court  of  Jlides :  the  procurer-general 
demanded,  and  the  court  decreed,  that  he  should  not 
style  himself  D.  D.,  nor  allude  to  his  wife,  lienoit,  vol. 
iii.  p.  453. 

f  Registered  in  Parliament  13th  August,  ICW. 

31* 


366 


MADAME  DE  MONTESPAN. 


Colbert's  influence  was  still  in  favour 
of  the  Protestants,  and  the  threatened 
storm  was  for  a  time  postponed  ;  but  the 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  cer- 
tainly contemplated  in  1669:*  during 
which  year,  a  royal  proclamation  forbade 
the  synods  from  censuring  parents  or 
guardians  who  sent  their  children  to  Ca- 
tholic schools;  and  enjoined  the  closing  of 
shops  on  festivals,  with  a  number  of  re- 
gulations, highly  vexatious  to  the  Protest- 
ants.t 

Circumstances,  however,  combined  to 
postpone  the  evil  day :  the  king  was  fa- 
voured with  a  series  of  brilliant  successes, 
almost  unparalleled  in  history;  the  Jesuits 
were  engaged  in  a  long  dispute  with  the 
Jansenists  ;  and  some  speculative  theolo- 
gians proposed  a  scheme  for  uniting  the 
different  creeds,  by  certain  concessions 
from  the  pope,  on  matters  of  form.]:  The 
last  measure  was  more  than  once  entered 
upon  seriously ;  and  was  under  considera- 
tion about  three  years.  Turenne,  who 
had  recently  abjured,  was  in  its  favour ; 
and  the  scheme  was  not  entirely  re- 
nounced until  1673,  when  the  synod  of 
Charenton  declared  it  impracticable. § 

The  jubilee  of  1 676  revived  in  the  king's 
bosom  that  fervent  zeal  for  the  Romish 
religion  which  had  been  laid  aside  in  the 
transports  of  his  passion  for  Madame  de 
Moniespan.  Even  at  his  most  voluptu 
ous  periods,  that  monarch  was  observant 
of  devotional  forms ;  and  it  is  said  that 
during  his  whole  life  he  never  missed 
hearing  daily  mass,  excepting  on  two  oc 
casions,  when  engaged  in  military  affairs. || 
His  qualm  of  conscience  caused  him  to 
dismiss  for  a  time  his  fascinating  mistress; 
and  without  accusing  him  of  hypocrisy 
the  religious  exercises  enjoined  at  this 
period  produced  such  an  effect  upon  his 
mind,  that  he  imagined  he  could  meet  the 
late  object  of  his  unlawful  love  on  terms 
of  pure  friendship.  Bossuet  was  deceived 
— less  by  the  king,  than  by  his  own  con- 
fidence in  a  religion  of  formalities.  His 
opinion  was  asked,  whether  Madame  de 
Montespan  should  be  allowed  to  appear 


at  court.  She  had  been  as  exemplary  in 
fasting,  praying  and  confessing,  as  her 
royal  seducer;  and  it  was  declared  that 
as  she  had  vanquished  her  own  heart,  she 
could  live  at  court,  consistently  with  her 
altered  character.  It  was  decided  that 
their  first  interview  should  be  in  public. 
They  met — the  king  conversed  with  her 
in  the  recess  of  a  window :  they  sighed, 
they  wept,  they  withdrew  ;  and  their  in- 
tercourse was  completely  renewed.* 

In  the  confessional,  Louis  was  taught 
the  necessity  of  expiating  his  fault;  and  a 
large  sum  was  added  to  the  existing 
grant,  for  promoting  the  conversion  of 
Protestants.  The  direction  of  this  under- 
taking was  intrusted  to  Pellisson,  a  con- 
verted Protestant,  very  much  celebrated 
as  an  elegant  writer,  but  whose  character 
is  tarnished  by  repeated  instances  of  in- 
terestedness.  His  accounts  were  left  at 
his  death  in  great  disorder;  and  although 
he  took  orders  in  the  church  of  Rome,  to 
be  qualified  for  holding  the  abbey  of  Gi- 
mont,  and  the  priory  of  St.  Orens,t  it  is 
doubtful  whether  he  did  not  die  professing 
the  faith  he  had  abjured.]: 

Many  of  the  conversions  effected  by 
money  were  the  result  of  momentary  ne- 
cessities or  accidental  circumstances,  act- 
ing upon  irresolution ;  and  to  prevent 
backsliding,  the  proclamation  against  re- 
lapsed heretics  was  renewed. §  On  the 
other  hand,  children  were,  very  soon 
after,  allowed  to  renounce  Calvinism  at 
the  early  age  of  seven  years  ;||  a  period  of 
infancy,  when  a  toy  would  suffice  to  lead 
a  child  to  assent  to  any  opinion,  however 
abstruse  and  unintelligible;  while  no  child 
was  allowed  to  make  a  public  profession 
of  Protestantism  under  fourteen  years  of 
age  for  boys,  and  twelve  for  girls.^f 

At  this  time,  Madame  de  Maintenon 
began  to  exercise  great  influence  upon 
the  king's  mind.  Her  letters  prove  that 
she  already  contributed  essentially  to  the 
triumph  of  the  Romish  clergy.  In  one 
we  find:  "The  king  has  passed  two 
hours  in  my  cabinet:  he  is  the  most 
amiable  man  in  his  kingdom.    I  spoke  to 


*  Eli  pport  du  Baron  de  ISreleul,  given  at  length  by 
Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  p.  49,  et  seq.  It  is  generally  thought 
I  hat  Rulhiere  himself  drew  up  this  document,  as  he  was 
tne  baron's  secretary. 

t  Declaration  du  Roy,  dated  Paris,  1st  Fclruuy, 
1669. 

i  Grotius  had  proposed  a  measure  of  this  kind  in 
3031. 

5  Rulhiere,  vol.  i.  p.  122. 

J  Souvenirs  de  Madame  de  Caylus,  p.  37. 


*  Caylus,  p.  39. 

f  Abbe  d'Olivel,  Hist,  de  I'deademie  Francaif. 

t  Kulhiere,  Eclaircisscments,  &.C..  vol.  i.  p.  148. 

}  The  declaration, dated  I2th  March,  1679,  awards 
the  amende honorable,  banishment  and  confiscation,  as 
the  punishment;  staling,  as  a  reason,  that  banishment 
alone  had  proved  too  mild  a  punishment  to  deter  the 
co  n  verts. 

||  Declaralinn,  dated  17th  June,  1681. 
IT  Edict  of  1st  Feb.,  10)9,  art.  3J. 


MADAME  DE 

him  of  Bourdaloue,  and  he  listened  with 
attention.  Perhaps  he  is  not  so  far  from 
thinking  of  his  salvation  as  the  court 
imagines.  He  has  good  sentiments,  and 
frequent  returns  towards  God."*  In  an- 
other letter  she  observes :  11  The  king  is 
imbued  with  good  sentiments;  he  some- 
times reads  the  Scriptures,  and  deems  it 
the  finest  of  all  books.  He  confesses  his 
weaknesses:  he  admits  his  faults.  We 
must  wait  the  operation  of  grace.  He 
thinks  seriously  about  the  conversion  of 
the  heretics;  and,  in  a  short  time,  that 
will  be  attended  to  in  earnest."! 

It  appears  almost  incredible,  that  the 
grandchild  of  Theodore-Agrippa  D'Au- 
bigne could  have  penned  such  sentiments. 
Had  her  father,  Constant  D'Aubigne,  su- 
perintended her  education,  that  .circum- 
stance would  have  been  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation; his  disposition  and  character 
were  bad  in  the  extreme;  and  he  detested 
his  father's  faith,  which  he  openly  abjured. 
But  an  aunt,  Madame  de  Villelte,  a  lady 
of  irreproachable  character,  had  removed 
her  in  infancy,  from  a  state  of  destitution, 
caused  by  her  father's  imprudence;  and 
by  that  kind  relative  those  principles  were 
imparted,  which  would  have  obtained  the 
approbation  of  the  venerable  D'Aubigne. 
Indeed,  so  fervent  was  the  child  in  her 
attachment  to  Calvinism,  that  she  felt  a 
degree  of  horror  at  her  father's  apostacy, 
and  manifested  much  ardour  on  behalf  of 
the  Protestant  religion.  Many  interesting 
anecdotes  are  recorded  of  her  firmness  in 
defending  her  opinions,  when  successively 
assailed  by  priests  and  nuns  at  a  convent 
of  Niort,  where  she  was  placed  for  com- 
pleting her  education,  a  measure  com- 
manded by  the  government,  at  the  re- 
quest of  her  mother,  a  rigid  Catholic.  To 
detail  them  here  would  be  superfluous; 
but  they  were  viewed  as  an  earnest  of 
liberal  views,  which  unfortunately  did  not 
appear,  when  Francois  D'Aubigne  became 
Marchioness  de  Maintenon. 

Yet  her  ideas  of  tolerance  did  not  cease 
immediately  after  her  change  of  religion. 
A  letter  to  her  brother,  then  governor  of 
Amersfort,  contains  the  following  censure : 
"I  have  complaints  on  your  account, 
which  are  not  to  your  honour.  You  ill- 
treat  the  Huguenots ;  you  seek  the  means, 

*  Letlre  a  la  Comtesse  de  St.  Geran,  19th  of  April 
Jfi7!t. 

t  letter  to  the  same,  2tith  Oct  ,  1673. 


MAINTENON.  367 

you  create  the  occasions ;  that  is  unlike  a 
man  of  quality.  Have  pity  on  people 
more  unhappy  than  culpable  :  they  are 
in  the  errors  wherein  we  ourselves  were; 
and  from  which  violence  would  never 
have  removed  us."* 

A  conviction  that  her  Calvinistic  edu- 
cation might  diminish  the  king's  respect 
for  her  opinions,  and  destroy  the  effect  of 
her  exhortations,  made  her  desirous  of  re- 
moving every  trace  of  heresy  from  among 
her  relations.  She  began  by  endeavour- 
ing to  convert  her  cousin,  the  Marquis  de 
la  Villette.  Bossuet  was  employed  to 
convince  him,  but  to  no  purpose;  and 
Bourdaloue's  eloquence  produced  no  re- 
sult. The  king  sent  him  orders  to  be 
converted  ;  Villette  asked  for  time,  which 
was  granted.  But  when  Madame  de 
Maintenon  pressed  him  to  fix  a  period,  he 
replied:  "It  will  require  a  hundred  years 
— ten  at  least,  to  believe  in  the  infallibility 
of  a  body  of  men ;  twenty  to  be  accus- 
tomed to  transubstantiation,  &c."  His 
cousin  did  not  anticipate  such  obstinacy; 
and  as  he  was  in  the  navy,  she  had  him 
ordered  upon  a  long  voyage,  that  he 
might  not  frustrate  her  views  for  saving 
his  children.t 

The  dispute  between  the  Jesuit  and 
Jansenist  parties  menaced  the  church  of 
Rome  with  another  schism.  Louis,  who 
had  become  a  confirmed  devotee,  was 
strongly  inclined  to  favour  the  former 
party;  and  was  enslaved  by  illiberal,  nar- 
row views  to  such  a  degree,  that  while 
Duquesne  and  Turenne  were  treated  with 
distinction,  although  Protestants,  he  would 
not  allow  the  appointment  of  a  Jansenist 
to  any  command.]:  The  rival  sects  were 
both  ambitious  of  the  honour  of  directing 
the  great  measure,  for  bringing  back  the 
lost  sheep  to  the  Romish  church ;  and 
each  presented  a  scheme  for  effecting  that 
object,  drawn  up  in  form  of  a  memorial. 


*  Letlre  an  Conue  D'Aubigne,  1st  Oct.,  1672. 

t  I, a  Beaumelle,  Mint  de  Maintenon,  vol.  ii.p.  202. — 
A»2>-r,  Vic  de  Madame  de  Mainte/non,  vol.  ii.  p.  77. — 
Cay  lug,  p  15 

t  This  prejudice  increased  with  the  king's  age  In 
17l)li,  tlii?  Duke  of  Orleans,  on  setting  out  for  I  aly, 
wished  to  he  accompanied  hy  Allgrand  de  Foniperluis, 
:i  decided  libertine.  Louis  sent  for  him,  and  expressed 
hie  displeasure  that  he  should  have  selected  a  Jansenist. 
'  He  a  Jansenist  ?"  said  the  duke,  doubtingly.  "  Is  he 
not,"  replied  Louis,  "  the  son  of  that  mad  woman  who 
ran  afier  Arnaud  ? "  "  I  know  nothing  of  his  mother,'' 
the  duke  answered,  "  but  with  respect  to  the  son,  far 
from  being  a  Jansenist,  I  doubt  whether  he  believes 
in  a  God."  "Then  I  have  been  deceived,"  observed 
l.ouis,  who  allowed  Fonlpertuis  to  accompany  the 
Juke.    Ouclus,  Mem.  de  Louis  XIV.,  vol.  i.  p  133. 


368 


HARASSED  CONDITION  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


And  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  neither, 
of  these  plans  embraced  the  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  Nantes;  on  the  contrary,  its 
strict  and  literal  observance  was  de- 
manded by  both.  The  Jansenists  founded 
their  hopes  of  success  upon  reiterated  in-  j 
structions  by  the  clergy,  and  the  good  ex- 
ample of  their  conduct :  the  Jesuits  insisted 
on  the  firm  and  unceasing  action  of  the 
royal  authority.  The  principles  of  Port- 
Royal*  were  tolerant;  for  according  to 
the  Jansenist  views,  it  was  better  to  re- 
main separate  from  the  church,  than  to 
join  it  without  sincere  convictions.  The 
Jesuits,  on  the  contrary,  were  violent  in 
their  zeal ;  they  were  impatient  to  stifle 
heresy,  rattier  than  convert  the  heretics; 
they  considered  the  support  of  the  military 
far  preferable  to  the  influence  of  the 
bishops;  and  called  for  the  expulsion  of 
Protestants  from  every  government  em- 
ploy. 

Probably  the  natural  feelings  of  Louis 
XIV.  would  have  inclined  him  to  adopt 
the  milder  recommendations  of  the  Jan- 
senists, but  his  soul  was  enslaved  by  the 
Jesuits.  La  Chaise,  his  confessor,  had 
for  some  time  refused  him  the  sacraments, 
on  account  of  his  adultery  with  M;idame 
de  Montespan,  a  married  woman.  His 
passion  was  now  fixed  upon  Mademoi- 
selle de  Fontanges;  the  illicit  connexion 
was  more  susceptible  of  palliation,  and 
the  confessor's  complaisance  opened  a 
field  for  sarcasm.  The  voluptuous  mo- 
narch was  admitted  to  the  sacrament  at 
Whitsuntide,  in  1G80;  and  the  consola- 
tion thus  afforded  was  recompensed  by 
several  hostile  edicts  against  the  Pro- 
testants. 

Hitherto  the  collection  of  the  revenue 
had  been  chiefly  confided  to  Huguenots;t 
and  the  absence  of  all  complaint  against 
them  affords  an  inference  greatly  in  their 
favour.  Satirical  publications  abounded, 
in  which  courtiers  and  magistrates  were 
severely  handled;  but  the  fermiers  are 
passed  by  in  silence.  Their  successors, 
by  a  system  of  unblushing  peculation, 
attracted  the  shafts  of  censure,  and  con- 


*  The  ahbey  of  Port-Royal  was  the  cradle  of  Janse- 
nism ;  and,  bo  far  as  corporate  existence  was  con- 
cerned, il  was  also  its  grave;  but  the  doctrines  taught 
by  the  fathers  can  never  be  eradicated — unfortunately, 
the  clergy  were  not  impressed  witii  their  liberal 
views. 

t  Thev  were  excluded  from  such  employs  by  art  Arril 
du  Conscil,  l?th  Aug.,  ICcU 


verted  the  previous  silence  into  an  abso- 
lute eulogy. 

The  misfortune  of  Louis  consisted  in 
his  judging  men  in  general  by  the  con- 
duct of  those  who  breathed  the  atmo- 
sphere of  his  court.  As  he  beheld  con- 
tinual sacrifices  of  honour  and  principle 
for  selfish  considerations,  it  was  natural 
for  him  to  be  persuaded  that  it  would  be 
easy  to  seduce  the  Huguenots  from  their 
erroneous  religion,  by  rendering  their  in- 
terests subservient  to  the  change.  A 
base  spirit  of  flattery  made  every  func- 
tionary throughout  the  kingdom  ambi- 
tious to  imitate  the  king's  devout  career; 
and  suggestions  were  constantly  forward- 
ed to  court,  for  promoting  the  pious  de- 
sign. 

Ordinances  were  continually  published, 
forbidding  or  enjoining  some  particular, 
of  minor  importance  in  itself,  but  serious 
in  its  application,  as  it  became  exceeding- 
ly difficult  for  the  Protestants  to  avoid 
the  contravention  of  some  of  those  nu- 
merous enactments;  and  a  conviction  of 
the  slightest  infringement  was  immedi- 
ately followed  by  the  suppression  of  the 
temple  wherein  it  occurred.* 

From  these  attacks  upon  their  public 
worship  the  hostility  of  the  intolerant 
party  was  directed  to  personal  annoy- 
ance: no  seats  were  allowed  in  the  tem- 
ples, that  the  audience  might  be  disgust- 
ed with  attendance. t  Often  the  conse- 
quences of  one  evil  became  a  ready  indi- 
cator for  its  more  extensive  application. 
A  notary,  who  had  become  Catholic, 
found  that  he  had  lost  the  confidence  of 
his  former  friends:  to  secure  his  profes- 
sional gains,  the  Protestants  were  de- 
clared incapable  of  exercising  the  charge 
of  notary.!  For  similar  reasons  they 
were  successively  prohibited  from  acting 
in  any  branch  of  the  legal  profession;§ 
and  according  to  the  preamble  of  another 
spoliatory  edict,  it  "  was  represented  that 
most  of  the  young  men  of  the  said  reli- 
gion would  decide  upon  studying  medi- 
cine, to  take  degrees,  on  finding  them- 
selves excluded  from  other  functions;"|| 

*  Itulhiere,  vol.  i.  p.  181—  Mem.  de  JVoatWes,  vol.  i. 
p.  14. 

t  Bayle,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  dated  16th  May, 
1G79,  states,  that  the  decree  was  executed  with  such  se- 
verity at  Rouen,  that  not  a  seat  was  allowed,  even  to 
the  members  of  the  Consistory. 

J  Arret  du  Conseil.Glh  April,  IGP2. 

}  Idem.  Gth  April,  1682.— Declaration  du  Roy,  ]jth 
June,  1682. 

-  Declaration  du  Roy,  Gth  Aug.,  1G85    The  spirit  of 


THEIR  RUIN  RESOLVED  ON. 


369 


Protestants  were  in  consequence  de- 
barred from  following  the  medical  pro- 
fessions. The  same  excluding  system 
pervaded  every  line  of  life;  and  the  call- 
ings of  apothecaries,  grocers,  booksellers, 
and  printers,  were  forbidden  to  them. 
While  no  Protestant  of  any  trade  was 
allowed  to  have  an  apprentice,  even  a  Ca- 
tholic.* But  all  these  inducements  com- 
bined failed  to  effect  conversions  with 
sufficient  rapidity  to  satisfy  the  enemies 
of  religious  liberty;  as  a  premium  for 
abjuration,  converts  had  been  already  al- 
lowed a  delay  of  three  years  for  the  pay- 
ment of  their  debts;!  and  at  an  interval 
of  nearly  five  years  from  this  dishonest 
measure,  a  fresh  enactment  was  issued 
against  surgeons,  who  are  charged  with 
preventing  conversions,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  visiting  patients.i 

It  would  appear  that,  at  court,  the 
most  sanguine  expectations  were  raised 
upon  the  edicts  just  alluded  to,  since  the 
following  remark  is  preserved  in  a  pri- 
vate letter:  "If  God  spares  the  king, 
there  will  not  be  a  single  Huguenot  in 
twenty  years.§ 

At  length  arrived  the  commencement 
of  positive  persecution,  by  the  invasion 
of  private  dwellings,  under  the  pretext 
of  quartering  soldiers.  This  cruel  me- 
thod of  annoyance  has  been  termed  the 
dmgonnade  and  mission  bottee.  The 
following  extract  of  a  letter  addressed  by 
Louvois  to  Marillac,  intendant  of  Poic- 
tou,  will  convey  some  idea  of  the  mali- 
cious calculation  on  which  those  expedi- 
tions were  based: — "  His  majesty  has 
learned,  with  much  joy,  the  great  num- 
ber of  persons  converted  in  your  district. 
His  Majesty  appreciates  your  endeavours 
to  increase  the  number,  and  desires  you 
will  continue  your  exertions,  using  the 
same  means  which  have  hitherto  suc- 
ceeded. M.  Colbert  has  been  charged 
to  examine  what  can  be  done,  in  re- 
ducing the  taxes  for  those  who  are  con- 
verted, in  order  to  diminish  the  numbers 
of  that  religion.    His  majesty  has  com- 

these  tyrannical  enactments  is  admirably  portrayed 
by  Rabaut  St  Elienne  in  a  tale,  entitled  Le  vieuz  Ce- 
venot.  au  anecdotes  de  la  vie  d'Jimbroise  Bortlij. 

*  In  the  MSS.  of  M.  de  la  Iteynie,  lieutenant  eeneral 
of  police,  there  are  lists  of  Protestants  made  out  at  va- 
rious periods;  the  number  described  as  marchands  de  via 
is  remarkable  :  but  almost  every  other  calling  was  de- 
barred them. 

t  Arret  du  Conseil,  18th  Nov.,  1680. 

*  Idem.  15th  Sept..  1685. 

}  Madame  de  Maintenon  a  Madame  de  Villette,  5th 
April,  1081. 


manded  me  to  send,  at  the  beginning  of 
next  November,  a  regiment  of  cavalry 
into  Poictou  which  will  be  lodged  in  the 
places  you  will  be  mindful  to  propose 
before  that  time;  and  his  majesty  will 
deem  it  right  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
officers  and  horsemen  should  be  lodged 
with  Protestants:  but  he  does  not  think 
that  all  should  be  lodged  with  them. 
That  is  to  say,  that  when  by  a  strict  dis- 
tribution the  Protestants  would  support 
ten,  you  can  send  twenty}  and  put.  them 
upon  the  richest  among  the  Protestants, 
assigning  us  a  pretext,  that  when  the 
troops  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  for 
all  to  be  charged  with  them,  it  is  but  just 
the  poor  should  be  spared,  and  the  rich 
have  the  burden."* 

This  letter  was  accompanied  by  an  or- 
dinance, exempting  converts  from  re- 
ceiving soldiers  in  their  houses  for  two 
years.  That  was  afterwards  decreed  as 
a  general  law;t  and,  although  published 
as  a  recompense  for  those  who  had  been 
converted,  it  became  a  most  terrible  in- 
strument for  harassing  the  steadfast. 

Louvois  was  well  seconded  by  his  fa- 
ther, Michel  le  Tellier,  keeper  of  the 
seals.  In  describing  his  persecuting 
zeal,  the  testimony  of  a  Catholic,  as  vio- 
lent as  himself,  shall  be  adduced.  "  He 
had  such  an  ardent  desire  to  see  Hugue- 
notism  terminated  in  this  kingdom,  and 
to  behold  the  king's  subjects  united  in 
the  same  faith,  that  he  favoured  the  inte- 
rests of  the  church  on  all  occasions;  and 
particularly  when  the  weakening  of  that 
party,  or  the  destruction  of  their  temples 
was  in  question."  The  same  writer 
adds:  "  Whenever  the  accusation  against 
a  consistory  failed,  and  the  continuance 
of  the  worship  was  permitted,  he  was 
nearly  overcome;  and  his  countenance 
on  leaving  the  council  sufficiently  an- 
nounced the  disappointment  to  his 
friends."} 

The  ruin  of  the  Protestants  was  now 
resolved  on.  Madame  de  Maintenon 
thus  writes  on  the  subject:  "  The  king 
begins  to  think  seriously  of  his  salvation, 
and  of  that  of  his  subjects.  If  God 
spares  him,  there  will  be  only  one  reli- 
gion in  his  kingdom.  That  is  the  senti- 
ment of  M.  de  Louvois;  and  I  believe 
him  more  readily  than  M.  Colbert,  who 

*  Kulhiere,  vol.  i.  p  203. 

t  Ordonmmce  du  Roi,  llth  April.  1681. 

t  Soulier,  Hist,  du  Calvinismc,  p.  614. 


370 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DETAILS. 


thinks  only  of  his  finances,  and  rarely  of 
religion."* 

The  infatuation  which  dictated  the 
foregoing  may  be  pitied,  as  arising  out  of 
a  subjugation  of  the  writer's  mind  to 
some  strong  passion.  There  is,  however, 
so  much  sordid  feeling  in  another  letter 
from  the  same  lady,  written  shortly  after, 
that  the  pretence  of  anxiety  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  people  becomes  an  awful 
mockery.  The  Count  d'Aubigne  was  a 
notorious  spendthrift;  and  nothing  short 
of  his  sister's  power  could  have  saved 
him  from  ruin  on  several  occasions.  In 
writing  to  announce  a  royal  gratuity,  she 
slates:  "  The  grant  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand livres,  which  you  are  to  receive, 
affords  me  pleasure;  you  cannot  do  bet- 
ter than  to  buy  lands  in  Poictou:  they 
will  be  had  there  for  a  mere  nothing,  on 
account  of  the  flight  of  the  Huguenots."! 

The  persecution,  which  lasted  for 
several  years  subsequent  to  1681,  sur- 
passes in  cold-blooded  malignity  that  of 
the  sixteenth  century;  for  the  undisguised 
hostility  of  the  last  kings  of  the  house  of 
Valois,  although  barbarous,  was  frank: 
their  object  was  avowed,  and  the  conflict- 
ing interests  were  openly  hostile.  But 
the  Jesuits,  who  now  swayed  the  royal 
councils,  were  crafty:  insidious  enact- 
ments rendered  it  almost  impossible  to 
avoid  contravention:  and  liberty  of  wor- 
ship was  in  fact  destroyed,  even  while 
the  edict  of  Nantes  was  still  in  force. 

Yet  the  principal  actors  in  this  perse- 
cution were  evidently  ashamed  of  their 
proceedings;  although  they  have  ap- 
plauded the  wisdom  and  piety  of  the  in- 
fatuated king,  whose  services  to  the 
church  are  compared  to  the  abolition  of 
paganism  by  Constantine4  Every  detail 
of  the  transaction  has  been  carefully  ex- 
cluded from  publications  under  the  control 
of  the  French  authorities;  and  the  narra- 
tives of  the  fugitives,  published  in  Eng- 
land and  Holland,  are  in  general  sneer- 
ingly  treated  as  libels.  Pellison  has 
already  been  alluded  to  as  an  able  and  in- 
dustrious writer;  and  his  letters  form  a 
valuable  journal  of  the  court  for  a  long 
period.  He  was  employed  in  gaining 
conversions  by  means  of  corruption;  and 


*  Leltre  a  la  comtesse  de  St.  Goran,  20th  Aug.,  1(181. 

I  Dated  B2d  Oct.,  1681.  This  letter,  which  is  quoted 
as  genuine  by  Rulhiere  vol.  i.  p.  212,  is  suppressed  by 
Auger,  Vie  de  Madame  de  Maintenon 

j  D'Avrigny,  Mem.  dogmatiqucs ,  vo!.  iii.  p.  247. 


must  necessarily  have  alluded  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  great  work  in  his  continued 
correspondence:  yet  from  1681  until  the 
close  of  1688  there  is  a  blank,  those  let- 
ters which  mentioned  the  events  of  inter- 
vening years  being  suppressed.*  Many 
of  the  reports  forwarded  by  the  provincial 
authorities  are  missing  from  the  public 
archives:  yet  enough  remains  to  prove 
the  violence  of  the  persecution,  indepen- 
dent of  the  flight  of  many  thousand  in- 
dustrious families:  there  is,  moreover, 
strong  corroborative  evidence  in  the  ill- 
judged  panegyrics  of  the  Romish  clergy, 
who,  in  the  ardour  of  adulation,  have  pre- 
sented materials  for  decided  censure. 

A  book  was  published,  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  Ike  king's  adviser  s,\  which  com- 
pletely establishes  the  fact  of  severity 
being  exercised  towards  the  Protestants, 
by  justifying  the  measure  as  completely 
similar  to  the  means  used  for  suppressing 
the  Donatist  heresy  in  the  fifth  century. 
The  condition  of  the  Huguenots — their 
peaceable  demeanour,  and  admitted  loy- 
alty— for  it  was  unimpeached  at  the  time, 
though  subsequent  accusations  have  been 
put  forward  to  justify  what  had  taken 
place — all  these  circumstances  combine 
to  show  that  state  policy  was  not  the 
cause,  as  some  apologists  pretend,  and  as 
many  are  willing  to  believe. J  It  was  an 
odious  breaking  forth  of  intolerance  and 
bigotry;  and  in  the  preface  of  the  work 
just  alluded  to  it  is  declared,  "that  St. 
Augustin  was  at  first  of  opinion  that  the 
force  of  truth  should  alone  be  used  to 
bring  back  the  heretics;  but  experience 
caused  him  to  alter  his  views,  and  the 
success  of  the  salutary  severity  employed 
for  converting  the  Donatists  convinced 
him  that  it  would  be  hostile  to  the  salva- 
tion of  many  souls,  who  would  perish 
miserably,  not  to  wish  to  force  them  to 
join  the  church,  which  is  justified  in  pu- 

*  1  have  found  several  of  the  year  1684.  in  vol.  iv.  of 
the  MSS  de  la  Rcyvie;  they  all  allude  either  to  the 
bonve  a'uvre  or  recompenses  for  conversions  In  one, 
dated  lilth  May,  1G84.  is  this  observation:  '-La  nom- 
Mil'-  Pingard  a  regu  trois  fois  plus  quVlle  tie  vous  dit; 
et  beancoup  plus  qn'elle  oe  devoit  esperer." 

f  (,'onformite  de  la  couduite  de  PEglise  de  France, 
pour  rameuer  les  Protestans  aver,  <:elle  de  I'Esrlise 
il'Afriqne.  pour  rameoer  les  Donatistes  a  I'Eglise  catho- 
lique  :  Paris,  1685.  The  following  is  from  the  preface  : 
"Ceux  qui  ont  la  principale  part  a  la  conrtance  du  Roy. 
sur  re  qui  regarde  les  affaires  de  PEglise,  et  a  la  con- 
doite  du  grand  dessein  qui  s'execute  si  heureusement, 
ont  jnge  a  propns  de  faire  impmner  a  part  quclques- 
unes  de  ces  letlres  "  (de  St.  Augustin.) 

;  The  author  was  inclined  to  that  sentiment  until 
his  researches  for  this  volume  convinced  him  of  his 
error. 


LETTERS  OF  CHRISTINA  OF  SWEDEN. 


371 


nisbing  its  faithless  members,  although, 'attached  to  popery,  that  the  propositions 
in  the  event  of  successful  resistance,  any  of  the  clergy  of  France,  at  their  assem- 
violence  on  their  part  is  impious."  The  bly  in  1682,  amounted,  in  her  view,  to  a 
advance  of  civilization  forbade  a  renewal! scandal  nearly  allied  to  rebellion.*  And 


of  capital  punishments  for  heretical  opi 
nions,  but  the  disposition  to  inflict  it  was 
evidently  unchanged. 


subsequently,  when  her  declared  sympathy 
was  held  up  by  Bayle  as  a  remnant  of 
Protestantism,  she  wrote  to  him,  com- 
plaining severely  of  his  injustice,  in  doubt- 
in"  the  sincerity  of  her  conversion.t  Her 
letter  to  the  Chevalier  de  Terlon,  the 
French  ambassador  at  Stockholm,  con- 
tains the  following  passages:  "I  will 
Letters  of  Christina,  ex-aueen  of  Sweden— Sufferings  I  frankly  avow  that  I  am  not  quite  per- 
:£ffl:™™feriM'i0"°f,he  ,lug"fi  jsuaded  of  the  success  of  this  great  de- 

sign;  and  that  I  cannot  rejoice  at  it,  as 
Although  it  might  appear  superfluous 'an  affair  very  advantageous  to  our  holy 


CHAPTER  LX. 


to  present  a  complete  list  of  the  atrocities  religion.  *  *  *  * 
practised  at  this  time  under  a  pretext  of; apostles. 


Military  men  are  strange 
I  consider  them  more  likely  to 


religion,  some  of  them  must  be  recorded,! kill,  to  ravish  and  to  plunder,  than  to  per- 
and  their  real  motives  placed  beyond  'suade ;  and,  in  fact,  accounts  beyond 
doubt,  or  the  forbearance  which  would  doubt  inform  us  that  they  fulfil  the  mission 
dictate  the  exclusion  of  such  painful ;  entirely  in  their  mode.  I  pity  the  people 
scenes  may  be  considered  an  accusation  I  abandoned  to  their  discretion  :  I  sympa- 
of  all  preceding  statements.  More  detail  j  thize  with  so  many  ruined  families,  so 
will  therefore benecessaryintreatingof  this' many  respectable  persons  reduced  to  beg- 
period  than  when othercircumstances  were ;  gary;  and  I  cannot  look  upon  what  is 
under  consideration,  and  where  the  more!  now  passing  in  France  without  compas- 
important  events  alone  claimed  descrip-  sion."f 

tion,  those  of  minor  consequence  frequently  Another  letter  to  Cardinal  Azolino  is  in 
obtaining  merely  a  passing  allusion.  The  a  similar  strain  :  "  I  am  overwhelmed  with 
narrative  of  one  who  suffered  greatly  in  grief  when  I  think  of  all  the  innocent  blood 


this  persecution  will  afford  means  fin*  es 
timating  the  general  conduct  of  the  op- 
pressors.*   With  respect  to  the  value  of 
its  testimony,  it  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  published  accounts  of  the  time, 


which  a  blind  fanaticism  causes  daily  to 
flow.  France  exercises,  without  remorse 
or  fear,  the  most  barbarous  persecution 
upon  the  dearest  and  most  industrious 
portion  of  her  people.  *  *  *  *  Every  time  I 


which  the  court  of  France  sweepingly  de-;  contemplate  the  atrocious  torments  which 
nounced  as  libels,  composed  in  a  spirit  of;  have  been  inflicted  upon  the  Protestants, 
revenge.  This,  however,  was  never  in-jmy  heart  throbs,  and  my  eyes  are  filled 
tended  for  publicity;  and  the  manuscript i  with  tears. "j 

remained  neglected  and  forgotten  among  The  admission  of  one  of  the  most  ab- 
the  records  o(  the  family,  until  the  author's  jeet  flatterers  of  Louis  XIV.  being  added 
descendants  had  become  blended  with  to  Christina's  testimony,  will  suffice  to  re- 
another  nation.  The  account  it  contains  move  every  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  the 
is  moreover  amply  corroborated  by  con-  persecution :  "But  if  the  king  has  been 
temporary  writers;  and  the  description  J  obliged  to  use  some  severity,  and  to  send 
harmonizes  completely  with  the  views , soldiers  into  the  houses  of  the  most  obsti- 
given  in  the  correspondence  of  eminent |nate  to  bring  them  back  into  the  pale  of 
persons,  who  cannot  be  suspected  of  ex- 
aggeration on  behalf  of  the  Huguenots. 

Of  such  the  foremost  is  Christina,  ex- 
queen  of  Sweden,  who  was  so  decidedly 


*  JVa.rrn.ltvc  of  the  Sufferings  of  a  Ft  nek  Protestant 
Family,  &.C.,  by  John  Migault,  London,  Ir24.  Le  Jour- 
nal dr.  Jean  Migault  was  published  al  Paris,  in  1H,'5, 
and  at  Berlin  in  1H27.  Although  the  French  copy  has  des  Lettre 
been  chiefly  consulted,  the  \>a>vs  refer  to  the  London 
edition,  for  the  convenience  of  llie  Ems'"*'1  reader. 


*  The  four  celebrated  articles  for  restraining  the  pa- 
pal authority— -drawn  up  by  Uossuet,  who,  by  his  elo- 
quence, secured  their  adoption.  The  Jesuit  d'Avrigny 
lot  ks  upon  the  proceeding  as  one  of  the  rudest  blows 
which  hul  been  given  to  the  court  of  Rome  for  ages. 
De  Burigny,  Fiede  Bosseut,  p.  262.  Tabaraud,  Histoire 
de  I'JIssi-mblre  gin  irate  du  Clergs  en  16"2.  p.  !I4. 

t  Letter  dated  Koine,  14th  Dec.  ICeO.     Lettres  de 
Bayle,  vol.  i.  p.  247. 
I  Ibid.,  2d  Feb.,  1H80.   Nouvelles  de  la  Republiqtie 
May,  lu>G. 

J  Dated  Hamburgh,  1GFG.  Lettres  secretes  de  Chris- 
tine, p.  170.   Geneva,  1761. 


372 


PERSECUTION  OF  MIGAULT. 


the  church,  we  have  reason  to  hope  that, 
Jike  the  Donatists,  they  will  rejoice  that  this 
holy  and  salutary  violence  has  been  adopt- 
ed for  withdrawing  them  from  the  le- 
thargy into  which  the  misfortune  of  their 
birth  had  thrown  them."* 

One  more  proof  shall  be  adduced.  The 
Baron  de  Breteuil,  in  an  official  report  to 
Louis  XVI.,  makes  the  following  asser- 
tion :  "  The  very  minutes  of  all  the  orders 
sent  into  the  provinces,  for  effecting  con- 
versions by  quartering  soldiers,  are  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  war-office."t 

Having  premised  these  corroborating 
statements,  the  sufferings  of  John  Migault 
and  his  family  will  be  more  readily  cre- 
dited. That  victim  of  tyranny  exercised 
the  profession  of  notary  until  1681,  when 
a  royal  decree  disqualified  Protestants 
from  such  functions.  Sympathy  for  his 
numerous  family,  and  respect  for  his  cha- 
racter, induced  the  consistory  of  Mougon 
to  offer  him  the  situation  of  reader  and 
registrar  of  the  temple  in  that  place;  but 
his  quiet  occupation  did  not  last  long. 
Louvois  had  informed  Marillac,  intendant 
of  Poictou,  that  a  body  of  dragoons  should 
be  sent  there  in  November:  the  design  of 
the  court  was  however  hastened,  and  the 
warlike  missionaries  entered  that  province 
in  the  summer.  The  terror  inspired  by 
their  approach  will  be  appreciated  by  the 
fact  of  a  soldier  casually  exhibiting  some 
slips  of  paper,  as  billets  for  quartering  his 
comrades: — within  two  hours,  three  of 
the  first  families  in  the  place  abjured. \ 

"  We  were  not  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  storm,"  observes  Migault, "  until  Tues- 
day, the  22d  of  August.  1681.  In  the 
morning,  as  we  quitted  the  church  where 
we  had  just  offered  up  our  accustomed 
prayers,  we  beheld  a  troop  of  cavalry, 
commanded  by  M.  de  la  Brique,  advance 
towards  us  at  a  gallop,  take  their  station 
around  the  cemetery,  and  by  their  de- 
monstrations strike  terror  into  the  stout- 
est hearts.  I  had  scarcely  entered  my 
house,  when  the  quarter-master  appeared, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  billet.  Without  dis- 
mounting, he  demanded  most  perempto- 
rily, if  it  was  our  intention  to  become 
Catholics.  Such  was  the  method  in 
which  these  converiisseurs  were  accus- 


*  Soulier,  p.  fi23.  This  seems  to  be  a  favourite  phrase 
as  the  author  uses  it  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
T  Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  p.  71. 
X  Migault,  p.  26. 


Itomed  to  proceed.  On  the  solemn  assu- 
rance given  him  by  your  excellent  mother 
and  myself,  that  we  would  not  change  our 
religion,  he  turned  his  horse  and  went 
away."* 

The  appearance  of  thedragoons  in  many 
cases  sufficed  to  make  an  entire  village 
embrace  the  Romish  religion ;  but  when 
the  acquiescence  was  only  partial,  the  bur- 
den was  proportionally  aggravated  for  the 
more  steadfast  Huguenots.  The  system 
was  one  of  absolute  plunder;  for  the  sol- 
diers levied  contributions  on  their  hosts, 
and  if  the  amount  demanded  was  not 
punctually  paid,  their  furniture,  cattle, 
and  even  their  apparel,  were  sold  to  raise 
the  money.  Those  sales  afforded  great 
facilities  for  the  Roman  Catholics  to  ob- 
tain property  on  very  easy  terms,  of 
which  they  frequently  availed  them- 
selves, f 

Migault  had  fifteen  soldiers  quartered 
upon  him:  they  behaved  brutally,  and 
made  the  most  insolent  demands.  It  was 
necessary  to  send  to  Niort,  in  order  to 
supply  their  table;  and  because  the  fo- 
rage for  their  horses  did  not  please  them, 
they  used  the  grossest  imprecations.  As 
it  was  indispensable  to  despatch  a  mes- 
senger to  Niort  for  supplies,  Migault  was 
allowed  to  leave  the  house;  and  while 
absent  from  his  home,  he  learned  from 
some  Catholic  friends  that  his  complete 
ruin  was  intended ;  and  that  it  arose  from 
the  instigations  of  the  cure,  whose  sug- 
gestions included  a  plan  for  dragging  him 
forcibly  to  the  Catholic  church;  when,  if 
violent  measures  were  not  used  to  induce 
his  abjuration,  it  would  at  all  events  be 
declared  that  he  had  made  a  formal  re- 
cantation, and  joined  in  the  Romish  rites. 
This  is  known  to  have  been  done  in  other 
places,  in  order  to  swell  the  reports  upon 
the  progress  of  conversion.;!: 

By  the  advice  of  his  kind  neighbours, 
the  unfortunate  man  remained  concealed 
in  their  house;  and  when  the  dragoons 
perceived  that  he  had  escaped  from  their 
grasp,  they  directed  their  malevolence 
against  his  wife,  whom  they  threatened 
to  burn,  unless  she  abjured.  In  vain  did 
some  ladies  intercede:  the  commander 
disregarded  the  appeal,  aid  the  poor  wo- 
man would  probably  have  perished,  if  an 


*  Ibid.,  p.  29.   This  circumstantial  journal  was  ad- 
dressed by  the  author  to  his  children, 
t  Ibid.,  p.  27.  t  Ibid.,  p.  30,  et  seq. 


PERSECUTION  OF  MIGAULT. 


373 


unexpected  deliverer  had  not  appeared  in 
the  person  of  M.  Billon,  the  vicar,  an  ex- 
cellent man  and  a  friend  of  the  family. 
He  heard  of  the  treatment  to  which  Ma- 


priest  strenuously  exerted  his  influence 
with  the  husband  of  the  child's  nurse  to 
have  the  infant's  body  thrown  to  the 
dogs.    The  man  was  not  so  lost  to  a 


dame  Migault  was  exposed,  and  removed  :  sense  of  humanity  as  to  consent;  and  the 
her  out  of  the  power  of  her  persecutors ;  |  child  was  interred  in  the  Protestant  buri- 
but  not  before  he  had  promised  to  restore]  al-ground.* 

her,  if  his  arguments  failed  to  effect  her  The  persecution  continued  during  the 
conversion.  The  ladies  being  left  alone  [month  of  November,  1681;  and  more 
with  the  sufferer,  led  her  to  a  place  of  severe  than  at  the  commencement,  be- 
concealment,  and  the  vicar  was  too  hu-|  cause  at  this  time  the  bare  fact  of  per- 
mane  to  regret  the  involuntary  breach  of  sisting  in  the  reformed  faith  authorized 


his  engagement :  he  retired  to  his  own 
house,  without  noticing  the  dragoons.* 

The  next  day  every  Protestant  in  the 
village  abjured,  with  the  exception  of 
about  twenty  families,  who  had  quitted 


the  seizure  of  every  thing.  What  the 
military  did  not  consume  was  sold  or 
destroyed  ;  and  the  losses  were  rendered 
more  painful  by  the  animosity  of  some 
converts,  who  being  animated   in  the 


their  homes  on  the  approach  of  the  troops,  work  of  spoliation  against  their  late  bre- 
The  dwellings  of  the  absentees  were  \  thren,  acted  as  informers,  and  shared  in 
stripped  of  every  thing;  and  when  it  wasj  the  pillage.f 


ascertained  that  no  further  mischief  could 
be  accomplished  at  Mougon,  the  dra- 
goons were  marched  to  Souche  where  all 
the  Protestants  experienced  their  severi- 
ties.! 

A  similar  scene  passed  in  the  adjoining 
parish  of  Thorigne,  chiefly  inhabited  by 
Protestants ;  and  as  the  first  visit  of  the 
troops  effected  very  little  conversion,  the 
cure  was  incensed,  and  instigated  the  sol- 
diers to  oppression  and  wanton  cruelty, 
far  surpassing  their  former  exploits.  The 
people  however  displayed  great  constancy 
and  patience;  very  few  recantations  oc- 
curred ;  and  the  forest  was  again  crowded 
with  miserable  wanderers.  This  natu- 
rally led  to  an  extensive  emigration ;  the 
Protestants  left  the  kingdom  by  thousands 
for  England,  Holland,  and  the  new  settle- 
ments of  North  America ;  and  the  hospita- 
ble reception  afforded  the  fugitives  was 
amply  rewarded  by  the  advantages  which 
resulted  from  the  intelligence  and  industry 
of  the  exiles4 

Migault's  young  family  was  a  serious 
impediment  to  his  flight.  The  cure,  his 
old  enemy,  continued  to  urge  the  perse- 
cution against  him  ;  and  after  every  thing 
saleable  in  his  house  had  been  removed, 
the  rest  was  destroyed;  even  the  doors 
and  windows.^  And  to  aggravate  the  un- 
happy man's  misfortunes,  one  of  his  chil- 
dren died:  on  which  occasion  the  cruel 


Migault  then  removed  to  Mauze,  a 
small  town  in  Aunis,  where  he  established 
a  school,  which  afforded  him  the  means 
of  living  comfortably,  until  March,  1683, 
when  the  king  published  a  declaration  for- 
bidding Protestant  schoolmasters  from  re- 
ceiving boarders  in  their  houses.f  The 
provisions  of  that  tyrannical  decree  were 
evaded  by  the  scholars  being  placed  in 
neighbouring  houses;  but  one  blow  was 
no   sooner   parried   than   another  was 
struck.    A  schoolmaster,  who  had  ab- 
jured, denounced  Migault  to  the  autho- 
rities, for  infringing  the  ordonnance,  by 
permitting  his  pupils  to  sing  psalms.  A 
technical  objection  saved  the  unfortunate 
man  on  this  occasion ;  but  within  a  few 
months  the  dragoons  were  again  on  the 
march  to  complete  the  ruin  of  those  fami- 
lies who  had  withstood  the  ravages  of 
1681.    We  were  apprized  (Migault  re- 
lates) of  the  iniquitous  and  arbitrary  pro- 
ceedings of  the  cours  souveraines,\  and  of 
the  intendants  of  provinces,  recently  in- 
vested with  authority  for  pronouncing  de- 
finitively, and  without  appeal,  on  any 
charge  preferred  against  our  churches. 
If  no  charge  existed  one  was  invented ; 
and  thus  all  the  reformed  churches,  not 
only  of  Poictou,  but  throughout  the  king- 
dom, were  soon  destroyed  or  interdicted. 
The    temple  at    Mauze  was  however 
spared,  amid  the  wide-spread  desolation 


*  Migault,  p.  39.  f  Ibid.  p.  44. 

X  DtUaration  da  Roy,  dated  14th  July,  1688,  forbids 
emigration,  and  cancels  all  sales  of  property  made 
within  a  year  of  departure. 

§  Migault.  p.  51. 

32 


*  Migault,  p  56.  t  Ibid.,  p  5G. 

\  I  lid.,  p.  07. 

§  Cours  souoerain.es,  under  the  old  regime,  were  the 
courts  in  which  the  king  was  supposed  to  be  present 
and  where  the  decrees  were  given  in  his  name. 


374 


CRUELTIES  PRACTISED  IN  THE  V1VARAIS. 


— a  circumstance  gratefully  attributed  to 
the  influence  of  the  Duchess  of  Bruns- 
wick-Lunenburgh,  who  left  no  means 
untried  for  warding  off  the  impending 
rigours, — or  at  least  for  delaying  their 
execution  ;  and  for  that  purpose  she  em- 
ployed all  the  resources  of  her  credit  at 
the  French  court,  and  interceded  on  be- 
half of  the  Protestants  with  the  king  him- 
self.* 

The  Duke  de  Noailles,  who  com- 
manded in  Languedoc,  allowed  his  desire 
to  please  Louis  to  supersede  every  other 
consideration.  Soon  after  his  appoint- 
ment, he  addressed  the  monarch  to  this 
effect:  "It  suffices  that  your  Majesty's 
orders  be  known  to  ensure  their  imme- 
diate execution. "t  Unhappily,  the  bi- 
goted design  of  the  court  rendered  this 
otherwise  humane  nobleman  a  minister 
of  wrath  to  the  Huguenots. 

Conformably  to  instructions  from  court, 
die  parliament  of  Toulouse  had,  in  1682, 
forbidden  the  Protestant  worship,  and 
ordered  the  demolition  of  the  temple,  on 
pretext  of  infractions  of  the  laws.  The 
bishop  of  the  diocess  having  demanded 
permission  to  use  the  temple  as  a  church, 
Chateauneuf,  secretary  of  state,  wrote  to 
Noailles,  that  it  would  have  more  effect 
to  execute  the  decree  fully,  as  it  would 
destroy  all  hope  of  its  recovery  by  the  reli- 
<z'tonnuires.\  The  Protestants,  on  their 
side,  pressed  Noailles  with  solicitations 
on  behalf  of  religious  liberty;  and  when 
two  ministers  declared,  that  even  the  fear 
of  death  should  not  deter  them  from  dis- 
charging their  duty,  the  duke  confined 
them  in  his  house,  as  the  most  effectual 
reply. 

Noadles  had  sufficient  force  to  carry 
the  decree  of  the  parliament  into  execu- 
tion; and  by  impartial  severity  maintained 
order,  at  a  moment  when  insurrection 
appeared  imminent:  he  punished  some 
Catholics  for  insulting  the  Huguenots, 
and  issued  a  proclamation  to  enjoin  good 
fellowship,  and  avoid  any  thing  calculated 
to  irritate,  by  word  or  writing.  The 
ministers  remained  in  confinement  until 
after  the  following  Sunday,  when  they 
were  released,  and  sent  away  from  that 
town. 5 

The  success  which  had  attended  the 


*  Migault,  p.  72.  t  Noailles,  vol.  i.  p.  12. 

J  23(1  Nov.,  1682.   Noailles,  vol.  i.  p.  15. 
§  Noailles,  vol.  i  p  20. 


plan  for  abolishing  the  Protestant  wcrrship 
at  Montpellier  induced  a  similar  proceed- 
ing against  Montauban  and  other  places; 
but  the  government  being  informed  of  the 
irritation  arising  from  the  apprehensions 
of  the  Huguenots,  Chateauneuf  wrote  to 
suspend  the  execution,  "as  they  should 
not  put  too  much  fuel  on  the  fire  at  one 
time."* 

D'Aguesseau  about  the  same  time 
wrote  to  urge  the  necessity  of  instructing 
the  people,  in  preference  to  the  adopted 
methods  of  fear  and  corruption.  There 
does  not  appear  to  have  existed  a  cor- 
responding desire  on  the  part  of  the  ex- 
ecutive: to  enforce  submission  to  the 
king's  will  was  the  aim  of  all  functiona- 
ries; and  the  public  mind  was  inflamed  to 
a  degree  which  rendered  an  insurrection 
probable. 

The  ministers  encouraoed  their  fol- 
lowers to  brave  the  king's  orders,  and 
obtain  the  crown  reserved  for  martyrs. 
As  the  danger  became  more  evident,  the 
enthusiasm  increased ;  and  at  last  the 
troops  under  the  command  of  St.  Ruth, 
were  ordered  into  the  province  in  the 
summer  of  1683.t  The  presence  of  those 
formidable  missionaries  intimidated  the 
Protestants  who  manifested  a  readiness 
to  submit.  An  amnesty  was  offered  un- 
der certain  conditions:  the  terms  were 
however  too  severe,  and  the  Protestants 
resumed  their  arms.  They  were  attacked 
in  a  favourable  position  selected  for  their 
head-quarters,  near  Pierregourde,  in  the 
Vivarais.  A  part  of  the  royal  army  main- 
tained some  skiimishes,  to  engage  their 
attention,  while  the  main  body  was  en- 
gaged in  surrounding  them.  Their  de- 
fence was  well  conducted  ;  but  their  as- 
sailants' force  overwhelmed  them,  and 
under  cover  of  the  adjoining  wood  most 
of  them  escaped.  Yet  numbers  were 
killed  by  the  dragoons  ;  and  of  the  prison- 
ers thirteen  were  selected:  twelve  were 
hanged  at  once  upon  the  spot,  their  com- 
panion being  compelled  to  act  as  execu- 
tioner, t 

This  victory  was  naturally  followed  by 
the  destruction  of  several  temples  ;  and 
in  some  places  they  found  the  inhabitants 
had  all  fled.  The  expedition  caused  great 
terror,  as  none  were  spared  who  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  troops.    The  Duke  de 


*  7th  Dec.  Noailles,  vol.  i.p.  21. 

t  Noailles,  vol.  i.  p.  63.  {  Ibid.,  vol.  j.  p  44. 


THE  PERSECUTED  APPEAL  FOR  MERCY  IN  VAIN.  375 


Noailles  in  his  letters  observes:  "  These 
wretches  went  to  the  gibbet  with  the  firm 
assurance  of  dying  as  martyrs ;  and  de- 
manded no  other  favour,  than  that  they 
might  be  safely  executed.  They  begged 
pardon  of  the  soldiers;  but  not  oi:e  of  them 
would  ask  it  of  the  king."* 

Noailles  was  an  advocate  for  severe 
measures;  by  forming  an  erroneous  esti- 
mate of  the  consequences  of  former  rigour, 
he  felt  encouraged  to  continue;  and  the 
recent  insurrection  produced  still  more 
severe  orders  from  Louvois  than  he  had  I 
hitherto  received.    "  His  majesty  desires 
you  will  order  M.  de  St.  Ruth  to  place 
troops  in  all  the  places  you  deem  neces- 
sary; to  support  them  at  the  expense  of 
the  country;  to  seize  the  culpable,  and 
hand  them  over  to  M.  d'Aguesseau  for  | 
judgment;  to  destroy  the  houses  of  those  i 
killed  in  arms.    You  will  give  orders  for 
demolishing  ten  of  the  principal  temples  ! 
of  the  Vivarais;  and,  in  a  word,  to  cause! 
such  a  desolation  in  the  country,  that  the 
example  may  keep  the  other  religion- \ 
naires  within  bounds,  and  teach  them 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  revolt  against  the 
kin<x."f 

The  Huguenots  of  the  Cevennes,  still 
undaunted  by  the  defeat  of  their  brethren, 
sent  a  deputation  to  Nismes:  they  pre- 
sented a  request  to  Noailles,  that  he  would 
obtain  from  the  king's  goodness  and  jus- 
tice a  general  amnesty;  the  right  of  wor- 
ship; and  the  revocation  of  the  edicts  I 
contrary   to    their   liberties.  Noailles, 
astonished  at  the  boldness  of  men  whom  I 
he  calls  pauvres  miserables,  instantly  sent 
them  as  prisoners  to  the  citadel  of  Saint  I 
Esprit.     Their  proceeding  was  too  ex- 
travagant to  deserve  such  treatment:  for 
even  their  brethren  viewed  the  deputation  j 
as  an  act  of  madness;  and  the  consistory  I 
of  Nismes  disavowed  them.J 

Circumstances  were  very  adverse  to  the 
Huguenots  of  Languedoc;  yet  they  per- 
severingly  asserted  the  rights  of  con- 1 
science,  while  Noailles  was  equally  firm' 
and  decided  in  his  efforts  to  bring  under 
subjection   men  whom   he  viewed  as 
rebels.    His  superior  force  enabled  him  1 
to  disperse  their  assemblies:  but  they 
collected  again  in  other  parts  ;  and  as  the 
most  effectual  means  of  straitening  their 
resources,  orders  were  given  to  seize  all 


[arms  in  the  possession  of  Protestants:  a 
j  considerable  quantity  was  found  in 
!  Nismes.* 

Many  of  the  Protestant  ministers  had 
been  arrested:  their  exhortations  had  sup- 
ported the  energy  of  the  insurgents;  and 
they  were  viewed  as  the  chief  instigators 
of  the  public  troubles.  Audoyer  and 
Homel  were  both  condemned  to  death: 
!  the  former  was  respited,  but  the  latter  was 
j  broken  upon  the  wheel,  after  enduring  the 
rack.  His  head  was  exposed  at  Chalen- 
Icon,  and  his  body  at  BeauchaJel,  at  both 
of  which  places  he  had  been  conspicuous 
in  his  exertions.  Hoguier,  another  minis- 
ter of  the  sect,  to  use  the  expression  of 
the  Abbe  Millot,  cut  his  throat  in  prisomt 
an  assertion  which  demands  some  proof 
before  posterity  will  credit  a  statement 
at  variance  with  probability;  for  the 
fear  of  condemnation  and  public  execution 
could  have  no  weight  with  men  who 
preached  the  glory  of  martyrdom:  it  is 
far  more  reasonable  to  conclude  that  his 
enemies  killed  him  secretly  from  a  dread 
of  his  example. 

As  the  want  of  instruction  had  so  fre- 
quently been  urged  upon  the  notice  of  the 
government,  the  Abbe  Herve,  with  twelve 
missionaries,  was  sent  into  Langue- 
doc. His  preaching  was  supported  and 
strengthened  by  liberal  distributions  of 
money  to  all  who  would  declare  them- 
selves convinced.  He  was  very  success- 
ful, but  not  equal  to  his  wishes  or  ex- 
pectations, and  demanded  further  funds  to 
supply  his  proselytes.  Noailles,  in  a  let- 
ter full  of  commendations,  states, — "  The 
king's  money  appears  to  me  so  well  em- 
ployed for  this  purpose,  that  economy 
would  he  pernicious;  for  they  are  subjects 
gained  both  for  God  and  his  Majesty. "J 

While  Herve  pursued  his  persuasions, 
the  troops  continued  their  career  of  seve- 
rity. The  ministers  of  Languedoc  had, 
in  consequence,  withdrawn  into  Switzer- 
land, where  they  joined  a  Swiss  synod, 
in  which  it  was  resolved  to  receive  all 
who  fled  from  France  on  account  of  their 
religion;  and  to  address  the  Protestant 
governments  on  behalf  of  the  French 
Calvinists.  This  gave  rise  to  a  hostile 
demonstration  by  the  states  of  Languedoc, 
who  demanded  fresh  severities  against 
them;  and,  with  some  trifling  modifica- 


*  Noailles,  p.  45. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  50. 


t  Ibid.  p.  47. 


*  Noailles,  vol.  i.,  p.  57 
X  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  60. 


t  Ibid.,  p.  58. 


376  THE  PERSECUTED  APPEAL  FOR  MERCY  IN  VAIN. 


tions,  the  suggestions  were  adopted  by 
the  court.* 

The  notorious  Basvillef  had  succeeded 
Marillac  as  intendant  of  Poictou,  1682. 
On  his  arrival  in  that  province,  he  found 
that  thirty-four  thousand  conversions  had 
taken  place;  and  within  three  years  he 
had  the  gratification  of  announcing  above 
twelve  thousand  more,  resulting  from 
what  an  apologist  styles  "  measures  re- 
plete with  mildness. "J 

Every  day  confirmed  the  general  ap- 
prehension of  the  Protestants  that  a  crisis 
in  their  affairs  was  at  hand:  in  conse- 
quence, some  regulations  were  drawn  up 
for  the  guidance  of  both  ministers  and 
people,  in  the  event  of  the  congregations 
being  dispersed.  The  project  comprised 
eighteen  articles, and  was  adopted  in  May, 
1683,  at  Toulouse,  where  deputies  had 
assembled  from  all  parts,  under  pretexts 
of  business.  A  day  was  fixed  for  a  gene- 
ral fast;  but,  with  that  exception,  the  de- 
cisions were  far  from  being  calculated  to 
give  umbrage  to  the  government.  It  has 
been  asserted,  however,  that  this  was  in 
reality  a  conspiracy  formed  on  an  under- 
standing with  the  anti-papist  party  in 
England,  which  made  great  preparations 
at  the  same  time  for  a  general  insurrec- 
lion=  And  as  the  Protestants  mutually 
exhorted  each  other  to  sustain  persecution 
with  firmness,  their  conduct  is  condemned, 
because,  forsooth,  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians acted  otherwise:  they  were  con- 
tented with  secret  assemblings,  and 
never  revolted  to  obtain  the  right  of  public 
worship. §  Happy  indeed  the  Huguenots 
would  have  been  to  feel  secure  in  the 
secret  exercise  of  religious  worship,  or  if 
even  the  right  of  private  opinion  had 
been  permitted  them.  The  course  of  this 
history  will  however  show  that  the  suspi- 
cion of  Calvinistic  sentiments  exposed 
the  party  to  molestation  while  he  lived, 
and  indignity  to  his  remains  at  his 
decease. 

An  idea  was  prevalent  among  the  Pro- 
testants that  Louis  was  not  aware  of  the 
cruelties  exercised  towards  them:  he  was 
not  in  fact  made  acquainted  with  the 
naked  truth.  His  ministers  presented 
numerous  lists  of  conversions  and  abjura- 

*  Ibid.,  p.  66. 

.  t  Nicolas  <ic  Lamoignon,  seigneur  de  Basville,  born 
in  1648.  fifth  son  of  the  president  of  the  same  name. 

.  X  "  Par  ce9  niemes  voyes,  pleines  de  douceur."  Sou- 

'er,  p.  C5. 
§  Soulier,  pp.  589—594. 


tions;  but  made  no  mention  of  the  vio- 
lence by  which  they  were  effected.  A 
request  was  therefore  drawn  up  in  the 
most  submissive  terms,  yet  with  a  forcible 
appeal  to  the  monarch's  feelings.  It  con- 
tained a  pathetic  statement  of  their  suffer- 
ings; and  was  presented  to  the  king  by 
the  Marquis  de  Ruvigny,  their  deputy- 
general,  in  March,  1684. 

When  the  marquis  had  concluded  his 
address,  the  king  replied  that  he  believed 
all  he  had  stated  of  the  prejudice  it  might 
cause  to  his  affairs,  only  he  thought  it 
would  not  extend  to  bloodshed:  but  he 
said  he  felt  so  indispensably  bound  to 
attempt  the  conversion  of  all  his  subjects 
and  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  that  if  the 
doinir  it  required  that  with  one  hand  he 
should  cut  off  the  other,  he  would  sub- 
mit.* Ruvigny  warned  his  friends  of  the 
threatened  danger;  and  some  were  for 
preparing  in  earnest  against  a  civil  war. 
The  aged  nobleman,  however,  dissuaded 
them,  as  he  knew  they  could  not  rely  on 
England  for  support.  The  statement  of 
the  Huguenots'  grievances  merits  exami- 
nation. 

After  expressing  a  conviction  that  the 
violations  of  the  edicts  in  their  favour 
were  unknown  to  their  sovereign,  they 
|  reminded  Louis  of  his  declaration  of  1669, 
!  which  was  openly  violated  in  every  part 
j  of  the  kingdom.    One  of  its  articles  pro- 
hibited all  attempts  to  remove  children 
i  from  their  Protestant  parents,  in  order  to 
;  convert  them,  under  fourteen  years  of 
age;  but  every  day  those  of  the  tenderest 
age  were  taken  from  their  families,  and 
placed  in  convents   or  prisons,  where 
cruel  treatment  was  resorted  to  for  effect- 
ing their  renunciation  of  the  reformed  re- 
ligion; while  there  was  no  possibility  of 
obtaining  access  to  the  retreats  in  which 
the  laws  were  so  outrageously  violated. 
The  magistrates,  instead  of  censuring 
such  conduct,  openly  encouraged  it;  and 
the  clergy  defended  the  measure,  on  the 
grounds  that  the  king's  orders  could  not 
withdraw  from  the  authority  of  the  church 
those  who  are  its  members  without  dis- 
tinction of  age. 

Another  article  protected  the  Protest- 
ants against  exclusion  from  practising  any 
art  or  trade ;  but  their  apprentices  were 
refused  admittance  into  the  most  inferior 
kinds  of  handicraft,  and  the  protestant 


*  Burnet,  vol.  i.  p  3G2. 


THE  PERSECUTED  APPEAL  FOR  MERCY  IN  VAIN.  377 


artisans  were  completely  deprived  of  the 
means  of  earning  their  livelihood. 

A  third  grievance  was  the  prohibition 
against  publishing  any  work  respecting 
their  religion;  that  privilege  had  been 
conferred  by  revoking  an  ordonnance  ob- 
tained by  their  enemies  in  1666.  But  a 
decree  of  the  council,  given  in  November. 
1670.  was  permitted  to  nullify  the  royal 
declaration,  no  less  than  one  of  the  arti- 
cles of  the  edict  of  Nantes. 

Not  only  public  charges,  the  legitimate 
reward  of  merit,  were  denied  to  the  Pro- 
testants, they  were  interdicted  from  ex- 
ercising any  h  mourable  profession.  They 
could  not  become  advocates  or  physicians; 
and,  as  if  under  a  mark  of  infamy,  were 
thus  declared  unworthy  to  serve  the  pub- 
lic in  any  manner.* 

This  appeal  to  the  king's  humanity  pro- 
duced no  good  result.  To  judge  from 
the  measures  which  almost  immediately 
followed  its  presentation,  it  would  appear 
that,  by  exposing  their  complaints,  the 
Protestants  only  rendered  their  enemies 
more  eager  to  hasten  their  entire  destruc- 
tion. Even  their  charitable  intentions 
were  viewed  in  an  odious  light ;  and  the 
sick  and  infirm  poor  were  forbidden,  under 
a  penalty  of  five  hundred  livres,  to  receive 
an  asylum*  in  private  houses,  in  order  that 
a  compulsory  residence  in  the  hospitals 
might  produce  conversions.t  Madame 
de  Maintenon  thus  alludes  to  the  king's 
intentions  in  a  letter  to  the  Countess  de 
Saint  Geran  \\  "  He  proposes  to  labour 
for  the  entire  conversion  of  the  heretics : 
he  has  frequent  conferences  on  that  sub- 
ject with  Le  Tellier  and  Chateauneuf;  at 
which  they  persuade  me  that  my  presence 
would  not  be  unwelcome.  M.  de  Cha- 
teauneuf lias  proposed  measures  which  are 
not  suitable.  The  business  must  not  be 
precipitated.  It  must  be  conversion,  not 
persecution.  M.  de  Louvois  wishes  for 
mildness;  which  does  not  agree  with  his 
disposition,  and  his  desire  to  finish  the 
affair.  The  king  is  ready  to  do  whatever 
may  be  deemed  most  useful  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  religion.  This  undertaking 
will  cover  him  with  glory  in  the  eyes  of 
God  and  men.  He  will  have  brought 
back  all  his  subjects  into  the  bosom  of  the 


*  The  request  is  (riven  at  length  hy  de  Limiers,  Hist, 
de  Louis  XIV.,  vol  iv.  pp.  13&-153 
t  Arret  du  Coneeil,  4th  Sept.,  1684. 
%  Dated  lath  Aug.,  1684. 


church,  and  destroyed  the  heresy  which 
none  of  his  predecessors  could  vanquish.'* 
It  is,  however,  due  to  the  memory  of 
Louis  to  declare  that  much  of  what  passed 
was  concealed  from  him.  From  the 
period  of  his  marriage  with  Madame  de 
Maintenon,  that  lady  had  the  means  of 
keeping  back  many  communications  and 
reports.  She  was  herself  deceived  by 
fallacious  statements;  and  her  grand  ob- 
ject was  to  ward  off  every  thing  calcu- 
lated to  disturb  the  king's  tranquillity 
The  charms  of  her  society  lulled  him  into 
a  blind  confidence;  and  after  a  time  he 
was  confirmed  in  a  wish  to  repose  from 
public  cares.  Louis  left  the  means  of 
execution  to  his  ministers,  whose  antici- 
pations of  success  were  most  sanguine: 
the  conversions  already  obtained  by  fear 
made  them  calculate  upon  still  greater  re- 
sults ;  and  while  poets  sang  and  historians 
recorded  the  monarch's  absolute  power, 
the  vital  interests  of  the  nation  were  at 
the  mercy  of  an  ardent  triumvirate,  who 
flattered  their  prince  that  his  views  were 
promoted,  while,  in  reality,  he  was  merely 
the  instrument  of  their  purposes.  Ma- 
dame de  Maintenon  and  the  Jesuit  La 
Chaise  were  decidedly  influenced  by  re- 
ligious zeal;  but  Louvois  acquiesced  in 
their  views,  as  the  surest  means  of  main- 
taining himself  at  the  head  of  affairs. 

In  confirmation  of  this  view,  we  have 
the  testimony  of  Madame  de  Caylus. 
•'  The  king  yielded,  against  his  own  con- 
victions and  his  natural  inclination,  which 
always  disposed  him  to  mildness.  His 
orders  were  exceeded,  unknown  to  him: 
and  cruelties  were  committed,  which  he 
would  have  prevented  had  he  been  in- 
formed of  them :  but  Louvois  contented 
himself  with  saying  every  day,  '  So  many 
persons  are  converted,  as  I  had  told  your 
Majesty  it  would  be,  at  the  mere  appear- 
ance of  your  troops.'"* 

There  is  no  necessity  to  consult  the 
complaints  of  Protestant  refugees,  for  find- 
ing the  materials  of  accusation  against  the 
bigoted  government  of  France:  the  eulogy 
of  a  priest  is  sufficiently  condemnatory. 
"  While  the  king's  council  was  striving  to 
suppress  the  Protestant  academies,  and 
overthrow  their  temples,  established  con- 
trary to  the  edict  of  Nantes,  the  bishops, 
the  parliaments,  the  governors,  and  even 


32* 


*  Souvenirs  de  Madame  de  Caylus,  p.  14. 


378 


CRUEL  MODES  OF  CONVERSION. 


the  inferior  authorities,  did  each  their  best  hostile  sources,  a  panegyrist  of  Louis  XIV. 
to  second  the  king's  designs.  So  that  the  j  shall  supply  the  account  of  a  most  odious 
temples,  which  the  council  could  not  con-  persecution  commenced  in  Bearn,  during 
demn,  as  not  being  contrary  to  the  edict, 1  the  spring  of  1685,  about  six  months  be- 
were  demolished  or  closed  on  account  of  fore  the  legal  right  of  Protestant  worship 
infractions  made  by  ministers  and  consis-  j  was  abolished.  "  It  was  believed,"  ob- 
tories  upon  his  majesty's  declarations ;  serves  the  Abbe  Soulier,  "  that  the  Cal- 
and,  by  this  means,  most  of  the  provinces  vinists,  being  reduced  to  have  very  few 
where  Huguenotism  was  formerly  very  |  rxercices  publics,  would  more  willingly 
flourishing  were  reduced  to  the  privation  listen  to  the  instructions  which  the  pre- 
of  public  worship."*  lates  gave  in  their  diocesses,  in  order  to 

In  March,  1685,  Louis  contemplated  a  draw  them  from  error;  and  that  the 
renewal  of  the  dragonnrules,  when  the  .  money  which  the  king  distributed  on  all 
march  of  an  army  into  Bearn,  prepara-  sides  to  assist  the  new  converts  would  in- 
tory  to  an  irruption  into  Spain,  hastened  duce  the  followers  of  that  religion  to  enter 
the  execution  of  the  grand  scheme.  Fou-  almost  voluntarily  into  the  bosom  of  the 
cault,  intendant  of  Bearn,  moved  by  his  church ;  but,  as  these  mild  means  had  not 
own  zealous  feelings,  or  probably  excited  all  the  effect  which  was  expected,  and  as 
by  some  Jesuitical  influence,  availed  him-  it  appeared,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  Cal- 
self  of  the  presence  of  such  a  force  to  de-  vinists,  far  from  listening  to  the  missiona- 
clare  that  the  king  would  no  longer  allow  ries,  became  more  obstinate,  his  majesty 
more  than  one  religion  in  his  dominions.  ;  deemed  it  necessary  to  use  stronger  re- 
This  man,  like  his  father  and  grandfather,  medies  to  draw  them  from  that  lethargy 
was  remarkable  for  his  hatred  towards  into  which  the  misfortune  of  their  birth 
the  Protestants— a  quality  quite  incom-  had  thrown  them.*  It  was  then  resolved 
patible  with  his  character  for  erudition,  that  the  king's  troops  should  be  employed 
which  gave  rise  to  a  singular  incident :  to  co-operate  with  the  missionaries,  for 
for  he  discovered  and  published  Lactan-  effecting  in  other  provinces  what  Marillac 


tius  de  mortibus  pernexuforumA  The 
horrors  which  occurred  in  his  ill-fated 
province  are  scarcely  credible :  they  will 
form  the  subject  of  another  chapter,  along 
•with  the  events  of  Languedoc  and  the 
Vivarais.  The  whole  kingdom  presented 
a  uniform  scene  of  desolation.  Edicts 
were  hastily  given,  at  the  officious  sug- 
gestions of  the  clerical  courtiers,  who  pro- 
posed plans  for  terminating  a  state  of 
affairs  which  all  felt  to  be  disgraceful. 
"Twenty-eight  decrees,"  observes  the  Je- 
suit d'Avrigny,  "  were  given  in  quick  suc- 
cession ;  Louis  XIV.,  steadfastly  following 
his  plan,  continued  to  publish  declarations 
and  ordonnances,  according  as  the  clergy 
deemed  it  necessary,  for  gradually  pre 


had  done  in  Poictou,  where  in  a  short 
time  he  subjugated  near  forty  thousand." 
The  example  of  St.  Augustin  is  then 
quoted  as  a  precedent ;  and  some  instance 
of  violence,  on  the  part  of  the  Calvinists, 
appealed  to  as  a  justification. t 

The  account  of  Foucault's  success  in 
making  converts,  drawn  up  for  the  king's 
perusal,  is  one  of  the  most  barefaced  im- 
postures ever  written.  According  to  this 
statement  the  Protestants  of  Oleron  were 
summoned  in  the  king's  name  to  be  in- 
structed in  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
church:  they  demanded  fifteen  days  for 
reflection,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that 
delay  declared  their  readiness  to  abjure.} 
But,  without  referring  to  the  complaints 


paring  the  revocation   of  the  edict  of  of  the  sufferers,  it  will  suffice  to  adduce 


Nantes."} 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

Lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  the  ma- 
terials for  these  pages  are  drawn  from 

*  Soulier,  p.  598. 

|  Rulhiere,  Eclaircissements,  &c.,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 
t  D'Avrigny,  Mem.  Dogmatiques,  vol.  iii.  p.  96. 


another  narrative,  mentioned  by  Rulhiere, 
who  observes  thereon,  "  Whatever  can 
be  imagined  of  military  licentiousness 
was  exercised  in  Bearn  against  the  Cal- 
vinists. It  is  attributed  to  this  intendant 
(Foucanlt)  that  he  improved  upon  more 
than  one  kind  of  torture:  invention  was 


*  Vide  ante,  p  370,  of  this  volume. 

t  Soulier,  HisK  du  Caivinisme,  pp.  598—9.  This  work 
was  printed  at  Paris  in  1686,  before  the  importance  of 
its  admissions  could  be  appreciated. 

t  Soulier,  p.  600. 


CRUEL  MODES  OF  CONVERSION. 


379 


employed  to  discover  torments,  which  I  places  the  Protestants  were  most  nnme- 
might  be  painful  without  being  mortal, jrous.    "In  executing  his  Majesty's  or- 
and  cause  the  unhappy  victims  to  under- 
go the  utmost  which  the  human  body  can 
sustain  without  expiring."* 

What  more  than  this  is  stated  in  the 
complaints  of  the  refugees?    Greater  de- 


ders,"  continues  Louvois,  "  you  will  send 
into  each  community  the  number  of  ca- 
valry and  infantry  which  may  be  con- 
certed upon  with  the  intendant.  You 
will  lodge  them  entirely  in  the  houses 


tail  is  given;  but  the  accusation  is  no  of  the  religionnaires,  withdrawing  them 
stronger.  There  we  find  accounts  of  the  i  from  each  individual  as  he  is  converted; 
victims  being  suspended  by  the  hair,  or 'and  you  will  remove  the  troops  from  the 
by  the  feet,  and  nearly  suffocated  by 'community  to  send  them  to  another,  when 
damp  straw  being  burned  in  the  places  Jail  the  religionnaires,  or  even  the  principal 
where  they  were  tied  up:  the  hairs  of  J  part,  are  converted,  postponing  until  an- 
their  head  and  beard  were  plucked  out:  other  time  the  conversion  of  the  remain- 
they  were  plunged  repeatedly  into  deep  der,  as  will  be  hereafter  explained."*  It 
water,  and  drawn  out  by  a  rope  fastened! was  enjoined  on  the  marshal  to  maintain 
under  their  arms,  only  in  time  to  prevent! good  conduct  and  discipline  among  the 
their  being  drowned.  Sometimes  an  un-' soldiers,  and  severely  punish  any  infrac- 
fortunate  creature  was  drenched  with  i  tion  of  that  order.  This  provision  was  a 
wine  by  means  of  a  funnel;  and,  when  in-complete  mockery,  because  no  attempt 
toxicated,  taken  to  church,  where  his  I  was  made  to  restrain  the  excesses  of  the 
presence  was  deemed  equivalent  to  ab- j  military.  Subsequent  letters  from  Lou- 
juration.  A  similar  method  was  adopted  vois  repeated  the  king's  wishes,  that  no 
with  individuals  overcome  with  bodily  stress  should  be  laid  upon  the  entire  con- 
pain.  In  some  cases  the  Huguenots  were  [version  of  a  place;  but  that,  without 
prevented  from  sleeping  for  an  entire  j  making  efforts  to  gain  individuals  of  im- 
week,  by  sentinels  continually  rousing ;  portance  by  their  foi  tune  or  character,  he 
them;  and,  when  any  Protestant  was  I  was  to  swell  the  list  of  conversions  to  the 
confined  to  his  bed  by  illness,  a  dozen ! utmost.f 

drummers  were  sent  to  beat  under  his  The  compilers  of  the  official  accounts 
window,  without  intermission,  until  the  which  were  submitted  to  the  king,  being 
sick  man  promised  to  be  converted:  with  (aware  of  his  desire,  obsequiously  related 
along  catalogue  of  other  diabolical  sug-j every  thing  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
gestions  for  subduing  the  firmness  of  the  gratify  his  feelings  and  confirm  his  reso- 


Protestants.f 

Among  the  documents  of  this  period 
which  have  come  to  light  is  a  letter  from 
Louvois  to  marshal  Boufflers,  command- 
ing the  army  assembled  in  Beam.  After 
stating  that  the  Spanish  expedition  was 
abandoned,  the  minister  observes  that  his 


ilutions.  Bergerac  was  looked  upon  as 
the  Geneva  of  Lower  Guyenne,  and 
Montauban,  was  unquestionably  the  Pro- 
testant head-quarters  of  the  upper  pro- 
vince: the  general  conversion  of  these 
places  is  represented  as  a  spontaneous 
movement  arising  from  conviction,  and 


in  the  generalities  of  Bordeaux  and  Mon 
tauban.  The  marshal  was  to  confer  with 
the  intendants,  in  order  to  learn  in  what 


majesty  has  thought  proper  to  make  use  resulting  from  argument  and  persuasion; 
of  the  troops  to  diminish  as  much  as  pos-[but  in  the  complacency  of  success,  the 
sible  the  great  number  of  rrligioimuircs  \  author  already  often  cited  admits  that  the 

inhabitants  of  Bergerac  "  may  have  had 
apprehensions  of  ill  treatment  from  the 
so]diers."| 

In  describing  the  theological  victory  at 
Montauban,  the  avowal  is  still  more  im- 
portant, inasmuch  as  it  corroborates  the 
accusing  cry  raised  against  the  persecu- 
tions of  Beam.  "  A  report  was  spread 
in  Montauban  that  the  battalion  of  Bou- 
vincourt,  which  was  in  Beam  (where  it 


*  Rulhiere,  vol,  i  p.  201. 

t  Hornet,  vol  i,  p  303.  Ben  nit,  vol  iv.  Claude, 
Plainles  ties  Protc.-it.ans,  pp.  42,  et  seq  dinners.  Hist,  de 
/.mis  XIV.,  vol.  iv.  "Manifeste  lies  habitans  dei  Ce- 
venues  stir  leur  prisf  d  amies. "  inserted  in  Mrm.  dp 
LamUrttj.  vol.  ii.  p. 527.  In  addition  to  t lie  above  ac- 
counts, which  though  attacked,  are  not  disproved,  the 
author  has  been  favoured  with  a  MS  ,  addressed  by  one 
Salcedo  to  the  secretary  of  state,  which  completely  cor- 
roborates the  published  narrative,  and  manfully  urges 
a  change  of  policy  on  the  ground  of  national  advan- 
tage. Although  not  dated,  allusions  to  the  anticipated 
dispute  on  the  Spanish  succession  indicate  the  time 
w  hen  it  was  written. 


*  The  letter,  dated  31st  July,  1685,  is  given  at  length 
by  Rulhiere,  vol.  i.  p.  295- 
t  Rulhiere,  p  302.  t  Soulier,  p.  C03. 


380 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 


had  favoured  the  conversions  of  those 
of  the  pretended  reformed  religion,)  was 
soon  to  arrive  in  that  town:  every  one 
was  persuaded  that  it  came  with  the  same 
orders  as  were  given  in  Beam,  and  many 
of  the  religionnaires  began  to  manifest  a 
design  of  joining  the  Catholic,  Apostolic, 
and  Roman  Church."  Here  is  a  decided 
admission  of  fear,  in  consequence  of  the 
cruelty  exercised  in  the  neighbouring 
province.  There  was  however  a  delay 
in  the  appearance  of  the  military,  which 
caused  a  change  of  sentiment,  and  the 
Protestants  informed  the  intendant  that 
they  were  ever  willing  to  obey  God  and 
the  king,  according  to  their  conscience. 
The  intendant  then  wrote  to  Boufflers  to 
hasten  the  march  of  his  troops.  The 
readiness  to  be  converted  again  displayed 
itself;  and  the  abjurations  were  so  nume- 
rous, that  the  soldiers  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  quarters  in  which  they  were  but 
just  before  installed,  and  encamp  for  the 
night*  Many  abjured  with  a  view  to 
gain  time  and  facilitate  their  escape;  in- 
deed the  sincerity  of  scarcely  any  of  these 
conversions  could  be  expected;  but  Lou- 
vois  was  enraptured  at  the  illusory  suc- 
cess, and  in  the  beginning  of  September 
wrote  to  inform  his  aged  father,  Le  Tel- 
lier,  that  sixty  thousand  conversions  had 
taken  place  in  the  generality  of  Bordeaux, 
and  twenty  thousand  in  that  of  Montau- 
ban.f  The  duke  de  Noailles  commanded 
in  Languedoc,  and  pursued  his  missionary 
career  in  a  similar  manner.  After  relating 
in  his  report  the  forced  conversion  of 
Nismes,  Uzes,  and  other  towns,  he  adds, 
"I  am  preparing  to  go  through  the 
Cevennes,  and  hope  that  by  the  end  of 
this  month  not  a  Huguenot  will  remain."! 
He  was  afterwards  obliged  to  intercede 
with  the  king  for  a  remission  of  the  taxes 
levied  in  his  province,  all  the  Protestant 
districts  being  ruined  by  supporting  the 
soldiers.§ 

Louis  was  certainly  misled  by  the  ex- 
aggerated and  deceptive  accounts.  Ma- 
dame de  Maintenon  thus  writes  to  her 
confessor:  "  The  king  is  well:  every 
courier  brings  him  great  cause  for  joy; 
that  is  to  say,  news  of  conversions  by 


*  Soulier,  p  C04.     This  occurred  in  August,  1685. 
t  Rulhiere,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

j  Noaillew,  vol.  i.  p.  80.  The  Abbe  Miltot,  compiler 
of  these  memoirs,  admits  the  compulsory  measures 
adopted. 

§  Noailles,  vol.  i.  p  98. 


thousands."*  The  Jesuit  La  Chaise  and 
Louvois  both  assured  the  monarch  that 
his  glorious  achievement  would  be  com- 
pleted without  bloodshed;  and  he  gave  a 
finishing  stroke  to  the  persecution  by  re- 
voking what  remained  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes.  Frittered  away  as  that  statute 
had  been,  it  still  sanctioned  liberty  of 
conscience  and  the  right  of  Protestant 
worship.  The  edict  of  revocation  was 
signed  at  Fontainebleau  on  the  18th  of 
October,  1685.  The  following  judgment 
is  passed  upon  this  measure  by  the  duke 
de  Saint-Simon:  although  young  at  this 
period,  his  opinion  has  weight  from  his 
subsequent  experience,  and,  above  all, 
from  the  facilities  he  enjoyed  for  appre- 
ciating any  causes,  not  generally  known, 
which  might  justify  the  proceeding: — 
"The  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
without  the  least  pretext  or  necessity, 
and  the  various  proscriptions,  rather  than 
proclamations,  which  followed  it,  were 
the  fruits  of  this  dreadful  plot,  which  de- 
populated one-fourth  of  the  kingdom, 
ruined  trade  in  all  its  branches,  placed  it 
so  long  under  the  public  avowed  pillage 
of  the  dragoons,  and  authorized  torments 
and  executions,  in.  which  thousands  of 
innocent  persons  of  both  sexes  perished." 
After  reciting  a  long  list  of  attendant  ills, 
he  adds,  "  Such  was  the  general  abomina- 
tion produced  by  flattery  and  cruelty. "t 
The  Chancellor  Le  Tellier  terminated 
his  career  by  sealing  the  document,  so 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  France,  so  dis- 
graceful for  the  king  and  his  ministers: 
his  soul  had  been  absorbed  in  the  chime- 
rical project  of  legislating  for  the  con- 
science. In  his  view,  the  edict  of  Nantes 
alone  prevented  the  realization  of  that 
grand  desideratum — one  fold  under  one 
shepherd.  And  when  he  had  signed 
the  abolition  of  the  heretics'  charter,  he 
sang  the  Nunc  dimittis  in  token  of  his 
joy.  He  died  ten  days  after,  at  Chaville, 
near  Sevres.  Bossuet  and  Flechier  ex- 
erted their  eloquence  to  describe  him  as  a 
saint  and  model  of  excellence:  his  charac- 
ter is,  however,  given  differently  by  other 
hands  He  is  said  to  have  notoriously 
abused  the  influence  of  his  position  for 
injuring  those  who  had  displeased  him; 
and  the  Count  de  Grammont,  perceiving 


*  Letter  to  the  Abbe  Gobelin,  dated  Chambord,  2Cth 
Sept..  1084. 

t  QEuvres  completes  de  Louis  de  St.  Simon,  vol.  ii. 
p.  43. 


CONVERSIONS  BY  FORCE,  FRAUD,  AND  CRUELTY.  381 


him  quit  the  king's  cabinet,  after  a  private 
audience,  observed,  "I  picture  to  myself 
a  polecat,  who  has  just  killed  some  fowls, 
and  is  licking  his  jaws,  yet  stained  with 
their  blood."* 

Madame  de  Maintenon  thus  writes,  a 
few  days  after  the  edict  of  revocation: 
"  The  king  is  very  well  pleased  at  having 
completed  the  great  work  of  bringing 
the  heretics  back  to  the  church.  Father 
La  Chaise  has  promised  that  it  shall  not 
cost  one  drop  of  blood,  and  M.  de  Lonvois 
says  the  same.  I  am  glad  those  of  Paris 
have  been  brought  to  reason.  Claude 
was  a  seditious  man,  who  confirmed 
them  in  their  errors:  since  they  have  lost 
him  they  are  more  docile.  I  think,  with 
you,  that  all  these  conversions  are  not 
sincere;  but,  at  least,  their  children  will 
be  Catholics. "f 

The  Count  de  Bussy  Rabutin,  alluding 
to  the  same  subject  observes,  "  I  admire 
the  king's  plan  for  ruining  the  Hugue- 
nots: the  wars  carried  on  formerly 
against  them,  and  the  St.  Bartholomew, 
have  multiplied  and  given  vigour  to  this 
sect.  His  majesty  has  gradually  under- 
mined it;  and  the  edict  he  has  just  given, 
supported  by  dragoons  and  Bourdaloue, 
has  been  the  coup  de  grace."\ 

But,  in  spite  of  the  eulogies  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  flattery  of  courtiers,  the  J 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  will  ever 
be  deemed  a  cruel  and  disgraceful  act  of 
authority:  it  contains,  in  its  own  text, 
proofs  of  the  treachery  used  in  preparing 
its  enactments;  as  likewise  of  the  dupli- 
city and  fear,  common  to  all  instigators  of 
tyrannical  measures.  -The  following  are 
its  principal  features. 

The  preamble  declares  that,  as  the 
greater  part  of  the  Protestants  had  em- 
braced the  Catholic  religion,  the  edict  of 
Nantes  was  useless.  The  first  three 
clauses  revoke,  in  consequence,  the  said 
edict,  with  every  royal  declaration  in 
favour  of  the  pretended  reformed  religion, 
and  prohibit  protestant  worship  under 
severe  penalties.  Art.  4  orders  all  minis- 
ters, refusing  to  be  converted,  to  quit  the 
kingdom  within  fifteen  days,  and  to  ab-j 
stain  from   preaching   and  exhortation 


*  Voltaire  and  La  Beaumelle,  conflicting  authorities, 
concur  in  admitting  this  anecdote  as  veracious. 

t  Letter  to  the  Countess  de  St.  Geran,  dated  23th 
Oct.,  1085. 

t  14th  Nov.,  1685.  Lettres  de  Bussy  Rabutin,  vol.  ii. 
p.  47. 


under  pain  of  condemnation  to  the  galleys. 
Art.  7  forbids  schools  for  the  instruction 
of  protestant  children.  The  ninth  article 
invites  the  return  of  fugitives;  and  the 
tenth  forbids  emigration  under  penalty  of 
the  galleys  and  confiscation  of  property. 
The  law  against  relapsed  heretics  is 
maintained  in  the  eleventh  article;  while 
the  twelfth  hypocritically  offers  protec- 
tion to  the  obstinate,  in  the  anticipation 
of  their  future  conversion.  They  might 
continue  their  trade,  and  enjoy  their  pro- 
perty, without  being  troubled  under  pre- 
text of  their  religion,  on  condition  only  of 
abstaining  from  worship.* 

The  faint  semblance  of  toleration  con- 
tained in  the  last  clause  gave  umbrage  to 
the  zealous  supporters  of  the  revocation. 
Several  memoirs  were  addressed  to  Lou- 
vois,  complaining  of  the  encouragement 
given  to  the  obstinate  by  that  provision; 
and,  as  many  conversions  had  taken  place 
entirely  on  account  of  the  king's  declared 
will  that  there  should  be  only  one  religion 
in  France,  it  was  to  be  feared  that  multi- 
tudes would  relapse  t 

Spies  were  employed  to  ascertain 
whether  any  French  subjects  attended 
worship  at  the  chapels  of  the  Danish, 
Swedish,  and  Dutch  ambassadors.  The 
official  papers  of  M.  de  la  Reynie  abound 
with  reports  made  by  the  agents  em- 
ployed.:); 

The  conduct  of  the  government  amply 
proves  that  the  preamble  of  the  edict  of 
revocation  was  known  to  be  false.  A 
complete  extirpation  of  religious  freedom 
could  alone  satisfy  the  king's  advisers; 
and  the  treacherous  character  of  the  con- 
cludingarticle  was  manifested  immediately 
after  the  edict  was  given.  The  demoli- 
tion of  the  temple  at  Charenton  and  the 
disdainful  expulsion  of  M.  Claude  were 
in  harmony  with  its  purposes;  but  no 
sophistry  can  justify  the  conduct  of  the 
Parisian  authorities  towards  the  lay  Hu- 
guenots. The  attorney-general  and  other 
magistrates,  having  summoned  the  Pro- 
testant heads  of  families,  immediately 
after  the  edict  was  published,  informed 
them  that  the  king's  intention  was  abso- 
lutely that  they  should  change  their  reli- 


*  In  the  Recueil  des  Edits,  &.C.,  it  is  thus  entitled  ;— 
"Edit  riu  Rni  du  mois  d'Octobre,  1085.  portant  revoca- 
tion de  eelui  de  Nantes;  et  defenses  de  faire  aucun  ex- 
ercice  public  rie  la  R.  P.  R.  dans  son  loyaume." 

t  Noailles  vol.  i.  p.  92 

j  Vide  Appendix,  No.  IV. 


382 


GENERAL  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


gion:  they  were  no  more  than  their  fel- 
low-subjects, and,  if  they  did  not  consent, 
the  king  would  make  use  of  means  at  his 
command  for  compelling  them.  The 
elders  of  the  consistory,  and  some  Pro- 
testants of  known  firmness,  were  at  the 
same  time  imprisoned  by  lettres  de  cache!. 

These  measures,  however,  failing  to 
produce  the  effect  anticipated,  the  secre- 
tary of  state,  Seignelay,  took  the  business 
in  hand.  He  collected  in  his  hotel  above 
a  hundred  Protestants  of  the  mercantile 
class;  and,  having  closed  the  gates,  pre- 
sented an  act  of  abjuration  for  their  signa- 
ture, declaring  at  the  same  time,  that  none 
should  leave  until  they  had  signed  it. 
This  act  set  forth,  not  only  their  renuncia- 
tion of  heresy,  but  their  return  to  the 
Catholic  church;  and  further,  that  they 
signed  it  freely,  and  without  being  con- 
strained. It  was  in  vain  that  several 
exclaimed  against  the  proceeding,  and 
appealed  to  the  last  clause  of  the  edict  of 
revocation;  they  were  haughtily  told  that 
there  was  nothing  to  dispute  upon,  for 
they  must  obey*  In  short,  all  signed  the 
paper.  This  was  violence;  but  other 
cases  followed  in  which  cruelty  was 
mingled.  Separation  of  families  and  im 
prisonment  were  general;  besides  the 
spoliatory  practice  of  quartering  soldiers, 
and  selling  the  furniture  for  their  supply. 

Claude  received  orders  to  quit  Paris 
within  twenty-four  hours;  one  of  the 
king's  valets  was  charged,  by  special 
ordinance,  to  conduct  him  to  the  frontier.! 
Other  ministers  were  less  harshly  treated: 
they  had  two  days  allowed  them;  and  a 
few  obtained  their  liberty  on  parole. 
But  even  the  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked 
are  cruel.  Those  ministers  who  were 
best  treated  could  not  dispose  of  their 
effects;  and  their  books  were  seized  as 
consistorial  property,  their  enemies 
hoping,  by  that  method,  to  cripple  their 
controversial  powers.  And,  in  their 
banishment,  they  were  not  permitted  to 
have  the  company  of  any  relative;  al- 
though many  among  them  had  blind  and 
aged  parents  entirely  dependent  upon 
them  for  support.  The  rigour  in  en- 
forcing the  law  against  emigration  was 
carried  so  far  as  to  compel  the  abandon- 
ment of  their  children  above  the  age  of 
seven  years.    The  horrible  spirit  of  per- 


*  Limiers,  vol  iv.  pp.  180,  181. 
t  Vide  Appen-iix. 


sedition  was  not,  however,  satisfied  with 
that  extent  of  vengeance  against  the 
preachers  of  the  reformed  religion:  some 
of  the  ministers  who  had  set  out  for  their 
exile,  in  compliance  with  the  edict,  were 
arrested  at  the  frontier,  and  imprisoned 
under  various  pretexts.  In  some  cases 
they  were  called  upon  to  prove  their 
identity:  in  others  to  show  that  no  crimi- 
nal accusation  had  been  preferred  against 
them,  or  that  they  did  not  carry  away 
any  thing  belonging  to  their  late  flocks; 
and,  after  being  thus  litigiously  detained, 
it  was  contended,  in  some  instances,  that, 
the  delay  of  fifteen  days  having  expired, 
they  were  no  longer  at  liberty  to  depart, 
and  must  go  to  the  galleys.* 

The  severities  enforced  for  preventing 
the  departure  of  lay  Protestants  equalled 
those  for  compelling  the  exile  of  the 
preachers,  a  measure  unparalleled  in  his- 
tory, as  all  previous  proscriptions  per- 
mitted self-banishment.  The  precautions 
were  so  multiplied  that  commercial  inter- 
course with  neighbouring  countries  was 
impeded.  Every  stranger  seen  at  a  sea- 
port was  arrested;  guard-boats  were  sta- 
tioned on  the  coast;  half  the  property  of 
the  fugitives  was  awarded  to  those  who 
denounced  them;  and  a  succession  of 
edicts  were  issued,  awarding  fine,  im- 
prisonment, galleys,  and  finally  death,  as 
the  penalty  for  aiding  the  escape  of  Pro- 
testants, f 

The  capital  seemed  likely  to  afford 
some  protection  against  violence  in  mat- 
ters of  conscience,  concealment  being  so 
much  easier  among  a  crowded  popula- 
tion ;  but  the  wily  directors  of  the  per- 
secution had  provided  a  remedy.  An  or- 
dinance issued  a  few  days  before  that  of 
revocation  enjoins  all  Protestants,  arrived 
in  Paris  or  the  suburbs  within  a  year,  to 
retire  to  their  homes  in  the  delay  of  four 
days,  under  a  penalty  of  a  thousand 
livres.f 

The  persecution  was  general.  Even 
the  independent  principality  of  Orange 
was  visited  by  the  dragoons,  and  the  same 
violence  exercised  there  as  in  the  French 
king's  territory.  The  correspondence  of 
Louvois  will  give  an  idea  of  the  feeling 
which   then   pervaded   the  authorities. 

*  Limiers,  vol.  iv.  p.  177.  Claude,  Plaintes  des  Pro- 
testans,  p  59. 

t  The  principal  enactments  on  this  subject  are  dated 
31sl  May,  20th  Aug.,  and  20th  Nov.,  1U85;  26th  April 
and  7th  May,  1686:  and  12th  Oct.,  1687. 

J  Ordinance  dated  15lh  October,  1685. 


GENERAL  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.  383 


Soon  after  the  edict  of  revocation,  he  and  three,  whose  names  are  recorded  by 
wrote  to  the  Duke  de  Noailles,  "  His,  Migault,  suffered  at  St.  Maixent.* 


Majesty  wishes  the  most  severe  rigours 
to  be  inflicted  on  those  who  will  not  fol- 
low fiis  religion ;  they  who  desire  the 
stupid  glory  of  being  the  last  to  convert 
must  be  pressed  to  extremities."* 

Poictou  was  exposed  to  a  third  dragon- 
nade  in  September,  1685,  when  the  in- 
flictions of  the  former  visits  were  sur- 


Never  was  oppression  more  cruel  than 
that  endured  by  the  unfortunate  Hugue- 
nots at  this  period— harassed  and  tor- 
mented if  they  remained  in  the  kingdom, 
yet  punished  as  malefactors  if  they  at- 
tempted to  escape.  And  still  this  horrid 
persecution  has  apologists.  The  pious 
zeal  of  Louis  XIV,  was  eulogized  in  the 


passed.  The  narrative  already  quoted  pulpits;  and  every  publication  in  France 
on  several  occasions  describes  the  de-  was  replete  with  bold  denials  of  the  naked 
vastation  at  Mauze,  where  the  author's  truth,  or  with  miserable  arguments  based 
house  was  plundered,  and  nothing  left ;  upon  unwarrantable  surmises,  for  justify- 
but  the  hare  walls.t  The  inhabitants! ing  what  had  passed.  The  official  in- 
took  shelter  where  it  could  be  had :  a  structions,  issued  by  Louvois,  imbody 
difficult  affair,  as  none  dare  receive  a  fu-'lrequent  recommendations  of  mildness  in 
gitive  into  their  houses.  "  Every  body,"  the  proceedings;  and  the  vindicators  of 
observes  Migault,  "  was  under  the  influ-lthe  measure  refer  to  these  studied  docu- 
ence  of  terror;  a  brother  scarcely  durst  ments,  as  sufficient  to  repel  and  confute 
receive  a  brother.  In  the  course  of  the  complaints  of  the  sufferers.  But  even 
this  month  I  passed  three  days  with  I  the  excess  of  eulogy  has  in  several  in- 
mine;  and  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  the  j  stances  borne  testimony  to  the  truth  of 
continual  alarm  which  tormented  him  [the  broad  charge  of  persecution;  and, 
lest  I  should  be  discovered  in  his  hou^e."J;  without  noticing  the  numerous  writers 
After  wandering  about  the  country,  at  who  emulously  strove  to  exceed  each  other 
one  time  taking  refuge  in  a  cave,  at  others!  in  praising  the  monarch's  sublime  design, 
escaping  as  if  by  miracle  from  the  dra-ithe  following  extract  will  suffice  for  an 
goons,  he  proceeded  to  Rochelle  with  a 'example:  it  is  taken  from  the  work  of  a 
view  to  prepare  for  leaving  France.  As^Barnabite  monk,  who  lived  in  the  suc- 
a  stranger  in  that  town,  his  movements 'ceeding  reign;  and  the  tenacity  with 
were  closely  watched:  he  was  arrested,  which  he  justifies  the  measure  is  an  addi- 
and  the  treatment  he  endured  at  length  tional  proof  that  the  revocation  of  the 
overcame  his  resolution — he  consented  (edict  of  Nantes  was  in  reality  more  of  a 
to  sign  an  act  of  abjuration. §  From  that  'theological  than  of  a  political  nature;  be- 
time  all  his  efforts  were  directed  towards  cause  at  the  time  he  wrote  personal  feel- 
an  eternal  abandonment  of  the  land  which  ing  had  subsided,  the  authors  and  pro- 
had  witnessed  what  he  felt  as  a  disgrace,  moters  of  the  measure  had  ceased  to  exist, 

and  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  Huguenot 
party  had  become  objects  of  general 
compassion.  "The  compulsory  conver- 
sions," he  observes,  "  must  not  be  placed 


of  the  foulest  dye ;  but  so  many  difficulties 
intervened,  that  his  escape  with  his  family 
was  not  effected  until  April,  1683. || 

Although  it  was  declared  a  capital 
crime  to  worship  the  Almighty  according  j  to  his  (the  king's)  account,  any  more  than 
to  the  Protestant  form,  numbers  con- j  to  that  of  the  bishops  and  governors  of 
tinued  to  assemble  in  retired  places,  ready  provinces.    If  their  orders  were  not  al- 


to submitto  death  rather  than  swerve  from 
their  duty.  One  one  occasion,  the  inten- 
dant  of  Poictou,  having  surprised  an  as- 


ways  punctually  executed,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  indicate  even  one  which  was 
dictated  by  a  spirit  of  unjust  and  tyranni- 


sembly  at  worship  in  a  sequestered  field,  ical  intolerance;  for  that  is  the  matter  in 
fiercely  charged  upon  them  with  his  dra- 
goons.   Many  perished  on  the  scaffold, 
for  no  other  cause  than  their  perseverance 
in  following  the  dictates  of  conscience, 


*  Leilcr  daied  5lli  Nov.,  1085.    Rullnere,  vol.  i. 
344.    De  Larrey,  Hist,  dc  Louis  A/F.,  vol.  v.  p.  180 
t  Migault,  p.  77  t  Ibid.,  p.  8) 

§  Feb.,  lb*.    Ibid  ,  p  91,  e!  seq. 
I  Ibid.,  p.  159. 


question;  and  the  dragommdes,  the  mis- 
tionaires  bullet,  against  which  so  much 
has  been  said,  were  not  every  where 
equally  odious.  There  were  innocent 
Calvinists;  but  for  one  such  there  were 
a  hundred  criminals."! 

*  Thomas  Marche,  James Guerin,  and  I'eter  Rousseau, 
t  Mirassou, Hist.  des  '/'roubles  de  Beam,  p.  345. 


384     HORRIBLE  CRUELTIES  EXERCISED  UPON  THE  RELUCTANT. 


After  this  admission  that  odious  pro- 
ceedings had  taken  place  in  some  parts, 
the  Barnabite,  in  a  warm  strain  of  parti- 
sanship, adds  the  following  remark :  "  But 
I  have  said,  and  cannot  too  often  repeat 
it,  the  church  employs  none  but  spiritual 
arms.  The  penalties  it  imposes  are  not 
murderous  in  their  nature;  it  does  not  di- 
rect those  which  are  borrowed  from  the 
temporal  authority,  and  which  should  fall 
only  upon  crimes  hurtful  to  the  state."* 
What  a  hollow  subterfuge  !  It  resembles 
that  of  the  Inquisition,  which,  in  hand- 
ing over  a  victim  to  the  auto-da-fe,  pre- 
tends that  the  church  is  no  party  to  the 
execution. 

In  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
Louis  XIV.  found  the  limits  of  his  power. 
It  was  a  superfluous  measure,  inasmuch 
as  the  persecution  had  preceded  the  en- 
actment. It  failed  of  converting  the  stead- 
fast; and  supplementary  decrees  were 
published  in  rapid  succession,  some  of 
which  contained  provisions  so  monstrous 
as  to  render  execution  impracticable 
Among  others,  an  edict  which  authorized 
the  separation  of  all  children  from  Protes- 
tant parents  :f  the  space  requisite  for  their 
reception,  and  the  expense  attendant  on 
their  maintenance,  rendered  the  edict  a 
dead  letter. 

There  were  some  very  severe  enact- 
ments to  deter  preachers  from  attempting 
to  return  to  France.  The  penalty  of 
death  was  awarded  to  any  minister  who 
should  be  found  in  the  kingdom:  all  per- 
sons receiving  or  assisting  them  to  be 
sent,  the  men  to  the  galleys  for  life,  the 
women  to  be  shaved  and  imprisoned, 
with  confiscation  of  property  in  either 
case.  A  reward  of  five  thousand  five 
hundred  livres  was  promised  to  any  one 
giving  information  by  which  a  minister 
could  be  arrested ;  and  the  penalty  of 
death  for  any  one  discovered  preaching 
or  exercising  other  worship  than  the  Ro- 
man Catholic!  In  executing  this  law, 
Basville  was  dreadfully  severe.  Twenty 
Protestants  were  soon  after  put  to  death 
in  Languedoc;  and  an  active  pursuit  was 
set  on  foot  for  seizing  the  fugitive  minis- 
ters, who  defied  the  haughty  monarch's 


*  Mirasson.  Hist,  des  Troubles  de  Beam.  p.  349. 
t  Registered  in  parliament,  12th  Jan.,  16*1 
I  Declaration  du  Roy,  dated  1st  July,  1686.  Regis- 
tered in  parliament  12th  July. 


edicts,  and  returned  clandestinely  among 
their  flocks.* 

The  readiness  with  which  they  were 
every  where  received,  supported,  and 
warned  of  danger,  added  to  the  ingenuity 
of  their  disguises,  enabled  them  to  baffle 
the  vigilance  of  the  government.  Some- 
times they  passed  as  pilgrims,  or  dealers 
in  images  and  rosaries;  sometimes  as  sol- 
diers. In  all  cases  they  were  joyfully 
hailed  by  their  brethren,  and  crowds  at- 
tended their  preaching  in  caverns  and 
secret  places. f  The  worship  of  the  desert 
became  very  general,  notwithstanding  the 
dangers  to  which  it  was  exposed ;  and, 
when  the  Protestants  were  prevented  by 
the  presence  of  troops  from  acting  as  they 
would,  they  still  refused  to  attend  mass, 
or  to  send  their  children  to  the  Catholic 
schools ;  and  disregarded  every  practice 
commanded  by  the  church  of  Rome.J 

Emigration  continued  in  defiance  of  the 
laws  for  preventing  it,  and  in  spite  of  the 
encouragement  given  to  impede  the  de- 
parture of  fugitives,  whose  clothes  and 
other  effects  were  distributed  among  the 
captors.';  There  were  repeated  instances 
of  converts  returning  to  the  faith  they  had 
consented  to  abjure,  when  pressed  by  vio- 
lence; others  at  the  point  of  death  would 
spurn  the  Romish  sacraments.  These 
symptoms  caused  much  alarm  among  the 
zealots,  who  obtained  an  edict  by  which 
all  those  who  refused  the  sacraments 
during  their  illness  should  after  their 
death  be  drawn  upon  hurdles;  and,  in 
the  event  of  their  recovery,  the  men, 
were  condemned  to  the  galleys  for  life, 
the  women  to  confinement,  with  confisca- 
tion of  property.|| 

In  pursuance  of  this  edict,  the  troops 
received  orders  in  some  provinces  to  as- 
certain whether  the  new  converts  were 
regular  in  their  attendance  at  mass,  and 
if  they  constantly  practised  the  duties  en- 
joined by  the  Romish  church.  The  king 
perceived  that  his  advisers  had  persuaded 
him  virtually  to  establish  an  inquisition; 
and  the  orders  were  revoked,  although 
secretly,  lest  obstinate  Protestants  might 
infer  from  the  circumstance  a  change  in 
his  own  principles.  He  had  been  assured 
that  the  edict  was  merely  a  threat  to  com- 

*  NoaitleSj  vol.  i.  p  ill. 

t  Rulhlere,  vol  i.  p  34e'. 

I  Noatlles,  vol.  i.  p.  112. 

j  Ordonnance  du  2fith  Avril.1686. 

f  Declaration  du  29th  Avril,  10-0. 


ENTHUSIASM  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS  IN  THE  VIVARAIS. 


385 


plete  the  general  conversion :  but  in  many 
towns  the  disgusting  scene  of  its  literal 
execution  took  place.  Priests,  attended 
by  magistrates,  would  beset  a  dying 
man ;  and,  unless  he  yielded  to  their  in- 
vitations, his  remains  were  no  sooner 
cold  than  the  populace  was  regaled  with 
the  barbarous  spectacle  decreed  by  the 
edict. 

The  intendants  were  informed  by  a 
circular  that,  as  the  law  had  not  produced 
all  the  advantages  which  had  been  hoped 
for,  whenever  converted  Huguenots  en- 
deavoured to  make  a  display  of  their 
obstinacy,  the  edict  might  be  rigorously 
executed :  but  when  it  arose  purely  from 
conviction,  and  the  relatives  expressed 
their  disapprobation,  the  circumstance 
should  not  be  noticed ;  and  to  that  end, 
"his  majesty  deems  it  right  that  ecclesi- 
astics should  not  be  so  ready  to  call  in  the 
magistrates  as  witnesses,  so  that  they 
may  not  be  obliged  to  carry  the  declara- 
tion into  effect."* 

However,  some  years  after,  the  Bishop1 
of  Nismes,  addressing  the  secretary  of  i 
state,  observes,  "  I  have  desired  my  cu- 
rates, according  to  his  majesty's  orders, 
to  watch  the  new  converts  who  are  ill : 
they  find   many  who  refuse   to  listen 
to  them,  declaring  they  will  die  in  the  reli 
gion  in  which  they  were  born.  The 
judges  are  called  in,  after  the  priest  has 
done  his  utmost  to  bring  him  back."f 

Marshal  Vauban,  with  the  generosity 
allied  to  true  courage,  presented  a  memo- 
rial to  Louvois,  deploring  the  injury  which 
his  ruinous  measures  inflicted  on  the 
country,  and  demanding  a  retractation  of 
all  that  had  been  done  during  the  pre- 
ceding nine  years.  The  following  expres- 
sion is  remarkable:  "Compulsory  con- 
version has  inspired  a  general  horror  of 
the  conduct  of  the  ecclesiastics.*'! 

At  the  death  of  Louvois  in  1691,  the 
royal  council  was  swayed  by  Beauvilliers, 
Pontchartrain,  and  Pompone,  men  fa- 
vourably disposed  towards  the  Jansenists. 
That  party  at  length  succeeded  in  allay- 
ing the  king's  ardour  for  compelling  all 
his  subjects  to  adopt  his  faith.  Their 
principles  throughout  had  been  uniform; 
and  a  compulsory  participation  in  the 
sacraments  was  ever  regarded  by  them 

*  5th  February,  1687.   Rulhiere,  vol.  i.  pp.  350 — 357. 
t  4lh  June,  1699.    Flechier,  Lcttrcs,  tc,  vol.  i.  p.  J37. 
t  Kulhiere,  vol.  i.  p.  380. 

33 


as  a  profanation.  But  they  were  disliked 
by  Louis,  whose  conscience  was  in  the 
care  of  the  Jesuits ;  and  their  efforts  were 
unavailing,  until  Fenelon  and  d'Agues- 
seau  by  their  arguments  convinced  Ma- 
dame de  Maintenon  of  the  dangers  atten- 
dant upon  the  king's  policy.  Soon  after 
those  eminent  men  had  joined  the  court 
the  persecution  slackened,  and  the  dra- 
gonnades  ceased ;  but  the  laws  against 
emigration  remained. 

These  results  might  have  been  obtained 
much  earlier,  but  for  the  extravagant 
praises  bestowed  upon  Louis,  and  which 
he  had  sanctioned  by  lavish  remunera- 
tion. Numbers  of  his  subjects  were  le- 
gally and  civilly  dead,  with  the  anoma- 
lous tyranny  of  maintaining  a  claim  upon 
their  loyalty  and  obedience.*  Spoliation, 
beyond  all  precedent,  had  spread  poverty 
and  desolation  far  and  wide :  yet  the 
church  had  gained  a  victory,  and  the 
modern  Constantine's  praises  were  pro- 
claimed in  orations  and  poems — by  monu- 
ments and  addresses.  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon  might  well  write,  "  How  can  he 
renounce  an  enterprise,  upon  which  he 
has  permitted  such  praise  to  be  offered 
him  !"t 


CHAPTER  LXIL 

Troubles  in  the  Vivarais— Notice  of  Claude  Brnusson  — 
Severiiies  at  Orange — Remarks  on  the  intendaiit 
Basvill'-,  anil  on  the  emigration  of  t lie  Huguenots. 

The  publication  of  a  mystical  work  ini 
1686,  which  announced  the  speedy  over-j 
throw  of  popery,  and  promised  in  glow- 
ing teims  the  triumph  of  true  religion 
over  error,  gave  rise  to  a  movement  in 
the  Vivarais,  which  for  a  time  threatened 
serious  consequences.  The  book  in 
question  was  composed  by  Jurieu,  a  Pro- 
testant writer  of  some  eminence;  but  his 
treatise  was  severely  censured  by  his  fel- 
low ministers,  and  condemned  by  several 

*  In  lfi89  the  Hey  of  Algiers  made  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  tlusuenots  and  the  Catholics  who  fell  into 
his  power.  When  a  French  ship  was  sent  to  claim 
captives,  he  surrendered  the  latter,  but  refused  to  deli- 
ver the  Protestants,  who,  he  said,  were  no  longer  the 
king's  subjects,  since  he  bad  expelled  them  from  his 
kingdom  —Balance  de  la  Religion  et  de  la  Politique,  p. 
184.    Hague,  1695. 

t  In  a  Memoir  written  in  1690  or  1691,  at  which  pe- 
riod the  restoration  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  regarded 
as  probable.  This  piece  is  given  at  length  by  La  Beau- 
melle,  vol.  vi. 


386 


CHARACTERS  OF  BROUSSON  AND  VIVENS. 


synods  for  its  visionary  tendencies  * 
Most  probably  its  chief  defect  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  exiled  theologians  caused 
its  importance  among  the  Huguenots, 
still  groaning  under  persecution.  How 
could  they  refrain  from  consoling  them- 
jselves  with  the  hope  that  its  predictions 
[would  be  fulfilled?  They  would  na- 
turally cherish  views  so  favourable  to 
their  circumstances;  and  the  vicinity  of 
Geneva  enabled  preachers  and  partisans 
to  raise  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  the 
simple-hearted  mountaineers  by  whom 
the  bordering  districts  were  peopled,  and 
in  whose  opinion  the  compulsory  abjura- 
tions had  produced  no  other  effect  than 
a  more  determined  hatred  of  Romanism. 

At  the  close  of  1688  circumstances 
combined  to  favour  Jurieu's  system  of 
interpretation.  The  dethronement  of 
James  It,  and  the  league  formed  against 
Louis  XIV.,  revived  the  hopes  of  the  Hu- 
guenots so  much,  that  in  a  short  time 
sanguine  expectations  were  elevated  into 
a  general  confiding  enthusiasm,  not  un- 
frequently  producing  extravagance.  Sad 
indeed  was  the  disappointment  of  the 
Protestants  of  Dauphiny:  a  few  months 
sufficed  to  annihilate  their  dreams  of  re- 
stored liberty;  and  the  severity  inflicted 
upon  the  principal  actors  was  an  unequi- 
vocal lesson  for  a  population  noted  for 
tenacity  in  religious  views,  and  obnoxious 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  experienced 
in  forcing  their  conversion.  That  was 
their  chief  crime — a  fault  far  less  pardon- 
able than  joining  in  this  effervescence, 
which  did  not  deserve  the  name  of  an  in- 
surrection. 

Geneva  at  this  period  teemed  with  Pro- 
testant refugees,  and  especially  ministers. 
They  perceived  the  effect  produced  upon 
the  public  by  the  prevalent  notions,  and 
warmly  promoted  the  sentiment,  with 
the  view  of  effecting  a  change  in  the 
situation  of  the  Huguenots.  Much  ta- 
lent, hitherto  latent,  was  now  drawn  out 
into  activity:  every  capacity  was  brought 
into  play;  even  if  the  service  was  merely 
to  convey  communications,  or  to  serve  as 
guides  to  the  proscribed  preachers. 

Du  Serre,  a  glass-maker  of  Dieu-le-Fit, 
promulgated  the  doctrines  in  Dauphiny.t 

*  De  l'Accomplissement  des  Prophelies.  Bee  Bayle, 
Lettre  d  M.  Minu'oli.    6th  Oct.,  J692. 

t  Brueys,  Hist,  de  Fanatisme,  vol.  i.  p.  97.  Utrecht. 
1737,  l3oio.  Flechier,  (Relation  des  Fanatiquts)  calls 
Du  Serre  gentilliomme  cerrier. 


Meetings  were  frequently  held  in  secret, 
consisting  of  few  persons,  but  most  ob- 
noxious in  their  nature,  as  the  constant 
themes  of  discussion  were  the  anti-chris- 
tian  character  of  the  papacy,  appeals  to 
repent  of  abjuration,  and  severe  criticisms 
on  the  mass. 

According  to  the  statements  of  the 
stronger  party,  which  are  deeply  tinged 
with  a  sentiment  of  hatred,*  two  leaders 
were  conspicuous  above  all  others  by  the 
parts  they  assumed:  Gabriel  Astier,  a 
young  man  of  Clien  in  Dauphiny,  and  a 
shepherdess  of  Crest,  named  Isabeau  Vin- 
cent, known,  it  is  stated,  as  the  Fair  Isa- 
beau f  After  preaching  for  some  time  in 
the  streets  and  public  places  of  Grenoble, 
she  was  arrested  with  several  compa- 
nions: she  manifested  great  firmness  in 
her  interrogatories,  professing  contempt 
of  death,  and  declaring  her  conviction  that 
others  would  rise  up  to  supply  her  place, 
and  surpass  her  powers.  Her  resolution 
was  not  put  to  the  test;  for  during  her 
imprisonment  she  yielded  to  persuasion, 
and  embraced  the  Romish  religion.:): 

Asiier,  who  had  chosen  the  Vivarais 
for  the  scene  of  his  exertions,  was  greatly 
encouraged  by  the  success  of  his  preach- 
ing. His  relatives  and  connexions  joined 
in  the  work,  and  spread  his  tenets  through- 
out the  country,  which,  being  difficult 
for  the  passage  of  troops,  was  compara- 
tively secure  for  the  preachers;  while  the 
rustic  simplicity  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
the  recollections  of  the  late  persecution 
combined  to  give  force  to  their  sermons. 
At  the  outset  the  congregations  assembled 
in  barns;  but  their  confidence  augmented 
with  their  numbers;  and  Asiier  was  in 
the  frequent  habit  of  preaching  on  the 
hills  to  meetings  of  several  thousands. § 
They  were  accompanied,  according  to 
the  Bishop  of  Nismes,  "  by  two  pro- 
phetesses, equally  mad, and  of  debauched 
lives."|! 

The  magistrates  and  military  chiefs  of 
the  province  did  not  remain  idle  during 
such  bold  infringements  of  the  king's  de- 
crees, and  a  regiment  was  sent  to  disperse 
the  assemblies.    Some  Huguenots  were 


*  Bishop  Flechier  is  beside  himself  on  this  subject: 
with  him  no  terms  are  too  harsh  or  loo  wross  for  obsti- 
nate heretics.    See  his  Letlres,  Rtcit  Jidcle,  &C. 

t  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  116. 

J  Brueys,  vol.  i.  pp.  124  and  134. 

§  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  145. 

|  Flechier,  Rtcit.  fidele,  &c.  This  opuscle  is  printed 
with  his  Letlres  choisies. 


TROUBLES  IN  THE  VIVARAIS. 


3S7 


killed  by  a  tletachment;  upon  which  their 
companions  attacked  the  troops  so  fu- 
riously with  stones,  that  the  captain  and 
nine  of  his  men  were  slain.  The  assem- 
bly celebrated  their  victory  by  singing  a 
psalm  on  the  ruins  of  a  temple,  and  then 
dispersed;  but  it  was  to  collect  again  in 
other  places.  *  The  attack  tended  only 
to  irritate  the  party  and  increase  their 
numbers. 

The  Count  de  Broglie,  lieutenant-ge- 
neral of  the  forces  in  Languedoc,  and 
Basville,  intendant  of  the  province,  then 
proceeded  to  stay  the  sedition. f  They 
quitted  Montpellier  for  the  Vivarais,  and 
by  great  exertions  a  considerable  force 
was  soon  collected  for  restoring  order.! 
Colonel  Folville  had  sent  for  dragoons, 
militia,  and  other  re-enforcements  from  the 
surrounding  parts:  he  had  learned  by 
experience  the  inutility  of  merely  dis- 
persing them,  as  the  military  force  in 
Dauphiny  was  inadequate  to  prevent  their 
re-assembling.  While  undecided  as  to 
the  point  he  should  select  for  his  first 
operation,  some  loud  shoutings  from  a 
mountain  determined  his  movement.  He 
found  a  numerous  assemblage,  so  full  of 
determination  that,  although  they  had 
ample  time  to  escape,  they  continued  their 
devotions  and  refused  to  listen  to  an  offer 
of  pardon.  Folville,  having  barred  most 
of  the  issues,  then  charged  upon  them. 
Very  few  had  fire-arms,  and  the  soldiers 
were  assailed  with  stones  and  other  mis- 
siles; but  when  they  were  at  close  quar- 
ters the  swords  and  bayonets  proved  irre- 
sistible, and  the  rustics  endeavoured  to 
escape  among  the  precipices  and  woods, 
where  they  could  not  be  followed  without 
danger  and  difficulty.  Between  three  and 
four  hundred  were  killed;  fifty  were 
made  prisoners,  and  the  remainder  were 
scattered  among  the  surrounding  hills  and 
forests. §  Another  meeting  was  surprised 
at  Privas:  they  were  attacked,  observes 
Flechier,  in  the  midst  of  their  prophetic 
declamations;  twelve  were  killed,  and  the 
house  they  met  in  was  burned. || 

Similar  scenes   occurred    at  Besset, 


*  Fuehrer.  Kerit.  JUtle,  &c  .  p  3P7. 

t  In  a  manifest,  subsequently  published  bv  tl>i>  inha- 
bitants of  iIih  (,'evennes,  it  is  statnd  lhat  Broglie  was 
Basville's  brother  in-law.  Dated  15th  of  March,  1703. 
and  preserved  bv  Lamherty.  vol.  ii.  p.  527. 

I  17th  Feb.,  1689.    Bruevs.  vol  i.  p.  171. 
^>  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  183.  FI6chicr,  RMt-  fidile,  &c„  p. 

|  Ricit.  fiddle,  p.  397. 


Poureheres,  and  other  places,  where  a 
refusal  to  disperse  was  followed  by  a 
charge  of  the  military.  Viviers,  Bishop 
of  Lodeve,  followed  the  troops,  in  order 
to  use  his  clerical  authority  and  influence 
for  the  conversion  of  the  mountaineers; 
while  Basville  dispensed  the  severities  of 
the  law  with  the  diligence  for  which  he 
is  celebrated.  He  condemned  the  leaders 
to  capital  punishment,  and  gave  milder 
judgments  against  their  companions,  ex- 
empting those  only  whose  ignorance 
proved  them  incapable  of  any  thing  more 
than  submission  to  the  powerful  influence 
of  their  preachers. 

The  assemblies  soon  after  ceased;  but 
the  authorities  would  not  desist  from  the 
pursuit  of  Gabriel  Astier.  He  had  not 
been  found  among  the  killed  or  captives; 
and  his  portrait  was  extensively  distri- 
buted,  for  assisting  his  arrest.  He  was 
at  length  discovered  in  the  ranks  of  a 
regiment  at  Montpellier,  having  enlisted 
as  the  best  means  of  escaping.  Basville 
condemned  him  to  death,  and  he  was 
hanged  at  Bays  on  the  second  of  April, 
1689.* 

From  this  time  until  the  conclusion  of 
the  peace  of  Ryswick,  nothing  of  impor? 
tance  occurred.  Edicts  and  proclama- 
tions against  emigration  were  repeatedly 
issued,  and  many  preachers  were  victims 
to  their  resolution  in  visiting  the  country 
from  which  they  were  for  ever  banished. 
The  constancy  of  these  martyrs  is  almost 
incredible;  and,  if  an  individual  case  is 
selected  for  example,  it  is  less  on  account 
of  his  superior  firmness  than  from  the 
malignity  which  has  pursued  his  memory, 
and  given  publicity  to  an  unfounded  ac- 
cusation. 

Claude  Brousson  was  originally  an  ad- 
vocate of  Nismes;  he  was  afterwards 
employed  in  the  mixed  chamber  at 
Castres,  and  followed  that  court  when  it 
was  incorporated  with  the  parliament  of 
Toulouse.  He  presided  at  an  assembly 
held  in  that  city  in  1683,  for  consulting 
upon  the  general  interests  of  the  Protest- 
ants under  the  threatening  aspect  of  af- 
fairs; and,  as  the  increasing  difficulties 
deterred  some  from  entering  upon  the 
ministerial  office,  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  ecclesiastical  service  of  the  reformer 
church.  His  sermons,  which  have  beei 
printed,  display  much  pious  zeal  anc 
*  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  195. 


388 


CHARACTERS  OF  BROUSSON  AND  VIVENS. 


scriptural  erudition:*  they  likewise  prove 
uncommon  facility  on  his  part,  as  he  was 
constantly  a  wanderer,  and  preached  by 
stealth  in  caves  and  barns.  He  was  ar- 
rested at  Oloron,  and  executed  at  Mont- 
pellier  on  the  4th  of  November,  1698. 

His  character  is  maliciously  portrayed 
by  Brueys,  who  described  him  as  "  a 
gloomy  splenetic,  with  a  very  ordinary 
genius,  and  inflated  with  pride:  having  a 
slight  knowledge  of  Scripture,  affecting 
moderation,  but  meditating  insurrection."} 
He  had  a  colleague  named  Francois  Vi- 
vens,  who  is  represented  by  the  same 
writer  as  a  "  libertine  and  thief,  with  the 
hardihood  of  a  rascal,  rather  than  real 
courage."  He  is  stated  to  have  ordained 
Brousson  in  1689,  but,  as  much  that 
has  been  advanced  concerning  the  charac- 
ter of  the  latter  has  been  disproved,  this 
may  also  be  unfounded.  At  all  events, 
the  assumption  affords  Brueys  an  oppor- 
tunity for  invective.  "Thus  a  public 
assassin  laid  his  bloody  hands  upon  a  se- 
ditious visionary,  and  declared  him  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel. "J 

Vivens  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
highly  esteemed  as  a  preacher,  or  his 
character  would  most  probably  have  been 
vindicated  from  such  accusations.  In- 
deed, if  the  current  accounts  respecting 
his  end  are  well  founded,  he  was  belter 
qualified  for  conducting  a  partisan  war- 
fare than  to  impart  religious  instruction. 
In  the  spring  of  1692  he  was  surprised 
in  a  cavern,  between  Anduze  and  Alais; 
and  his  desperate  defence  almost  deterred 
his  assailants  from  the  perilous  task  of  his 
capture.  Two  companions  loaded  his 
piece,  while  he  fired  on  the  soldiers, 
several  of  whom  were  slain;  and  he  was 
at  length  killed  by  an  officer  of  militia, 
while  levelling  his  musket  at  the  com- 
mander of  the  detachment.  His  death 
was  immediately  followed  by  the  surren- 
der of  his  comrades,  who  were  hanged  at 
Alais.§ 

Brousson  has  been  accused,  conjointly 
with  Vivens,  of  forming  a  project  for 
raising  an  insurrection;  and  an  intercepted 
letter  addressed  to  Count  Schomberg,  in- 
viting a  foreign  invasion,  has  been  alleged 
and  argued  upon  to  justify  his  condemna- 

*  La  Manne  du  Desert,  or  Sermons  by  Claude  Brous- 
son, 3  vols.  )2mo.   Utrecht,  ]C95. 
f  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  208. 
I  Brupys,  vol.  i.  p.  221. 
$  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  26] 


tion  and  blacken  his  character.  This 
version  has  been  adopted  by  Voltaire," 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  by  all  popish 
writers;  yet  his  judges  must  have  been 
satisfied  that  he  was  not  so  guilty,  or  his 
punishment  would  hardly  have  been  com- 
muted. His  conference  with  Basville 
after  condemnation  was  kept  secret:  he 
was  sentenced  to  be  broken  alive  after 
being  tortured;  but  was  spared  such  suf- 
fering, as  the  rack  was  remitted,  and  he 
was  strangled  before  his  body  was  placed 
upon  the  wheel.  Interment  was  also 
permitted;  and  no  reply  was  made  to  the 
publications  of  his  friends,  who  refuted 
the  charges  brought  against  him  within  a 
month  after  his  execution. f 

The  persecuted  Huguenots  had  vainly 
hoped  that  their  interests  would  have 
been  attended  to  in  the  negotiation  for 
the  treaty  of  Ryswick;  but  they  dis- 
covered, to  their  cost,  that  the  cessation 
of  foreign  disputes  only  served  to  revive 
the  efforts  of  domestic  tyranny.^  It  was 
no  longer  sufficient  to  prevent  assemblies 
for  worship:  violence  was  again  resorted 
to  for  compelling  a  change  of  religion, 
and  the  law  against  relapsed  heretics  was 
severely  enforced.  Even  Orange,  an  in- 
dependent principality  in  the  centre  of 
the  Vaucluse,  was  exposed  to  the  despo- 
tism of  a  monarch  who  had  no  claim  on 
its  allegiance.§  Relying  on  the  privileges 
inferred  from  the  preliminary  negotia- 
tions, the  inhabitants  re-opened  their 
temples,  and  the  ministers  resumed  their 
functions.  By  degrees  the  Protestants 
of  the  neighbouring  district  proceeded 
there,  to  join  in  the  religious  services; 
and  the  vice-legate  of  Avignon,  perceiving 
his  inability  to  prevent  their  attendance, 
withdrew  the  guards  posted  at  the  bridges 
and  passes.||  This  removal  of  restraint 
increased  the  confidence  of  the  country- 
people,  who  then  attended  in  great  num- 
bers. 

However,  when  it  was  ascertained  that 
above  seven  thousand  Protestants  were 
assembled,  the  vice-legate  sent  troops, 

*  Sie'cle  de  Louis  xiv.  ch.  xxxvi. 
t  De  Larrey,  vol.  vii.  p.  75. 

i  There  is  much  curious  and  interesting  information 
on  (his  subject  in  a  work  entitled  Relation  de  tout  cc  qui 
s'est.  foil  dans  lus  affaires  de  la  Religion  rcformee  el  pour 
ses  inrcrets,  depuis  le  commencement  de  la  paix  de  Res" 
wick,  Rotterdam,  1698. 

§  This  territory  had  been  treated  in  a  most  hostile 
manner  at  the  revocation,  which  is  attributed  byPuf- 
fendorf  to  a  hatred  of  the  prince. 

||  August,  1097.  The  treaty  was  concluded  20th  of 
September. 


BRUTALITY  OF  THE  CATHOLICS. 


389 


awarded  confiscation,  the  galleys,  and 
even  death,  as  the  penalty  for  infractions 
of  previous  laws,  so  monstrous  in  their 
character,  that  their  observance  could  not 
be  expected. 

In  1697  the  king  ordered  a  succinct 
return  of  the  state  of  the  country,  in  all 
its  bearings — military,  civil,  ecclesiastical 
and  productive;  and,  in  consequence, 
each  intendant  drew  up  a  memoir,  from 
which  some  details  might  be  fairly  ex- 
pected concerning  the  condition  of  the 
Huguenots,  after  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes.  But  the  duties  and  re- 
sponsibility of  the  intendants  prevented 
them  from  dispassionately  reporting  the 
truth,  and  in  general  the  existence  of 
Protestants  is  but  slightly  alluded  to. 
The  office  of  intendant  was  a  modern 
invention;  one  of  those  measures  by 
which  the  last  traces  of  seignorial  inde- 
pendence were  obliterated,  in  the  esta- 
The  Protestants,  having  no  means  of  de-  j  blishment  of  absolute  monarchy;  and  the 
fence,  were  an  easy  prey;  and  the  female  I  common  people  soon  discovered  that  ad- 
captives  were  stripped  quite  naked.  Somejditional  chains  were  thus  forged  for  their 
of  the  party  escaped  into  the  woods,  and  oppression.  "They  learned,"  observes 
one  unfortunate  man,  being  seized,  was  a  judicious  writer,  "that  these  new 
stripped  and  tied  to  a  tree,  to  die  of  cold  magistrates  were  to  be  the  immediate  in- 
and  starvation.  On  the  third  day  of  his  struments  of  their  misery:  that  their  lives, 
agony,  an  Irishman  passing  by  was  moved !  their  properties,  and  their  families  would 
with  pity,  and  cut  the  cords  which  bound  I  be  at  their  disposal.  Masters  of  their 
him;  but  immediately  four  men  rushed ! children,  by  forced  enrolments;  of  their 
forward,  declaring  that  the  Huguenot  j  property,  by  depriving  them  of  suste- 
should  die  in  that  manner,  and  that  he : nance;  and  of  their  lives,  by  the  prison, 
should  have  similar  treatment  if  he  inter- 1  the  gibbet,  or  the  wheel."* 
fered.  The  brutality  exercised  on  this  |  Lefevre  d'Ormesson, intendant  of  Riom, 
occasion  is  almost  incredible.  Females  gives  a  specimen  of  the  value  of  these 
were  found  with  their  noses  cut  off,  and ! official  accounts.  He  reports  that  the 
their  eyes  put  out;  and  the  bodies  of  the  I  province  had  the  happiness  to  be  scarcely 


under  pretext  that  the  Catholics  were 
exposed  to  insult;  and  informed  the  popu- 
lace that,  if  they  would  fall  upon  the 
Huguenots  and  plunder  them,  the  spoil 
should  he  their  own.  The  unsuspecting 
Protestants  were  in  consequence  assailed, 
robbed,  and  even  stripped,  as  they  were 
returning  home  in  small  parties;  and 
numbers  were  led  as  prisoners  to  Roque- 
maure.  Basville,  being  informed  of  what 
had  occurred,  sent  orders  for  them  to  be 
conducted  to  Montpellier:  they  were  tied 
together  two  by  two,  to  the  number  of 
ninety-seven  men  and  thirty-eight  wo- 
men. 

A  party  of  forty  was  retiring  into  Dau- 
phiny;  and  in  order  to  escape  a  similar 
disaster,  had  avoided  all  the  towns  and 
villages.  They  were  attacked  at  Porte- 
claire,  in  the  district  of  Orange.  A  body 
of  peasants  well-armed  fell  upon  them, 
induced  by  the  promise  of  their  spoils 


slain  were  left  at  the  laystalls.* 

The  readiness  to  resume  Protestantism, 


infected  wiih  heresy,  as  there  were  not 
more  than  ten  Huguenot  families  at  the 


manifested  by  the  concourse  at  Orange,  publication  of  the  edict  of  revocation; 
was  sufficient  to  convince  Louis  that  he  which  he  declares  "the  most  glorious  of 
had  incurred  great  odium  to  little  purpose.  |  the  kind's  acls,  the  most  advantageous  to 
If  persecution  was  slackened,  the  assem-  religion,  most  beneficial  to  the  state." 
blies  were  numerously  attended;  and  on  Yet  he  subsequently  confesses  that  two 
the  other  hand,  if  the  penal  edicts  were j towns  in  his  generality  continue  very 
enforced,  emigration  recommenced.  The  j  much  impoverished  by  the  retreat  of  the 
government  complained  of  the  libels  com-  i  Huguenots.t 


posed  by  the  fugitives  in  England  and 
Holland;  but  no  publication  is  more  inju- 
rious to  the  king's  character  than  the 
collection   of   his    own   edicts,  which 


*  Limiera,  vnl.  v.  pp.  243 — 247  A  (induration  was 
soon  after  published  forbidding  all  persons  from  settlin? 
at  Orange,  aril  awarding  death  as  the  penalty  for  pre 
ceeding  there  to  contract  marriage,  or  perforin  any  re- 
ligious act.   Dated  Versailles,  23d  Nov.,  1B97. 


Basville,  intendant  of  Languedoc,  was 
the  most  eminent  of  these  functionaries. 
His  plan  was  to  strike  terror  into  the 
minds  of  those  whom  he  knew  to  be 
rankling  under  oppression.  Anticipating  a 
period  of  resistance,  he  prepared  measures 


33* 


*  Boulainvilliers.  F.iat  de  In  France,  preface  p.  39. 
t  Boulainvilliers,  Discours  sur  le  Memoirs  de  Riom- 


390 


REVOLTING  CRUELTIES  OF  BASVILLE. 


for  aiding  the  movement  of  troops,  by 
opening  roads  and  constructing  forts. 
The  new  converts  found  themselves  as 
much  the  objects  of  suspicion  as  the 
stanch  Huguenots;*  and  persecution 
drove  many  to  the  desperate  resolution  of 
professing  their  first  faith,  although  it 
exposed  them  to  the  worst  consequences, 
as  relapsed'  heretics.  This  intendant's 
memoir  was  much  better  composed  than 
any  which  were  presented;  and  Louis  is 
said  to  have  perused  it  with  satisfaction. 
Basville  unfolds  the  services  he  has  ren- 
dered the  crown,  but  of  course  conceals 
the  fact,  that  an  insurrection  was  to  be 
apprehended  from  his  excessive  rigour. 
Insensible  to  the  misery  of  which  he  was 
the  author,  and  to  the  death  of  several 
thousand  persons,  sacrificed  to  maintain 
his  sway,  he  speaks  only  of  the  necessity 
of  obedience:  "Can  we,"  observes  the 
writer  before  quoted,  "  avoid  considering 
him  as  one  of  the  most  cruel  instruments 
of  the  public  suffering,  and  as  the  most 
dangerous  seducer  of  our  prince's  piety  ?"t 
In  commenting  upon  the  memoir  of  this 
intendant,  the  same  author  declares: 
"One  hundred  thousand  persons  were 
sacrificed  to  justify  the  conduct  of  M.  de 
Basville;  and  of  that  number,  the  tenth 
part  perished  in  the  flames,  by  the  gibbet, 
or  on  the  wheel. "J 

The  apologists  of  this  persecution  have 
attempted  to  show  that  the  number  of 
victims  has  been  much  exaggerated,  and 
especially  in  the  extent  to  which  emigra- 
tion was  carried.  None  of  the  statements 
published  by  the  refugees  can  be  received 
as  altogether  correct;  but  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  the  deductions  to  be 
made  on  account  of  erroneous  impres- 
sions, and  the  hardy  denial  of  any  injury 
being  sustained  by  France,  through  the 
loss  of  so  many  industrious  subjects.  It 
was  on  that  point  that  the  French  govern- 
ment was  most  exposed  to  positive,  spe- 
cific censure:  hireling  writers  therefore 
directed  their  efforts  to  ward  off  the  ex- 
pected attacks,  and  vindicate  the  policy 
of  their  patron  in  the  eyes  of  posterity. 
There  is  strong  evidence  of  the  extent  of 
emigration  in  the  persons  of  their  de- 
scendants, numerous  at  the  present  day 

*  "  Peu  sont  reellement  catlioliques:  ils  conservent 
presque  tons  leuc  mauvaise  religion  dans  leur  cosnr, 
dans  I'espoir  d'un  cbaneement."  Basville,  Mem.  pour 
scroir  d  j'Hist  do  Lavgucdoc,  p.  79.   Amsterdam,  1734. 

t  Boulainvilliers,  preface,  p  .50. 

+  Ibid.,  Ltiscours  sur  Ic  Memoirs  de  Lavgucdoc. 


in  every  Protestant  state;  and  a  letter 
from  the  states-general  to  the  King  of 
Sweden*  establishes  the  fact  that  their 
numbers  were  so  great  in  Holland,  that 
the  country  could  support  no  more:  his 
Swedish  majesty  was  in  consequence 
entreated  to  locate  them  in  his  German 
provinces. 

Besides  which,  it  may  be  asked,  for 
what  reason  were  so  many  severe  edicts 
issued  against  emigration  during  half  a 
century,  if  the  preference  shown  for  a 
state  of  exile  had  not  menaced  the  pros- 
perity of  France,  while  it  proved  the  un- 
happy condition  of  a  numerous  class  of 
its  inhabitants.  But  the  unprecedented 
severity  of  the  law  did  not  deter  the 
Huguenots  from  making  an  effort  to 
escape.  Every  day  fugitives  passed  the 
frontier  in  defiance  of  the  proclamations, 
and  Bayle  relates,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
that  thirty  persons  from  Caen,  with  their 
children,  had  reached  Rotterdam  in  a 
small  vessel,  with  a  hundred  others  from 
different  provinces  t 

A  contemporary  statement  mentions 
eleven  English  regiments,  composed 
entirely  of  refugees,  besides  others  en- 
rolled among  the  troops  of  the  line. 
There  were  in  London  twenty-two  French 
churches,  supported  by  the  government; 
about  three  thousand  refugees  were  main- 
tained by  public  subscription;  many  re- 
ceived grants  from  the  crown;  and  a  great 
number  lived  by  their  own  industry.! 
Some  of  the  nobility  were  naturalized 
and  obtained  high  rank;  among  others 
Ruvigny,  son  of  the  marquis,  was  made 
earl  of  Galway,  and  Schomberg  received 
the  dignity  of  duke. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

Commencement  of  the  Camisard  War  under  the  Count 
de  Bioglie. 

The  cruelties  exercised  by  Basville 
were,  for  a  long  period,  patiently  endured 

*  -Nostra  quidem  terra  tarn  angustis  circumscri- 
bitur  1 1 m i t ■  tins,  totque  repleta  est  e X  Gallia  religion  is 

causa  profugift,  Ut  plures  a/ere  nequant,  qua- 

propter  si  suh  iirjperio  regjrc  majestalis  vestrai,  proser- 
in!! in  provinciis  ejus  Germanicis,  major  daretur  op- 
portunists, Regjam  ruajestalem  vestram  enixe  roga- 
iiiiis,  veht  lime  genii  afflicts,  vel  parti  eorum,  terras 
ubi  domicihum  staluant  largiri."  The  letter,  dated 
Hague,  6th  Nov.,  1698,  is  given  at  length  by  Laniheity, 
Mini,  pour  servir  d  I' Hist,  du  18me  Siecle,  vol.  i.  p.  35. 

t  Letter  to  M  Janicon,  dated  Hth  Oct.,  1699. 

j  Mtmoireset  Observations  faites  par  un  Voyageur 
en  Anglelerre,  12mo.  La  Haye,  1C98,  p.  362. 


CRUELTIES  OF  THE  AEBE  DU  CHAILA. 


391 


by  the  Huguenots  of  Languedoc.  Their  j  so  much;  and  there  are  many  families 
constancy  in  meeting  for  prayer  and  re-  <  lineally  descended  from  Basville's  vic- 
ligious  exercises  exposed  them  to  frequent  tims,  among  whom   the  profession  of 


attacks,  invariably  followed  by  the  con- 
demnation of  those  who  were  unfortunate- 
ly seized.  Many  were  hanged;  preachers 
were  broken  on  the  wheel,  or  burned 
alive;  and  numbers,  convicted  merely  of 
being  present,  were  sent  to  the  galleys. 
To  detail  these  revolting  spectacles  would 


Protestantism  has  never  ceased. 

Basville  was  actively  seconded  in  his 
rigours  by  the  Abbe  Du  Chaila,  whose 
disposition  had  attracted  the  intendant's 
notice  in  1687.  His  zeal  and  severity, 
with  other  qualities  so  well  caculated  for 
the  suppression  of  heresy,  had  procured 


be  impossible;  but  the  following  instance  I  him  the  office  of  inspector  of  missions  in 
will  suffice  to  establish  the  violence  and  the  Cevennes;  and  in  the  fulfilment  of  the 
extent  of  the  persecution,  some  years  duties  which  thus  devolved  upon  him  no 
after  Louis  had  been  congratulated  on  the  means  were  too  violent  for  his  adoption, 
extinction  of  heresy  in  his  dominions,  and  j  He  would  accompany  the  troops  search- 
at  a  period  when  the  court  affected  tojing  for  assemblies  engaged  in  secret 
deny  the  existence  of  any  Protestants  in  ,  worship;  and  the  prisoners  who  fell  into 
France.  Indeed  whenever  an  edict  was  his  hands  were  treated  with  cruelty  al- 
issued  against  them,  they  were  uniformly  i  most  surpassing  credibility.  Whenever 
termed  new  converts.  his  tortures  failed  of  effecting  abjuration, 

Some  Protestants  had  assembled  at  le  i  or  extorting  some  statement  to  assist  his 
Creux  de  Vaie  in  the  Vivarais,  when  a  I  search  for  other  victims,  he  would  confine 
body  of  soldiers  fired  upon  them,  killing  i  his  captives  in  narrow  cells,  called  ceps, 
many  and  wounding  more;  the  remainder  where  the  impossibility  of  moving  caused 
were  nearly  all  secured.*  Basville  con-  j  terrible  torments.*  His  obduracy  at 
demned  five  of  the  prisoners  to  be  hanged  !  length  brought  down  upon  himself  a 
— four  men  ;md  a  girl:  they  were  each  (severe  retribution;  and  his  death  was  the 


executed  in  a  different  town.  Five  others 
were  sentenced  to  the  galleys,  and  among 
them  were  three  brothers  named  Marlie. 
Their  father  was  one  of  those  who 
suffered  capitally;  another  brother  was 
wounded  by  the  soldiers,  and  died  in 
prison;  their  family  dwelling  was  de- 
stroyed, and  all  their  property  confis- 
cated.! Thus  an  entire  family  was  cut 
off,  for  no  other  cause  than  a  perseverance 
in  their  religious  duties. 

The  mountaineers  of  the  Cevennes  and 
the  Vivarais  had  for  ages  cherished  the 
Scriptural  doctrines  imbodied  in  the 
tenets  of  Protestantism.    This  is  clearly 


signal  for  an  insurrection,  almost  un- 
paralelled  in  history. 

In  July,  1702,  a  guide  named  Massip 
was  arrested  at  Pont-de-Montvert,  as  he 
was  conducting  a  party  of  fugitive  Pro- 
testants to  Geneva.f  Du  Chaila  had 
been  informed  by  his  spies  of  the  projected 
evasion ;  and  placed  the  whole  party  in 
the  ceps,  to  await  judgment.  Great  in- 
terest was  made  to  move  the  inexorable 
abbe  in  favour  of  some  young  ladies,  who 
for  security  were  travelling  in  male  at- 
tire; but  in  vain.  And  as  a  warm  ap- 
peal was  addressed  to  some  assembled 
Huguenots,  that  an  effort  should  be  made 


proved  by  the  conduct  of  the  Vaudois  and  j  for  their  rescue,  the  abbe  declared  that, 
Albigenses,  in  the  twelfth  century;  by  on  his  return  to  Pont-de-Montvert,  he 
the  revival  of  the  sacred  flame  among  ,  would  order  Massip  to  be  executed.  The 
their  descendants,  immediately  after  Lu- '  Huguenots  re-assembled,  nearly  fifty  in 
titer's  preaching  was  made  known;  and  [number;  and,  after  prayer,  proceeded  in 


by  the  firmness  with  which  they  resisted 
the  tyranny  of  Basville  and  his  associates. 
Even  to  the  present  day,  their  descend- 
ants remain  steadfastly  attached  to  the 
faith  for  which  their  forefathers  suffered 


*  l-Uh  Sept.,  IfiOH. 

t  Mercure  Hlstonque,  Nov.,  1098,  quoted  by  Court. 
Hist,  des  Troubles,  des  CevennPs  ou  de  la  Guerre  des 
Camisards,  vol.  i.  p.  n.  This  author  was  an  inhabi- 
tant of  Nismes,  and  drew  much  of  his  information 
from  actors  in  the  scenes  which  he  describes. 


a  body  to  that  village,  armed  chiefly  with 
swords,  old  halberts  and  scythes;  only  a 
few  had  fire-arms.  They  entered  the 
place   at  nightfall :   as  they  chanted  a 


*  Louvreleitil  (Le  Fniinti.ime  Renouveli)  quoted  by 
Court,  vol.  i.  p  33.  (jrtuvreleuil  was  a  priest :  his  work 
was  published  in  1704.  und  a  continuation  in  1706. 

t  Court  assures  us  that  he  conversed  frequently  with 
Massip,  and  had  from  his  lips  full  particulars  of  this 
event,  his  imprisonment,  and  the  ill-treatment  he  re- 
ceived from  L)u  Chaila,  as  well  as  the  circumstances  of 
the  abbe's  death.  Vol.  i.  p.  4a 


392 


CRUELTIES  OF  THE  ABBE  DU  CHAILA. 


psalm  on  their  march,  the  abbe,  who  was 
already  there,  imagined  a  religious  assem- 
bly was  being  held,  and  accordingly  or- 
dered some  soldiers  to  fall  upon  them. 
Almost  immediately  the  house  he  lodged 
in  was  surrounded,  and  numerous  voices 
claimed  the  enlargement  of  his  captives. 
Du  Chaila  gave  orders  to  fire ;  and  one 
of  the  liberators  being  killed,  his  comrades 
forced  open  the  door.  While  some  pro- 
ceeded to  free  the  prisoners,  others  sought 
the  abbe,  who  was  barricaded  in  his 
chamber.  An  invitation  to  surrender  was 
answered  by  a  discharge  of  fire-arms,  and 
the  enraged  assailants  at  once  decided  on 
setting  fire  to  the  house.  The  progress 
of  the  flames  compelled  the  abbe  to  re- 
treat. Aided  by  a  servant,  he  descended 
to  the  garden,  by  tying  his  sheets  toge- 
ther. In  the  attempt,  he  fell  and  broke  his 
leg;  yet  with  his  servant's  assistance,  he 
sought  concealment  among  the  shrubs  and 
bushes,  where  the  light  of  the  conflagra- 
tion caused  his  detection.  The  Hugue- 
nots at  once  reproached  him  with  his 
cruelty,  to  which  he  replied  by  abjectly 
begging  his  life.*  He  was  almost  in- 
stantly pierced  with  nearly  fifty  wounds, 
every  blow  being  accompanied  by  ex- 
pressions to  this  effect:  "  That  is  for  your 
violence  towards  my  father  !"  . "  That  for 
sending  my  brother  to  the  galleys  !"  &c. 
Several  residents  in  the  house  were  killed 
with  him ;  but  a  soldier  and  one  servant 
were  spared,  as  the  liberated  prisoners 
spoke  in  their  favour.!  This  energetic 
proceeding  gave  rise  to  the  war  of  the 
Camisards.\ 

A  deed  of  such  enormity  was  no  sooner 
committed,  than  the  perpetrators  per- 
ceived the  severe  pursuit  which  must  fol- 
low; for  however  the  circumstances  might 
claim  and  find  palliation,  in  the  odious 
cruelty  by  which  it  was  provoked,  that 
consideration  would  have  no  weight  with 
their  enemies,  armed  with  every  descrip- 
tion of  authority,  and  doubly  incensed 
against  them  for  this  demonstration. 
Their  case  became  desperate:  they  de- 
cided on  retreating  into  the  forests,  and 
there  defending  themselves  to  the  utmost ; 


*  Brueya  says  tliat  bis  life  would  have  been  spared, 
had  he  changed  his  religion  and  consented  tn  become 
their  minister— an  absurdity.  Hist,  du  Fanatisnie 
vol.  i.  pp.  2i)U— 301. 

■J-  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  44. 

X  There  are  several  opinions  as  to  the  origin  of  this 
word:  the  most  probable  derivation  is  a  corruption  of 
tamisade,  a  nocturnal  attack. 


and  in  their  excitement,  took  revenge 
upon  several  priests,  and  other  persons 
who  had  been  active  in  the  persecution. 

The  clergy  were  greatly  alarmed,  and 
the  Count  de  Broglie  mustered  the  no- 
bility and  militia,  to  pursue  the  insurgents. 
He  was  for  some  days  uninformed  of  the 
route  they  had  taken  ;  and  under  the  im- 
pression that  they  retired  to  their  respec- 
tive homes,  he  dismissed  his  forces,  and 
retired  to  Montpellier,  leaving  small  de- 
tachments in  the  different  towns,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Poul,  an  officer 
notorious  for  his  severity.  He  soon  dis- 
covered the  retreat  of  the  insurgents;  and 
falling  upon  them  suddenly,  captured 
Esprit  Seguier,  chief  of  the  band,  with 
two  others. 

It  is  related  that  while  Poul  was  con- 
ducting his  prisoners  to  Florae,  he  thus 
addressed  their  chiefs:  "Well!  wretched 
man,  how  dost  thou  expect  to  be  treated?" 
To  which  Seguier  replied  haughtily,  "As 
I  would  have  treated  thee,  hadst  thou 
fallen  into  my  hands."* 

Basville,  with  all  possible  despatch,  sent 
a  chamber  of  Justice  from  Nismes  to  con- 
demn the  prisoners.  Seguier  was  sen- 
tenced to  have  his  hand  cut  off,  and  to  be 
burnt  alive  at  Pont-de-Montvert:  his  com- 
panions were  condemned  to  be  broken 
on  the  wheel;  one  at  Deveze,  the  other 
at  St.  Andre,  those  being  the  principal 
scenes  of  their  violence.  Seguier  died 
with  such  firmness  that  the  spectators 
were  astonished :  his  composure  was  un- 
disturbed by  the  flatnes;  and  he  declared 
to  the  last  that  he  gloried  in  having  given 
the  first  blow  to  the  Abbe  Du  Chaila.f 

A  scene  of  desolation  succeeded  this 
severity :  parties  of  soldiers  scoured  the 
country,  and  the  information  of  a  priest 
was  sufficient  to  have  any  one  arrested — 
his  condemnation  ensued  as  a  matter  of 
course;  and,  to  spread  the  intimidation, 
the  executions  took  place  in  different 
towns.  The  murder  of  the  abbe  and  the 
outrages  which  followed  were  deeds 
meriting  condign  punishment;  and,  if 
none  but  the  actors  in  those  tragic  scenes 
had  been  executed,  no  complaint  could 
have  been  raised  against  the  intendant 

*  Brueys,  yat.  i.  p.  31P.  It  is  also  mentioned  by  the 
anonymous  author  of  Hist,  des  Camisards,  primed 
1744,  vol.  i.  p  132.  This  writer  has  evidently  compiled 
his  account  from  oral  statements.  There  is  a  confusion 
in  the  dates  which  lessens  its  historical  value;  yet,  as 
a  corroborating  testimony,  it  is  worth  consulting. 

t  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  GS. 


WAR  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


393 


Basville :  but  he  assumed  that  it  was  the 
result  of  a  conspiracy,  in  which  all  the 
Protestants  and  new  converts  were  con- 
cerned. An  ordinance  was  subsequently 
published,  rendering  every  township  re- 
sponsible for  all  acts  committed  within  it; 
and  lists  were  made  of  every  Protestant 
absent  from  his  dwelling.*  The  malcon- 
tents were  then  joined  by  many,  who,  in 
despair,  saw  no  safety  in  their  homes; 
and  who,  if  they  failed  to  better  their  con- 
dition, were  convinced  that  nothing  could 
render  it  worse. 

One  project  of  the  insurgents  was  to 
leave  the  country  in  a  body;  another,  for 
each  to  find  a  retreat  separately  as  he 
best  could.  In  their  dilemma  they  were 
harangued  by  one  of  their  number,  named 
Laporte.t  He  had  some  military  expe- 
rience; and,  by  his  appeal,  induced  them 
to  proceed  in  their  dangerous  undertaking, 
to  deliver  the  captives,  punish  their  perse- 
cutors, and  claim  the  right  of  worship  by 
force  of  arms.  "  They  might  and  proba- 
bly would  perish,"  said  Laporte,  "  but  it 
was  more  glorious  to  fall  in  arms,  than  to 
die  tamely,  under  the  hands  of  the  exe- 
cutioner." He  was  forthwith  elected  their 
chief;  and  proceeded  to  instruct  his  com- 
panions in  military  tactics. |  His  efforts 
were  encouraged  by  the  success  of  Cas- 
tanet, and  Roland,  or  Rolland,$  who  at  the 
same  time  formed  each  a  corps,  composed 
of  Protestants  who  felt  themselves  ob- 
noxious to  the  authorities  on  account  of 
their  religious  sentiments.  These  bodies 
were  soon  augmented  by  recruits  when 
their  early  successes  were  known,  and 
their  means  of  arming  were  increased. 

"It  was  thought,"  observes  Brueys, 
"that  the  terrible  execution,  just  made  of 
the  most  atrocious,  would  have  deterred 
others  from  imitating  them:  but  one  had 
to  deal  with  madmen,  on  whom  example 
produced  no  effect ;  whom  neither  the 
gibbet,  the  wheel,  nor  the  stake  could 
render  reasonable.    It  was  evident,  by 


*  Ordinanre  dated  10'h  Oct.,  ITOJ.  Court,  vol.  i.  p. 
104.    Brueys,  vol.  i.  p  :i?l 

t  Brueys  says  he  was  un  famous  scilcrat.  a  preacher, 
and  a  disciple  of  Vivens  :  lie  confounds  him  with  a  mi- 
nister of  the  same  name,  executed  at  Montpellier  in 
1690. 

I  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  72. 

jj  Andre  Castanet  was  originally  a  forest-keeper; 
though  uneducated,  he  hecame  a  preacher  of  note  in 
the  mountains.  Holland  was  Laporte's  nephew;  he 
had  served  in  the  army,  and  was  also  an  energetic 
preacher. 


I  the  result,  that  the  evil  was  irritated  in- 
stead of  being  cured."* 

The  operations  of  the  three  insurgent 
leaders  were,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  con- 
cert;  but  each  command  was  distinct. 
Their  most  pressing  necessity  was  for 
arms.  It  was  useless  to  seek  them  among 
the  Protestants,  as  every  weapon  in  their 
possession  had  long  been  seized.  The 
priests  were,  in  general,  the  depositories 
of  such  confiscations;  and,  as  force  alone 
could  remove  them  from  such  keeping,  the 
Camisards  combined  their  operations  of 
vengeance  with  the  effort  to  obtain  the 
means  of  effecting  it. 

Laporte  soon  became  celebrated  in  the 
province,  and  Poul  was  earnestly  bent 
upon  his  capture.  Stratagem  and  cor- 
ruption were  both  tried,  but  in  vain.  At 
length  it  was  known  where  the  rebel  chief 
was  to  sleep:  Poul  took  his  measures  for 
preventing  escape;  and,  on  the  alarm 
being  given,  the  Camisards  prepared  for 
defence.  A  heavy  shower  rendered  their 
muskets  almost  useless  ;  only  three  pieces 
were  discharged  at  the  first  volley,  but 
each  despatched  an  enemy.  The  soldiers 
then  rushed  upon  the  insurgents,  who 
were  retreating  among  the  rocks,  when 
their  leader  was  struck  by  a  musket-ball. 
The  Camisards  lost  nine  of  their  number, 
whose  heads  were  cut  off,  and  exposed  in 
the  towns,  along  with  those  of  the  soldiers 
who  fell,  and  who  thus  contributed  to 
swell  their  commander's  triumph.t 

Meanwhile  a  new  company  was  formed 
by  a  youth,  who  became  subsequently  the 
chief  of  the  insurrection,  Jean  Cavalier,  a 
native  of  Ribaute,  near  Anduze,  at  that 
time  only  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
had  for  some  time  assisted  a  shepherd, 
and  afterwards  a  baker  of  Anduze,  from 
which  place  he  withdrew  to  Geneva  to 
escape  persecution.  He  was  there  when 
he  heard  of  the  movements  in  the  Ce- 
vennes;  and  felt  a  conviction  that  he  was 
called  by  Heaven  to  assist  his  brethren. 
Being  at  an  assembly  in  his  native  village, 
he  proposed  to  the  young  men  to  take 
arms,  and  either  join  their  friends  in  the 
Cevennes,  or  create  a  diversion  in  their 
favour.  He  represented,  with  energy, 
that  it  was  disgraceful  to  remain  quiet, 
and  allow  their  brethren  to  be  massacred, 


*  Brueys,  vol.  i.  p.  32e. 

t  19th  Oct.,  1702.  Court,  vol. 


p.  112. 


394 


WAR  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


without  an  effort  on  their  behalf;  that 
they  ought  equally  to  aim  at  the  liberation 
of  their  captive  kinsmen  ;  and  that,  as  re- 
ligion should  be  more  precious  in  their  es- 
timation than  existence,  they  were  bound 
to  risk  their  lives  in  order  to  obtain  liberty 
of  worship.    The  discourse  found  an  echo 
in  the  bosoms  of  the  hearers,  and  they 
met  the  following  day,  eighteen  in  num- 
ber.   But  their  means  corresponded  little 
with  their  resolution:  among  the  whole 
party  there  were  no  other  arms  than  one 
musket  and  two  old  swords;  while  none 
but  Cavalier  had  the  least  notion  of  mili- 
tary exercise,  and  his  instruction  was 
limited  to  seeing  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
town  guards  at  Geneva.    Their  enthu- 
siasm was  not,  however,  damped  by  their 
scanty  resources  :  they  were  well  versed 
in  the  Scriptures;  and,  descanting  upon 
the  examples  of  Moses  and  Gideon,  they 
proceeded  to  the  residence  of  the  prior  of 
St.  Martin,  where  they  were  certain  of 
finding  a  supply.    Their  route  lay  through 
Anduze,  where  they  beheld  the  heads  of 
Laporte  and  his  companions  fixed  upon 
the  bridge:  instead  of  terrifying  them,  it 
redoubled  their  desire  to  enter  upon  their 
campaign.     Cavalier's  expectation  was 
justified  on  reaching  Ihe  prior's  house: 
that  ecclesiastic  was  well  known  for  the 
mildness  of  his  character;  and,  confiding 
in  his  own  reputation,  he  had  remained  at 
home  when  all  other  priests  were  terror- 
struck,  and  fled  to  the  towns  on  account 
of  the  revolt.    He  received  the  troops 
with  serenity  ;  and,  on  learning  that  they 
required  arms,  he  allowed  them  to  carry 
away  the  recent  spoils  of  neighbouring 
Protestants,  sufficient  to  equip  twenty 
men.* 

This  commencement  was  a  good  omen: 
but  Cavalier  took  other  measures  for  ad- 
vancing his  cause.  He  held  religious  as- 
semblies, and  preached  with  fluency  and 
force.  The  Protestants  with  joy  beheld 
his  rising  importance :  some  compared 
him  to  Gideon  and  Maccaba;us,  others  to 
Zisca  and  Ragotzi.t  There  was  nothing 
in  his  person  to  impress  beholders.  On 
the  contrary,  he  is  represented  as  small 
in  stature;  the  head  large,  and  sunk  upon 
the  shouldiers;  with  a  broad  red  face  and 
light  hair.    His  countenance  did  not  be- 

*  Court,  vol.  i.  pp.  107—115. 
t  Menard,  vol.  vi.  p.  381. 


speak  intelligence;  but  his  career  proves 
that  he  was  well  endowed. 

The  Count  de  Broglie  being  informed 
of  his  holding  a  meeting  at  Aigues  Vives, 
immediately  proceeded  there.*  Having 
summoned  the  entire  community,  without 
troubling  himself  with  investigation,  he 
selected  sixteen  persons  as  objects  of  the 
legal  vindict.  Four  of  them  were  hanged 
at  the  church  door,  and  twelve  were  sent 
to  the  galleys :  the  town  was  further  as- 
sessed with  a  fine  of  a  thousand  livres  to 
defray  the  expenses.  This  act  of  flagrant 
injustice  was  generally  condemned,  and 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  Broglie's  recall. f 
Cavalier's  troop  continued  to  increase: 
every  day  added  to  his  supply  of  arms; 
and,  as  he  was  soon  joined  by  several 
other  companies,  it  was  considered  neces- 
sary to  invest  him  regularly  with  autho- 
rity as  commander-in-chief.  He  repre- 
sented that  several  among  them  were 
more  competent;  but  the  general  voice  was 
in  his  favour,  and  he  accepted  the  com- 
mand, on  condition  that  he  should  have 
power  of  life  and  death  over  the  troop 
without  calling  a  council  of  war.  The 
insurgents  consented ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  Cavalier  ever  abused  that 
prerogative.} 

From  the  time  their  force  was  or- 
ganized, they  regularly  performed  divine 
worship,  administered  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  celebrated  marriages  and  baptisms  in 
every  town.  Their  numbers  included 
some  who  had  great  talent  for  preaching ; 
and  the  romantic,  hazardous  life  they  led 
contributed  so  much  to  promote  their 
enthusiasm,  that  several  believed  them- 
selves inspired.  Their  motive  for  taking 
arms  was  to  enjoy  the  right  of  worship ; 
and  in  the  woods  and  caverns  they  were 
constantly  engaged  in  devotional  exer- 
cises, especially  on  Sundays,  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  country  labourers,  who 
flocked  to  hear  them  ;  and  it  was  their 
invariable  custom  before  they  marched  to 
pray  for  divine  guidance,  and  on  halting 
to  offer  public  thanksgiving.^  Need  we 
then  wonder  at  the  energy  they  mani- 
fested, their  contempt  of  death,  and  the 
admirable  order  which  prevailed  among 
them?     They  were  supported   by  the 

*  15th  Nov.,  1702. 
f  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  121. 
J  Court,  vol  i.  p.  H5. 
§  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  179. 


CAVALIER  BECOMES  CHIEF  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.  395 


courage  which 
alone  impart. 


religious  conviction  can 


them  provisions,  the  Camisards  formed 
stores  in  caverns,  which  they  replenished 


It  is  not  precisely  known  what  was  the  |  at  the  expense  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  and 


largest  force  the  Camisards  mustered; 
they  were  never  all  collected,  and  pru- 
dence compelled  them  to  conceal  their 
numbers.    The  general  sympathy  in  their 
favour  brought  them  recruits,  even  while 
they  were  engaged.    This  occurred  at  the 
battle  of  Martignargues,  when  several 
villages  sounded  the  tocsin  during  the 
combat,  so  that  Cavalier's   force  was 
greatly  augmented   by  the  peasantry.* 
At  one  period  this  chieftain  was  accom- 
panied by  two  thousand  men  :  but  there 
were  strong  detachments  in  various  parts 
of  the  Cevennes;  and  their  plan  of  operat- 
ing in  small  bodies,  over  a  wide  extent  of 
country,  prevented  the  concentration  of 
the  royal  troops.    Yet  they  must  have 
been  numerous;  for,  with  few  exceptions, 
all  the  rustic  population  was  with  them ; 
and   these   hardy,    uneducated  moun- 
taineers, inured  to  peril  and  constantly 
exposed  to  an  ignominious  death,  were 
kept  in  habits  of  good  order  and  fellow 
ship.    There  were  no  quarrels  nor  slan 
derings  among  them;  oaths  and  obscenity 
were  unknown  ;  their  goods  and  provi- 
sions were  in  common ;  and  they  ad 
lressed  their  chief  as  brother.    In  the  ac 
counts  given  by  their  enemies,  it  is  insi- 
nuated that  great  debauchery  was  prac 
tised  among  them,  and  the  presence  of 
women  found  among  their  slain  has  been 
adduced  as  a  proof.    But  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Cevennes  well  knew  why 
women  and  girls  were  sometimes  seized 
in  their  company,  and  not  unfrequently 
killed  by  their  side.     They  were  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  Camisards  who 
carried  them  provisions,  or  were  bearers 
of  communications  from  friends  in  the 
town;  and  as  the  military  looked  keenly 
after  all  persons  connected  with  the  insur- 
gents, their  female   relations  often  re- 
mained among  them  for  safety. 

For  their  sustenance  they  received  con- 
tributions from  the  Protestants,  who  joy- 
fully aided  in  supporting  their  brethren  ;t 
and  when  an  ordinance  decreed  the  pu- 
nishment of  death  against  any  who  gave 


§  Mem.  du  ducde  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p.  152.  l2mo.,  La 
Haye.  1758. 

t  The  country  abounds  with  chestnut-trees,  present- 
;ng  a  supply  of  food  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  their 


from  the  houses  of  gentlemen  who  had 
promoted  the  persecution.  The  want  of 
shoes  was  their  greatest  inconvenience, 
as  the  rugged  paths  they  traversed  quickly 
used  their  stock ;  but  that  deficiency  was 
partly  supplied  by  taking  those  worn  by 
the  soldiers  they  killed,  partly  by  pur- 
chases in  the  towns. 

They  found  it  almost  impossible  to  ob- 
tain ammunition  in  sufficient  quantities, 
on  account  of  the  severe  orders  given  by 
the  intendant :  they  accordingly  perse- 
vered in  making  it  for  their  own  use. 
The  leads  of  churches  supplied  them  with 
bullets,  and  the  pewter  utensils  of  an  abbe 
were  often  melted  for  that  purpose:  it  was 
found  that  soldiers  wounded  by  pewter 
balls  rarely  recovered ;  and  a  malignant 
rumour  was  circulated,  that  their  bullets 
had  been  steeped  in  poison.*  The  Cami- 
sards also  endeavoured  to  cast  cannon; 
for  they  are  accused  of  stealing  eighteen 
church  bells,  to  be  converted  into  culve- 
rines,  in  which  they  were  assisted  by  an 
agent  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy. f 

It  sometimes  happened  that  emissaries 
joined  them,  or  the  temptation  of  a  large 
bribe  would  induce  a  weak  brother  to  de- 
nounce their  movements.  These  dangers 
were  however  warded  off  by  means 
which,  though  they  may  appear  visionary, 
were  quite  consistent  with  the  character 
and  objects  of  the  Camisards.  The  lea- 
ders declared  themselves  informed  by  in- 
xbirafion  of  the  presence  of  traitor^.  On 
one  occasion,  Claris  (whose  functions  re- 
sembled the  commissariat  department)  an- 
nounced to  the  assembly  that  the  treason 
of  two  men  had  been  revealed  to  him. 
Cavalier  instantly  ordered  those  under 
arms  to  surround  the  meeting,  and  Claris 
seized  by  the  arm  one  whom  he  charged 
with  a  design  to  betray  them  :  his  con- 
federate then  rushed  forward,  threw  him- 
self at  Cavalier's  feet,  confessed  his  crime, 
and  implored  mercy.  The  names  of  the 
traitors  are  preserved  by  a  highly  esteemed 
writer,  who  was  satisfied  that  the  incident 
did  so  occur,  and  has  related  a  most  ex- 
travagant scene  which  followed.:):  There 
existed  at  the  time  a  strong  impression  of 


*  Court,  vol.  i.  p  ie5. 
+  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p.  145. 
j  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  438. 


396 


SUCCESSION  OF 


THE  CAMISARDS. 


miraculous  interposition,  which  is  re- 
corded with  gravity  by  one  party,  and 
ridiculed  by  the  other ;  but  the  force  of 
conscience  in  the  traitors,  on  being  chal- 
lenged, and  strong  discernment  in  Claris, 
are  quite  sufficient  to  explain  the  detec- 
tion. 

A  brief  notice  of  the  leading  Camisards 
may  assist  the  reader :  in  addition  to  those 
already  mentioned,  were  Abdias  Morel, 
surnamed  Catinat,  who  had  served  under 
the  marshal  of  that  name:  he  commanded 
the  cavalry,  and  was  the  most  feared  of 
all  the  insurgents :  Nicholas  Joany,  who 
also  had  served  in  the  army,  and  fre- 
quently distinguished  himself  in  this  war; 
and  Ravanel.  who  yielded  to  none  of  his 
party  in  courage  and  energy :  the  latter 
was  Cavalier's  lieutenant.  Solomon  Cou- 
derc,  one  of  those  who  contributed  to  the 
death  of  the  Abbe  Du  Chaila :  he  was  not 
only  formidable  as  a  chieftain,  but  had 
great  influence  as  a  preacher :  he  was  be- 
lieved to  have  the  gift  of  inspiration,  and 
is  frequently  termed  the  prophet  Salomon, 
by  contemporaries.  He  had  a  relative  of 
the  same  name,  who  was  designated  La 
Fleur,  one  of  the  abbe's  prisoners  at  the 
time  of  his  murder.  Esperandieu  was 
another  Camisard  of  eminence  :  he  was 
killed  in  one  of  their  earliest  victories. 
Cavalier  and  Joany  alone  survived  the 
wars ;  Rolland  and  Esperandieu  died  in 
arms :  the  other  chiefs  all  perished  at  the 
stake  or  on  the  wheel. 

These  details  were  requisite  to  explain 
how  a  small  force,  without  a  single  officer 
or  person  of  distinction,  could  have  re- 
sisted a  strong  body  of  troops  for  the  space 
of  eighteen  months,  under  one  marshal ; 
while  his  successor  in  the  command,  of 
the  same  rank,  could  appease  the  revolt 
only  by  a  formal  treaty  with  Cavalier. 
The  military  movements  during  this  in- 
surrection were  carried  on  by  small  bodies 
of  men,  as  the  designs  of  the  Camisards 
were  to  occupy  their  enemies  in  every  di- 
rection: the  encounters  were  consequently 
very  numerous;  and  what  in  ordinary 
warfare  would  be  scarcely  worth  men- 
tion, or  at  most  be  alluded  to  as  a  mere 
skirmish,  in  this  struggle  acquired  the 
importance  of  a  battle.  Thirty-four  such 
engagements  are  described  by  historians; 
ancl  in  a  very  great  proportion  the  Cami- 
sards had  the  advantage.  The  more  im- 
portant can  alone  be  mentioned  here  ;  but 


they  will  fully  exhibit  the  determined  cou- 
rage of  the  mountaineers. 

The  Count  de  Broglie,  who  had  impa- 
tiently sought  an  opportunity  to  attack 
the  insurgents,  overtook  them  at  Val- 
de-Bane,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1703. 
There  were  not  above  two  hundred 
Camisards  assembled,  and  Cavalier  being 
absent,  the  command  had  devolved  upon 
Ravanel.  The  approach  of  the  troops 
did  not  move  the  resolute  band,  who 
continued  singing  a  psalm,*  with  one 
knee  on  the  ground,  until  they  had  re- 
ceived the  first  volley ;  when  they  replied 
with  such  effect,  that  their  enemies  re- 
treated. Poul,  the  officer  already  men- 
tioned, was  thrown  from  his  saddle, 
struck  by  a  stone  which  a  lad  aimed  at 
his  head.  The  stripling  killed  Poul  with 
his  own  sword,  and  mounted  his  horse 
to  join  in  pursuing  the  routed  troops. 
Broglie  found  it  impossible  to  rally  his 
men,  and  withdrew  to  Bernis.f  The  de- 
feat caused  great  consternation  in  Nismes. 
of  which  Cavalier  availed  himself:  he  had 
entered  the  city  in  disguise,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  powder;  and  the  pretext 
of  preparing  for  the  defence  of  the  town 
was  advanced  by  his  friends,  who  under 
other  circumstances  would  not  have  dared 
to  apply  for  the  prohibited  article.}; 

Basville's  administration  of  Languedoc 
unfolds  a  scene  of  cruelty  and.  severity 
scarcely  equalled,  certainly  never  sur- 
passed in  any  country.  The  revolt  of 
the  Camisards  was  sufficient  to  inspire 
terror;  but  the  chief  ground  of  the  alarm 
was  the  consciousness  of  incessant  and 
unprovoked  persecution.  However,  the 
instruments  of  the  king's  bigotry,  un- 
willing to  confess  its  injustice,  represented 
the  evil  as  the  natural  consequence  of 
heresy,  the  source  of  every  bad  passion. 
Even  the  Bishop  of  Nismes  is  open  to 
much  censure  on  this  head ;  though  his 
character  is  held  up,  with  that  of  Fenelon, 
as  a  sufficient  reply  to  all  detractors  of 


*  The  sixty-eighth,  thus  versified:  — 

Que  Dieu  se  montre  seiileunt. 
El  I'bn  verra  dans  le  moment 

Abandonner  la  place; 
Le  camp  des  ennemis  epars, 
Epouvante  de  touies  parts, 
Fuira  devant  sa  lace,  &c. 
t  Court,  vol,  i.  p.2n5.    Brueys  stales  that  Poul  was 
killed  hy  a  musket-ball,  vol.  ii.  p.  205.    The  author  of 
"  Hist,  des  Camisards,"  says  he  received  a  pistol-shot, 
and  that  his  head  was  cleft  by  a  sabre  as  he  endea- 
voured to  rise,  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 

J  Memoirs  of  Cavalier,  London,  1726,  quoted  by 
Court,  ut  supra. 


SUCCESSS  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


397 


the  Romish  clergy.  In  his  letters  no  ex- 
pressions are  too  harsh  to  be  applied  to 
the  insurgents,  on  whom  he  lavishes  the 
terms  wretch  and  fanatic,  and  to  whom 
he  imputes  the  commission  of  every  crime. 
In  the  same  feeling  he  complains  of  the 
lukewarmness  of  the  authorities;  and  ex- 
presses his  astonishment  that  so  many 
enormities  have  been  committed  ivilhout 
reprisals  being  adopted.* 

It  was  hoped,  and  indeed  expected,  that 
winter  would  put  an  end  to  the  excur- 
sions of  the  Camisards:  and  when  Basville 
discovered  that  the  seventy  of  the  season 
gave  him  no  relief,  he  summoned  the 
principal  officers  of  Languedoc,  to  consi- 
der the  most  efficacious  means  for  termi- 
nating the  insurrection.  Among  other 
measures,  it  was  proposed  to  kill  all  the 
Protestants  of  the  province,  and  burn 
every  town  suspected  of  favouring  the  re- 
volt. Awful  as  it  was,  that  project  was 
supported  in  the  council,  on  the  ground, 
"That  it  was  doing  nothing  to  kill  the 
Camisards  found  in  arms;  because  the 
country  being  infected,  supplied  others, 
and  in  greater  number."t  Happily,  Bas- 
ville reflected  upon  the  injury  his  reputa- 
tion would  sustain,  from  the  ruin  which 
must  fallow  such  a  measure  :  he  adopted 
a  comparatively  lenient  plan  —  that  of  pur- 
suing the  insurgents  without  relaxation. 

The  Camisards,  being  hunted  like  wild 
beasts,  embraced  every  opportunity  of 
revenge.  A  garrison  placed  in  the  castle 
of  St.  Felix  soon  experienced  their  fury. 
Rolland  commenced  his  attack,  by  setting 
fire  to  some  barns  dependent  on  the  cas- 
tle, sending  information  to  the  governor, 
who  sallied  forth  with  a  body  of  men  to 
seize  the  assailants.  Rolland  meanwhile 
advanced  to  the  castle,  and  promised  to 
spare  the  lives  of  those  who  opened  the 
gates :  two  yielded,  the  others  were  all 
killed,  and  the  castle  was  fired,  after  the  as- 
sailants had  taken  away  forty-five  mus- 
kets, a  barrel  of  powder,  and  some  pro- 
visions. The  governor  perceiving  the 
flames  of  his  castle,  hastened  back,  and 
was  attacked  so  fiercely  by  Rolland's 
men,  that  he  escaped  with  difficulty,  after 
losing  the  greater  part  of  his  detach- 
ment.J    Similar  expeditions  were  entered 


*  Flechier,  Lctlres  choisies,  3d  Jan.  and  1st  Oct  ,  1703; 
9th  Feb..  1704. 

■f  Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  29. 

I  27th  Jan.,  1703.    Court,  vol.  i.  p.  216. 

34 


on  by  Cavalier  and  other  chiefs,  but  they 
were  loudly  condemned  by  the  Protes- 
tants :  a  Swiss  synod  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  Camisards,  severely  reprimanding 
their  violence;  and  this  intervention  is  ad- 
mitted to  have  saved  the  lives  of  several 
priests  who  fell  into  their  power.* 

About  the  same  period,  the  Count  du 
Roure  wrote  to  Cavalier,  demanding  his 
motives  for  taking  arms.  The  Camisard 
replied,  "That  it  was  in  self-defence: 
that  the  cruel  persecution  to  which  they 
had  been  exposed  for  twenty  years,  and 
which  daily  increased,  had  constrained 
him  and  his  friends,  who  preferred  death 
to  the  relinquishment  of  a  religion  they 
considered  good,  or  to  attend  mass  and 
prostrate  themselves  before  images  of 
wood  and  stone,  against  the  light  of  their 
conscience.  They  were  ready  to  lay 
down  their  arms,  and  employ  their  lives 
and  property  for  the  king's  service, 
whenever  they  had  obtained  liberty  of 
conscience,  the  liberation  of  their  brethren 
imprisoned  for  religion,  and  a  cessation 
of  cruel  and  ignominious  punishments  for 
the  Protestan's."t 

Cavalier  then  made  an  attempt  to  pene- 
trate into  the  Vivarais,  where  he  expected 
to  find  an  addition  to  his  force  among  the 
Protestants  of  that  district;  but  the  pas- 
sages of  the  Ardeche  were  so  well  guarded, 
that  he  renounced  the  project:  his  return 
gave  rise  to  two  encounters  of  some  im- 
portance. A  marshal-de-camp,  named 
Julieil,  commanded  the  troops  stationed 
on  that  quarter:  he  was  a  converted  Pro- 
testant, and  had  been  page  to  the  Prince 
of  Orange:  a  disappointment  induced 
him  to  apply  for  employment  in  the 
French  army,  and  his  desire  to  prove  the 
sincerity  of  his  abjuration  led  to  acts  of 
extreme  barbarity.  He  gave  no  quarter, 
and  obtained  much  approbation  from  the 
bishops  and  clergy.  Although  his  lan- 
guage was  outrageously  blasphemous,  his 
higotry  carried  him  into  a  senseless  ex- 
treme, in  the  punctual  observance  of  Ro- 
mish discipline;:]:  and  another  converted 
Protestant,  who  cherished  feelings  equally 
violent,  gives  his  panegyric  in  these 
terms:  "  His  great  services  convinced 
every  body  that  a  better  choice  could  not 
have  been  made."§ 

*  Brueys,  vol.  u  p.  30. 
t  Cavalier,  quoted  by  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  226. 
X  A>galier,  quoted  by  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  198. 
j  Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  26. 


398 


OPPOSED  BY  THE  FLORENTINES. 


One  of  his  regiments  overtook  Cavalier 
at  Vagnas,  a  small  town  not  far  from  the 
Ardeche.  The  Count  du  Roure  and  the 
Baron  de  la  Gorce,  each  with  a  body  of 
militia,  co-operated  in  the  plan  ordered  by 
Julien,  who  hoped  to  surround  the  insur- 
gents, and  make  a  general  capture. 
Notwithstanding  the  extreme  disparity  of 
their  force,  the  Camisards  awaited  the 
attack  with  composure.  They  received 
the  first  volley  without  stirring;  and  then 
fired  with  such  precision,  that  the  assail- 
ants were  completely  routed.  Five  cap- 
tains, including  the  Baron  de  la  Gorce, 
several  subalterns,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  soldiers,  were  slain  on  the 
side  of  the  troops:  on  the  part  of  the 
Camisards,  Esperandieu  alone  was  killed, 
and  a  few  were  wounded.* 

The  Count  du  Roure  sent  immediate 
intelligence  to  Julien,  who  hastened  to 
repair  the  disaster,  marching  all  night, 
although  the  roads  were  a  foot  deep  in 
snow.  His  reinforcement  greatly  in- 
creased the  chances  of  victory:  but  Cava- 
lier awaited  him  with  resolution  at  Barjac. 
Julien,  aware  of  the  invincible  courage 
of  his  opponents,  prepared  an  ambuscade. 
The  action  passed  off  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  on  the  previous  day;  but  when  the 
Camisards  pursued  their  advantage,  they 
found  themselves  exposed  to  the  attack  of 
fresh  troops,  and  were  compelled  to  re- 
treat into  the  woods.  The  amount  of 
their  loss  was  published  by  their  enemies 
as  three  hundred.t  Cavalier,  however, 
states  in  his  own  memoirs,  that  on  re- 
viewing his  forces,  he  found  the  number 
of  missing  between  fifty  and  sixty,  some 
of  whom  were  drowned  in  the  river  Ceze: 
he  considers  his  own  escape  on  this  occa- 
sion as  almost  miraculous.^ 

It  would  be  tedious  to  detail  the  opera- 
tions of  the  chiefs  during  Cavalier's  ab- 
sence. The  unfortunate  town  of  Ge- 
nouillac  was  taken  and  retaken  three  dif- 
ferent times  by  the  contending  parties; 
and  both  parties  experienced  in  turn  the 
effects  of  vengeance.  Julien  finally  gave 
up  the  place  to  plunder  and  massacre. § 

The  unsettled  state  of  the  country 
occasioned  disorders  on  every  side:  but 
some  Catholic  partisans  appear  to  have 
aimed  at  surpassing  the  exploits  of  the 


Camisards;  and  as  their  ravages  were 
frequently  attributed  to  the  Protestants, 
the  latter  were  doubly  injured.  They 
spared  neither  property  nor  person;  killed 
indiscriminately  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren; were  active  in  burning  houses,  and 
most  rapacious  in  pillage.  At  first  these 
bandits  were  called  Florentines,  as  the 
company  was  formed  at  St.  Florent: 
others  afterwards  imitated  their  example, 
and  they  received  the  general  appellation 
of  Cadels  de  la  Croix.  They  had  four 
commanders,  the  most  celebrated  of 
whom  was  a  retired  military  officer, 
named  La  Fayole  *  Through  remorse 
from  a  life  of  debauchery,  he  had  with- 
drawn to  a  hermitage,  whence  he  emerged, 
in  the  cause  of  his  religion,  under  the 
name  of  brother  Gabriel:  he  had  a  corps 
of  three  hundred  men,  paid  by  contribu- 
tions levied  upon  the  new  converts  + 
Bishop  Flechier  has  thought  proper  to 
eulogize  this  man  in  one  of  his  epistles: 
"We  must  cheer  Brother  Gabriel — en- 
deavours are  made  to  decry  him  and  his 
troop;  vje  have  well  supported  him.  I 
know  not  what  he  is  destined  to;  but 
should  be  glad  that  he  effected  something 
of  importance. "J. 

Brueys  admits  that  these  bands  were 
contrary  to  the  precepts  of  the  gospel, 
but  apologizes  for  the  injudicious  zeal  of 
the  Catholics,  by  alleging  in  excuse 
"  their  churches  burned,  their  curates 
massacred,  and  their  families  destroyed. "§ 
In  good  policy,  this  writer  should  have 
abstained  I'rom  such  an  extenuation;  be- 
cause the  same  arguments,  with  a  hun- 
dred-fold greater  force,  may  be  urged  on 
the  adverse  side.  The  justification  was 
moreover  misplaced;  because  those  bands 
had  ample  authority  in  the  bull  issued  by 
j  Clement  XL,  who  enjoined  a  crusade 
[against  the  "accursed  and  miserable 
race,"  which  he  assimilated  to  the  an- 
cient Albigenses;  and  granted  absolute 
and  general  pardon  for  every  sin,  to  those 
who  might  be  killed  in  effecting  their 
extermination. II 


*  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  19H.     Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 

t  Brueys,  vuU  ii.  p.  70. 

1  Courl.  vol.  i.  p.  230. 

}  23d  Feb.,  1703.    Court,  vol.  ii.  p.  233 


*  Brueys  calls  hi  in  l.n  Saginte.  and  says  he  took  anus 
because  his  hermitage  hail  bei-n  pillaged;  on  which  oc- 
casion lie  consulted  the  Bishop  of  rVismes,  who  ap- 
proved of  his  resolution,  praised  his  design,  and  recom- 
mended hiin  to  Marshal  Montrevel,  vol.  ii  p.2j3. 

t  Couit,  vol.  i.  p.  347 

1  Flechier!  Let/res,  9  Fev.  1704. 

#  Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  77. 

t  Court,  vol.  i  p.349.  The  hull,  dated  1st  May,  1703, 
was  addressed  lo  the  Bishop!  of  Montpellier,  NislHes; 
Usez,  Vivien,  Mende,  and  Alais.  each  of  whom  pub 
lislied  it,  with  a  mandcmcni,  addressed  to  then  clcigy. 


SEVERE  ORDONNANCES  OF  MARSHAL  MONTREVEL.  399 


The  serious  character  of  the  insurrec- 
tion, after  Broglie's  defeat,  caused  great 
alarm  at  court.  Marshal  Montrevel  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  command,  with  an 
increased  force  for  suppressing  the  revolt. 
Yet  it  is  maintained,  upon  good  authority, 
that  the  marshal's  nomination  was  given 
under  another  pretext,  and  that  the  king 
was  kept  in  complete  ignorance  of  the 
troubles  in  the  south  of  France.  The 
ill-judged  measures  Louis  had  been  per- 
suaded to  adopt  were  in  train  to  falsify 
the  assurances  by  which  he  had  been 
deceived.  Madame  de  Maintenon,  as 
usual  endeavoured  to  spare  him  every 
additional  anxiety;  and  the  whole  council 
joined  in  deceiving  the  monarch,  who 
fondly  imagined  his  sway  was  absolute. 
Yet  the  new  appointment  demanded  the 
allegation  of  some  motive;  and  the  duke 
du  Maine  facilitated  the  views  of  that  in- 
fluential lady  As  governor  of  Langue- 
doc,  he  requested  that  the  forces  should 
be  commanded  by  a  marshal;  and  Louis, 
far  advanced  in  dotage  consented  to  please 
his  illegitimate  son.  Montrevel  was  un- 
questionably tutored  before  he  left  Paris; 
and  the  minister  at  war  wrote  to  Basville, 
"Take  care  not  to  give  this  the  appear- 
ance of  a  serious  war."*  These  instruc- 
tion-! contributed  greatly  to  prolong  the 
resistance  of  the  Camisards. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Continuation  of  the  Camisard  war  under  Marshal 
Montrevel. 

Marshal  Montrkvel  arrived  at 
Nismes  on  the  15th  of  February,  1703. 
Basville,  Julien,  and  another  general, 
named  Paratte,  waited  there  to  confer 
with  him  upon  the  state  of  the  province. 
His  presence  inspired  the  Catholics  with 
great  hopes,  as  the  increased  military 
force  rendered  the  suppression  of  the  re- 
volt a  comparatively  easy  matter.  But 
the  combat  of  Mas  de  Serieres  showed 
that  impending  danger  produced  no  inti- 
midation on    the  Camisards :    on  that 


It  is  not  in  the  Ballarium;  but  its  existence  appears  to- 
be  admitted,  as  M.  Court  has  not  been  attacked  for  ad- 
vancing it,  although  severely  criticised  for  other  state- 
ments. An  anonymous  author  gives  the  mandemont  of 
Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Alais,  dated"  29th  May,  1703,  with 
a  copy  of  the  bull  in  question.  Hist,  ries  Camisards, 
vol.  ii.  p  119 

*  Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  pp.  281—283. 


occasion,  Ravanel  had  the  honour  of 
measuring  his  strength  with  the  marshal. 
He  had  approached  Nismes  with  between 
three  and  four  hundred  men,  less  with 
any  hostile  design,  than  to  procure  sup- 
plies from  his  friends  in  the  city.  He  had 
even  expressed  the  desire  and  hope  of 
passing  a  day  or  two  quietly;  but  some 
straggling  soldiers  having  discovered  his 
presence,  the  marshal  immediately  col- 
lected his  forces,  and  sallied  from  Nismes 
at  the  head  of  a  little  army.*  Ravanel, 
accustomed  to  engage  with  superior 
numbers,  was  undismayed  at  his  approach. 
Although  attacked  on  all  sides,  the  Ca- 
misards fought  with  a  desperation,  which 
their  opponents  could  not  refrain  from 
eulogizing.  Night  alone  terminated  the 
conflict;  for  the  marshal's  force  enabled 
his  soldiers  to  repose  by  turns,  and  Rava- 
nel considered  defeat  as  certain  from  the 
onset;  yet  surrender  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  in  their  determination  to  perish, 
rather  than  be  captured,  they  displayed 
prodigies  of  valour.  After  all,  their  loss 
was  very  trifling;  being  only  twenty-three 
men  and  two  women.  Their  enemies 
however  say  it  was  considerable. t  But 
one  circumstance  connected  with  this 
engagement  proves  the  victory  was  dearly 
bought:  Montrevel  immediately  ordered 
the  bodies  of  the  slain  to  be  stripped  in 
order  that  the  soldiers  might  not  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Camisards. } 

Montrevel  proceeded  upon  his  task,  of 
pacifying  the  province  by  acts  of  extreme 
severity,  ordering  several  towns  inhabited 
by  Protestants  to  be  pillaged  and  burnt; 
among  others,  Marvejols  on  the  Guard, 
for  no  other  cause  than  the  misfortune  of 
some  troops  being  defeated  by  the  Cami- 
sards in  the  neigbourhood:  this  "  guilty 
place,"  as  it  has  been  called,  was  de- 
stroyed and  burnt  by  the  troops  in  conse- 
quence. 5  He  likewise  issued  two  ordon- 
nances:||  the  first  declares  as  accomplices 
all  who  assisted  the  insurgents  directly  or 
indirectly;  enjoins  all  absent  from  their 
houses  to  return  within  eight  days;  and 
forbids  the  presence  of  all  who  are  not 
regular  inhabitants  of  the  province.  Any 


*  20th  Feb.,  1703. 

t  Flechier,  Lettre  du  25  Avril,  1703,  says,  "  about  a 
hundred      Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  87,  "  above  two  hundred 
while  the  troops  lost  only  one  dragoon  and  a  few 
wounded !  ! ! 

X  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  246. 

$  25th  Feb.,  1703.    Brneys,  vol.  ii.  p.  84. 

\  Dated  231  and  24th  Feb.,  1703. 


400  RETALIATORY  STRATAGEM  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


such  being  seized  without  a  passport,  to  Bishop  of  Nismes  likewise  hears  witness 
be  reputed  an  insurgent,  and  executed  as  to  the  terrible  fact,  in  a  pastoral  letter  ad- 
such.  The  second  ordonnance  confirms  dressed  to  his  clergy:  wherein  he  laments 
a  previous  disposition  of  the  intendant,  that  many  of  them  are  present  at  the 
rendering  every  commune  responsible  for  frequent  executions,  and  adds,  "The 
all  violence  committed  within  its  limits,  j church,  so  circumspect  and  so  charitable, 
Like  Basville,  he  was  impressed  with  cannot  approve  of  such  sad  and  indecent 
the  idea  of  a  general  conspiracy  of  the  curiosity."* 

Protestants;  and,  as  a  further  measure,'  A  more  summary  mode  of  punishing 
proposed  to  seize  a  number  of  new  con-  the  Protestants  was  adopted  on  the  occa- 
vertsfrom  different  parts,  confine  them  in'sion  of  an  assembly  for  worship  held  at  a 
citadels,  and  declare  that,  for  every  mur^mill  in  the  suburbs  of  Nismes. f  Accord- 
der  or  conflagration,  he  would  hang  three  ing  to  the  statement  of  a  hostile  writer, 
or  four  persons  as  hostages  of  the  place,  "It  was  not  a  body  of  armed  men  ;  it  was 
where  such  outrages  were  committed.*; merely  one  of  those  religious  meetings, 
This  scheme  was  too  violent  to  obtain  convoked  contrary  to  the  king's  orders, 
the  sanction  of  the  government;  and 'where  Ihey  preached  in  spite  of  his  pro- 
Montrevel,  having  summoned  the  Protest-  hibition."i  About  one  hundred  and  fifty 
ant  nobility  of  Languedoc,  addressed  >  were  collected,  principally  old  men,  wo- 
them  with  an  apparent  wish  to  be  tolerant,  men,  and  children.  Montrevel,  indignant 
He  urged  their  co-operation  in  suppress-  at  the  circumstance,  surrounded  the  mil!, 
Ing  the  revolt;  and  concluded  by  declaring,'and  on  a  signal  being  given,  dragoons 
that  although  he  wished  every  one  to  be  broke  in  and  massacred  the  party.  A 
Catholic,  he  would  not  constrain  any:  all  few  attempted  to  escape  by  the  windows, 


he  demanded  was  fidelity  to  the  king.f 

If  the  marshal's  arguments  had  no 
weight  with  the  assembled  Protestants, 
his  rtign  of  terror  was  sufficient  to  sub- 
due them:  for  he  not  only  gave  up  to  pil 


but  a  sentinel  drove  them  back  to  the 
butchery ;  and  as  the  work  of  horror  was 
too  long  for  Montrevel's  impatience,  he 
set  fire  to  the  edifice,  which  was  soon  en- 
veloped in  a  body  of  flames.    Some  un- 


places  where  the  Camisards  had  fortunate  creature?,  wounded  and  burned, 
been  well  received,  he  even  inflicted  his!  were  still  able  to  clear  the  flaming  pile ; 
severity  on  villages  where  the  inhabitants  but  the  dragoons  forced  them  back,  to  ex- 
were  unable  to  resist  them.    He  con-  pire  in  the  conflagration.    A  girl  of  seven- 


demned  numbers  to  be  burnt  alive,  or 
broken  on  the  wheel,  on  the  bare  suspi- 
cion of  having  favoured  the  malcontents, 
or  for  being  absent  from  their  cottages: 
they  were  mostly  executed  without  any 
form  of  trial.  The  heroism  of  these  suf- 
ferers is  noticed  by  a  magistrate  of  Nismes, 
who  bears  ample  testimony  to  the  awful 
frequency  of  the  executions.  "There 
were  many  shot  by  the  troops,  and  a 
great  number  perished  by  various  tortures 
at  Montpellier,  Mende,  Alais,  and  espe- 
cially Nismes;  hut,  as  we  have  already- 
stated,  these  dreadful  spectacles  made  no 
impression — the  new  converts  regarded 
the  condemned  as  martyrs.  The  resolu- 
tion they  displayed  in  death  confirmed 
them  in  their  old  religion;  and  if  I  may 
be  permitted  to  say  it,  the  examples  given 
to  the  public  produced  quite  a  contrary 
effect  to   what  was    intended. "J  The 


*  Court,  vol.  p.  255.  t  Ibid,  p.  29G. 

t  Hist,  de  la  Revolt  des  Fanatiqves.  pir  d"  la  Baume, 
cnnseiller  au  prcsidial  de  Nismes,  quoted  by  Court,  vol 
i.  p.  305. 


teen  was  saved  by  the  marshal's  valet : 
his  generous  deed,  the  result  of  compas- 
sion, only  served  to  display  the  diabolical 
feelings  of  his  master,  who  ordered  his 
valet  and  the  girl  to  be  put  to  death  on 
the  spot.  The  poor  girl  was  executed ; 
and  the  valet  bound  for  a  similar  fate, 
when  some  religieuses  pleaded  in  his  be- 
half, and  obtained  his  life.  But  Montre- 
vel blamed  himself  for  his  weakness  in 
yielding,  and  banished  the  valet  from  the 
town.  Some  Catholics  who  were  amusing 
themselves  in  a  neighbouring  garden  were 
killed  by  the  marshal's  orders:  in  vain 
they  asserted  their  religion ;  he  declared 
they  had  escaped  from  the  mill,  and  they 
were  executed.  In  his  excess  of  fury,  he 
was  even  on  the  point  of  devoting  Nismes 
to  devastation. 5 


*  Flfichier,  Lettre  Pastorale. 
+  Palm  Sunday,  1st  April,  1703. 
|  Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  128. 

§  Court  has  minutely  related  this  horrible  scene  :  lie 
was  intimate  with  those  who  had  witnessed  it,  vol.  i. 
p.  309.  Menard  seems  unwilling  to  censure  the  mar- 
shal. Hist,  de  Nismes,  vol.  vi.  p.  337. 


RETALIATORY  STRATAGEM   OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


401 


De  la  Baume's  account  corroborates 
the  foregoing,  with  a  trifling  difference  as 
to  the  numbers  killed :  "  It  cost,"  he  says, 
"the  lives  of  eighty  persons,  all  of  the 
dregs  of  the  people,"  and  afterwards  adds, 
"The  court  approved  of  the  marshal's 
conduct."*  To  the  disgrace  of  the 
Bishop  of  Nismes,  he  also  justifies  the 
deed,  while  he  distorts  the  truth,  in  or- 
der to  diminish  its  odium.  "  They  even 
dared,  on  Palm  Sunday,  to  hold  a  meet- 
ing at  a  mill,  without  any  precaution,  at 
the  gate  of  the  town ;  and  while  we  were 
chanting  vespers,  they  sang  psalms  and 
preached.  The  marshal  left  his  house, 
assembled  some  troops,  and  put  to  the 
sword  men  and  women  composing  the 
assembly,  to  the  number  of  more  than 
fifty  persons ;  and  burned  the  house 
where  it  was  held.  This  example  was 
necessary  to  stay  the  arrogance  of  these 
fellows."! 

It  is  unnecessary  further  to  pourtray  the 
character  of  Montrevel's  administration, 
for  a  complete  narrative  of  this  epoch  of 
blood-thirsty  tyranny  would  be  fatiguingly 
voluminous.  Its  duration  is  well  attested 
by  historians,  inclined  by  their  undisguised 
prejudices  to  throw  a  veil  over  such  occur- 
rences. Brueys  mentions  the  fact  of  six 
executions  occurring  in  one  day;}  and 
observes  in  another  part  of  his  work,  "  I 
should  weary  the  reader  if  I  were  to  give 
an  exact  detail  of  all  those  who  were  ar- 
rested and  punished;  for  scarcely  a  day 
passed  without  several  of  these  wretches 
being  made  examples."  And  de  la  Baume 
informs  us,  that  the  court  of  which  he  was 
a  member,  judged  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust alone,  "a  great  number  of  fanatics, 
who  were  condemned  to  various  kinds  of 
punishment."^ 

As  a  natural  result,  the  Camisards  re- 
solved upon  selling  their  lives  dearly, 
when  attacked,  and  embraced  every  op 
portunity  of  wreaking  vengeance  on  their 
pitiless  enemies.  The  inhabitants  of  La 
Salle  had  been  prominent  in  causing  vexa- 
tions to  the  Protestants  in  general,  those 
who  remained  quiet  suffering  as  much  as 
the  relations  of  those  in  arms.  Cavalier  in 
consequence  determined  on  giving  them 
a  lesson  of  severity.    Having  dressed  his 


*  Quoted  by  Conn,  vol.  i.  pp.  313—313. 
t  Flechiur,  Lettre  du  25  Ami,  1703. 
I  Briipys.  vol.  ii.  p  179. 
$  Court,  vol.  i.  p.  420. 


followers  in  uniforms  taken  from  the  sol- 
diers killed  in  recent  encounters,  he  ad- 
vanced at  their  head,  in  the  full  dress  of 
an  officer,  fully  persuaded  that  on  his  ap- 
proach to  that  town  the  most  violent  of 
the  inhabitants  would  come  out  to  hail 
his  arrival.  The  company  of  zealots  ad- 
vanced to  express  their  joy  at  the  arrival 
of  the  troops,  by  whose  aid  their  district 
would  soon  be  freed  from  the  Camisards. 
Their  congratulations  were  mingled  with 
boastings  upon  their  individual  deeds: 
and  each  took  credit  for  something  done 
against  the  Protestants.  A  lame  man 
surpassed  all  others  in  his  accounts :  he 
claimed  the  honour  of  contributing  to  the 
arrest  of  several  preachers  who  were 
hanged,  and  declared  his  readiness  to  in- 
dicate the  dwellings  of  Huguenots,  where 
numbers  might  be  seized.  To  his  awful 
surprise,  one  of  Cavalier's  men  addressed 
him  fiercely:  "  Hast  thou  finished  '!"  The 
boaster  with  trembling  asked  why  such  a 
question  was  put,  and  almost  immediately 
the  poor  wretch  and  his  companions, 
nearly  forty  in  number,  were  put  to  the 
sword.* 

Similar  deeds  of  violence  followed  on 
both  sides  ;  and  more  frequently  towards 
the  close  of  the  year,  when  Basville  de- 
liberately prepared  for  destroying  the  re- 
sources of  the  insurgents  by  devastating 
thirty-one  parishes,  comprising  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  villages.  This  scheme, 
which  menaced  ruin  to  all  the  Catholic 
gentry  of  the  district,  was  not  adopted 
without  hesitation  ;  but  as  the  alternative 
of  indemnifying  the  loyal  part  of  the  in- 
habitants was  a  trifle,  compared  with  the 
suppression  of  the  revolt,  the  project  was 
ultimately  approved  by  the  court. f 

Montrevel  then  published  an  ordinance 
for  collecting  the  Catholics  in  the  towns, 
where  the  authorities  would  provide  for 
their  subsistence  Another  decree  en- 
joined the  new  converts  to  return  to  their 
houses  within  eight  days;  and  forbade 
their  stirring  out,  upon  any  pretext,  with- 
out a  passport,  under  pain  of  the  galleys 
for  life.  Basville  at  the  same  time  pre- 
pared lists  of  the  new  converts,  in  the  dif- 
ferent parishes,  in  which  the  names  of  ab- 
sentees were  to  be  carefully  noted.  The 
gentry  among  them  were  allowed  to 


34 


*  April,  1703.    Court,  vol.  i.  p.  331. 

t  Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  219.  Court,  vo'.  i.  p.  463. 


402  MONTREVEL  LAYS  WASTE  THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


choose  the  town  in  which  they  would  | 
reside  ;  and  were  promised  a  share  of 
the  property  to  be  confiscated.  The 
parishes  and  towns  marked  out  for  de- 
struction were  (bur  hundred  and  sixty-six 
in  number;*  and  the  inhabitants  were 
ordered  to  bring  their  corn,  cattle,  &c,  to 
certain  places,  with  notice  that  the  infrac- 
tion of  this  order  would  be  punished  by 
the  seizure  of  their  goods;  and  for  them- 
selves, the  treatment  of  rebels.  To  com- 
plete the  list  of  barbarous  preliminaries, 
the  marshal  gave  orders  that  his  officers, 
on  arriving  at  a  condemned  village,  were 
to  read  thp  proclamation  forbidding  the  in- 
habitants to  go  home ;  but  promising  that 
no  harm  should  befall  them,  as  the  king 
would  not  hear  of  any  bloodshed  ! !  !f 

Montrevel  commenced  his  inhuman  ex- 
pedition on  the  26th  of  September,  1703. 
The  approach  of  so  many  troops  coin- 
ciding with  a  summons  for  the  whole 
population,  convinced  the  unhappy  vil- 
lagers that  they  were  all  to  be  massacred  : 
as  many  as  couid  immediately  joined  the 
Camisards.  t 

The  marshal's  first  idea  was  to  pull 
down  the  cottages,  but  the  work  pro- 
ceeded too  slowly  for  his  impetuosity,  and 
fire  was  substituted  for  manual  demolition. 
The  ravages  of  the  devouring  element 
speedily  covered  the  land  with  desolation, 
and  the  horrors  of  reprisals  and  execu- 
tions became  more  than  ever  frequent ; 
for  many  ill-fated  villagers  avoided  the 
town  through  fear,  and  being  seized  were 
declared  in  contravention  of  the  ordi- 
nance ;  while  the  aggravation  of  misery 
became  an  additional  incitement  to  vio- 
lence^ This  scene  of  horror,  which  was 
capable  of  calling  forth  the  language  of 
intercession,  did  not  however  move  the 
Bishop  of  Nismes,  who  wrote  to  the  mar- 
shal in  a  style  of  warm  approbation. 
"The  project  you  are  executing  is  severe, 
and  will  be  doubtless  useful.  It  cuts  at 
the  very  root  of  the  evil:  it  destroys  the 
asylums  of  the  seditious,  and  confines 
them  in  limits,  where  it  will  be  more  easy 


*  Court,  vol  ii  p  49.    lirueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  220. 

t  1  bid . ,  vol  ii.  p.  52. 

t  limeys,  vol  ii.  p.  225. 

§  To  this  cause  may  be  attributed  the  murder  of  Ma- 
dame Miraman,  a  Catholic  laiiy,  killed  by  four  Cami 
sards  Cavalier,  in  his  Memoirs  admits  that  the  men 
had  joined  his  troop ;  but,  t«>  mark  his  indignation  at 
their  cr  m',  he  had  them  tried  by  a  council  of  war : 
three  were  shot — the  fourth  proved  that  he  endea 
voured  to  prevent  the  murder,  and  was  acquitted. 


to  subdue  and  discover  them."*  In  a 
subsequent  letter  in  the  following  pas- 
sage :  "  The  court  has  been  too  long  in 
deciding  upon  the  remedies  which  must 
be  employed  for  staying  such  great  ills. 
Those  which  might  have  sufficed  some 
months  since  are  no  longer  adequate;  and 
it  will  be  necessary  to  adopt  chastisements 
more  severe  than  those  rejected  as  too 
cruel,  "t 

The  proclamations  issued  at  this  period 
against  the  Cadets  de  la  Croix,  prove  that 
the  Camisards  were  not  the  only  distur- 
bers of  the  peace  of  the  country ;  and 
when  their  ravages  were  found  oppressive, 
the  troops  were  as  inadequate  to  sup- 
press them  as  the  Protestants  insurgents. 
But  when  the  Cadets  were  seized,  the 
treatment  they  experienced  was  very  dif- 
ferent :  they  were  acknowledged  brigands, 
but  the  others  were  fanatics. 

After  a  long  series  of  encounters  in 
which  the  results  had  been  varied,  Cava- 
lier was  surprised  atNages,  by  the  Count 
de  Fimarcon.J  Two  Catholic  historians 
claim  the  victory  for  their  party,  and 
greatly  exaggerate  Cavalier's  loss  :$  but 
other  accounts  give  a  very  different  re- 
sult;  and  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  of 
Nismes,  written  on  the  day  of  the  battle, 
to  the  priest  who  sent  intelligence  of  Ca- 
valier's movements,  is  far  from  ascribing 
a  triumphant  result  to  the  assailants. 
"The  information  you  gave  of  the  march 
of  the  fanatics  was  very  good ;  and  if  the 
troops  of  the  neighbourhood  had  been  sum- 
moned in  time,  and  M.  de  Fimarcon  had 
collected  a  greater  number  of  dragoons, 
or  had  been  better  supported,  the  affair 
would  have  been  very  important.  They 
had  then  joined  the  rebels,  who  would 
have  been  entirely  defeated ;  but  they 
have  escaped,  and  have  lost  but  a  few 
men. "|| 

The  Camisards  had  time  to  quit  the 
place  and  gain  an  eminence  before  they 
were  attacked  :  and  their  energetic  reso- 
lution compelled  their  enemies  to  retire. 
About  thirty  women  were  with  the  Cami- 
sards when  the  alarm  was  given.  They 
had  carried  provisions  to  their  husbands 
and  brothers,  and  found  themselves  com- 


*  Flechier  Letlre  du  1  Ortobrc,  1703. 
t  Ibid.  aSrt.Oct.,  1703. 

X  13th  Nov  ,  1703.    Nages  is  a  village  two  leagues 
h  est  of  Nismes. 
}  Brueys.  vol  ii.  p.  238. 
(  Fiddlier,  Letlre  du  13  JVbi-fmire,  1703. 


THE  INSURGENTS  DEFEAT  THE  ROYAL  FORCES 


403 


pelled  to  fight  for  their  lives.  A  girl  of  battle;  their  horses  and  arms  were  a  wel- 
seventeen,  named  Lucrece  Grignon,  dis- jcome  prize  to  Cavalier,  who  celebrated 
played  great  intrepidity,  and  stimulated  his  victory  by  divine  service  at  Conge- 
her  friends  by  her  example.    Shouting,  nies* 

"  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,"j  The  sufferings  of  the  Huguenots  of 
she  disarmed  a  wounded  dragoon,  and  Languedoc  were  not  disregarded  by  the 
joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  flying  soldiers.  English  and  Dutch;  but  the  supplies  sent 
A  reinforcement  was  coming  to  the  assail- 1  for  their  relief  were  diverted  from  their 
ants,  but  their  rout  was  too  complete  to  destination.  Pamphlets  had  been  pub- 
allow  a  renewal  of  the  combat,  in  which ;  lished,  showing  the  benefit  which  would 
Cavalier  lost  five  of  his  comrades:  on  thejaccrue  to  the  allies  from  supporting  the 
side  of  the  troops  there  fell  a  major,  a  Camisards;  and  several  individuals  were 
lieutenant,  and  about  thirty  soldiers,  be-lactively  engaged  in  promoting  a  move- 
sides  a  number  of  wounded.  Cavalier  ment  of  that  nature — the  Abbe  de  Bourlie, 
himself  was  nearly  taken  at  the  outset :  j  better  known  as  the  Marquis  de  Guiscard; 
he  had  gone  out  to  reconnoitre,  and  was  the  Marquis  de  Miremont,  and  Lord  Gal- 
intercepted  by  a  cornet  and  two  dragoons, '  way,  a  nobleman  of  French  origin.  In 
concealed  behind  some  olive  trees.  He  j  addition,  there  were  a  number  of  in- 
was  within  pistol-shot  when  he  perceived  j  triguing  characters,  who  speculated 
his  danger;  and  the  cornet  called  to  him  alike  upon  the  confidence  of  the  Cami- 
by  name,  offering  quarter.  Cavalier  re-jsards,  and  the  liberality  of  the  allies.  It 
plied  by  instantly  shooting  him  through  is,  however,  certain  that  some  measure  to 
the  head  with  his  musket.  He  then  assist  the  insurgents  was -in  contempla- 
awaited  the  attack  of  the  dragoons  with  tion:  ships  were  perceived  off  the  coast 
a  pistol  in  each  hand.  To  encounter :  of  Cette  in  the  autumn  of  1703;  and  two 
such  a  foe  was  almost  certain  death  :  they  refugees,  bearing  Dutch  commissions, 
advanced  upon  him  ;  each  pistol  carried  were  arrested  on  their  way  to  join  the 
true;  and  Cavalier  rejoined  his  comrades, 


drawn  up  ready  for  battle.  After  his 
victory  he  proceeded  to  Clarensac,  where 
he  dined  and  remained  three  hours ; 
during  which  interval  he  destroyed  the 
walls,  and  preached  a  sermon,*— conduct 
highly  characteristic  of  men,  who  aimed 
at  imitating  Joshua  and  the  Israelite 
chieftains  on  entering  Canaan. 

Laborde,  one  of  Fimarcon's  officers, 
was  defeated  by  Cavalier  at  Roques 
d'Aubais.f  He  had  four  companies  of 
dragoons,  which  he  divided  into  two 
troops,  in  order  to  surround  the  Cami- 
sards. Cavalier  likewise  divided  his  force, 
to  present  a  face  to  each  opposing  body. 
Confident  of  victory,  the  dragoons  gal- 
loped down  upon  the  insurgents ;  when 
to  their  astonishment,  their  progress  was 


Camisards.  Their  names  were  Jonquet 
and  Peytau:  the  former  was  induced  by 
promises  to  make  important  revelations: 
he  was  kept  in  prison  until  the  peace  of 
Utrecht.  Peytau  was  firmer:  he  yielded 
only  to  prolonged  torture;  and  although 
his  communication  preserved  France  from 
invasion,  it  did  not  obtain  any  commuta- 
tion of  his  sentence:  he  was  broken  on 
the  wheel  at  Alais,  and  died  with  resolu- 
tion.! 

This  incident  occasioned  some  admo- 
nitory despatches  to  Montrevel;  who,  in 
addition  to  his  former  horrors,  ordered 
general  arrests  of  the  Protestants,  and  the 
massacre  of  all  who  were  found  away 
from  the  places  assigned  them.  He  sent, 
among  other  agents,  the  brigadier  Planque, 
who  scoured  the  upper  Cevennes,  killing 


arrested  by  a  band  of  sixty  recruits: every  one  he  found  abroad,  regardless  of 
who  had  recently  joined  Cavalier;  and  sex  or  age.    He  destroyed  all  the  mills 


who,  for  want  of  better  weapons,  were 
armed  with  slings.  A  shower  of  heavy 
stones  threw  the  troops  into  confusion;  and 
the  main  body  of  the  Camisards,  rushing 
forward,  completed  their  defeat.  Twenty- 
five  dragoons  remained  on  the  field  of 


*  Coiir',  vol.  ii.  p  121 
t  17th  December,  1703. 


and  ovens  in  the  villages  with  a  view  to 
compel  the  peasantry  to  retire  into  the 
towns.  Some  did  so;  but  others,  unwil- 
ling to  abandon  their  homes,  were  put  to 
the  sword,  to  the  number  of  nearly  six 
hundred. | 


*  Court,  vol.  ii.  p.  175 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  pp.80— 85. 

j  20lh  Feb.,  1704.   Villars,  vol)  ii.  p.  137 


404 


THE  INSURGENTS  DEFEAT  THE  ROYAL  FORCES. 


Were  it  desirable  to  crowd  these  pages 
with  affecting  or  revolting  scenes  this 
epoch  would  supply  entire  volumes.  The 
troops  were  excited  to  violence — unhap- 
pily, we  know  that  they  were  urged  on 
by  the  clergy.  The  bishop  of  Nismes 
has  penned  the  following  lines:  "  I  see,  in 
a  part  of  the  troops,  so  little  zeal  for  the 
service  of  God  and  the  king,  that  I  do  not 
expect  great  success  from  the  contem- 
plated expeditions  unless  Heaven  give  ar- 
dour to  our  warriors."*  His  appeal  was 
so  well  answered,  that  the  Cadets  de  la 
Croix  outstripped  all  expectation;  and  he 
found  himself,  soon  afterwards,  obliged  to 
write  to  one  of  his  clergy:  "You  must  re- 
strain the  armed  Catholics.  They  should 
combat,  and  fight  the  wars  of  the  Lord; 
and  not  plunder  friends  and  foes."f  The 
wholesale  murders  recently  committed 
were  not  alluded  to;  but  the  plunder  of  a' 
Catholic  demanded  repression — alas!  for 
the  blindness  of  bigotry! 

There  were  scenes  of  barbarity  on 
every  side:  if  the  cruelties  of  the  troops, 
and  their  allies,  the  Cadets  de  la  Croix, 
were  described,  justice  would  demand  a 
list  of  the  atrocities  committed  by  the  Ca- 
misards;  and,  in  contemplating  the  chro- 
nicles of  the  time,  it  is  some  relief  to  meet 
with  a  military  engagement,  as  a  less 
frightful  scene.  The  victory  obtained  by 
Cavalier  at  theDevoisde  Martignargues}: 
was  highly  important,  as  it  led  to  Mon- 
trevel's  recall:  it  was,  besides,  a  brilliant 
achievement  in  a  military  point  of  view. 

The  marshal,  being  at  Uzes,  was  in- 
formed that  the  Camisards  were  in  that 
diocess,  and  sent  La  Jonquiere  against 
them  with  a  detachment  of  marines  and 
some  companies  of  dragoons.  A  rein- 
forcement of  a  hundred  horsemen  followed 
to  support  him.  This  detachment  La 
Jonquiere  sent  back,  as  he  had  full  confi- 
dence in  his  men,  who  were  impatient  to 
wipe  away  the  disgrace  of  a  former  de- 
feat by  Cavalier.  Some  heavy  rains  fa- 
cilitated his  tracking  the  insurgents,  who, 
finding  themselves  discovered,  awaited  the 
attack  with  their  accustomed  resolution. 
Cavalier  made  a  suitable  prayer  in  the 
hearing  of  his  men;  and,  having  exhorted 
them  to  fight  manfully  for  their  religion 

*  Si  le  cif  I  n'echauffe  nos  guerriers."  Flechier,  LeUre 
<lu9  Fevrier.  1704. 

t  Lettre  riu  10  Avril.  1.0  I. 

t  15th  March,  1704.  It  is  about  midway  between 
Alais  and  Uzes. 


and  liberty,  he  selected  his  ground,  and 
made  his  arrangements  for  the  expected 
conflict. 

As  soon  as  La  Jonquiere  had  received 
the  reports  of  his  officers,  he  advanced 
upon  the  Camisards,  ordering  a  general 
volley  within  musket-shot:  thatdischarge, 
however,  produced  no  effect,  as  Cavalier 
had  ordered  his  men  to  lay  on  the  ground 
when  they  perceived  the  enemy  prepare 
to  fire.  The  movement  was  so  well  exe- 
cuted, that  La  Jonquiere  imagined  they 
were  nearly  all  killed  or  wounded;  and 
commanded  his  soldiers  to  charge  with 
the  bayonet.  To  his  astonishment,  the 
Camisards  suddenly  started  up,  singing 
their  accustomed  psalm.*  They  attacked 
their  enemies  with  energy,  and  were  sup- 
ported by  concealed  bodies  of  men,  who 
advanced  on  every  side.  The  troops  in 
dismay  lost  all  power  of  defence.  La 
Jonquiere  escaped  by  swimming  across 
the  Gard,  leaving  twenty-five  officers, 
and  almost  all  his  men  dead  upon  the 
field.  The  Camisards  had  twelve  wound- 
ed, of  whom  two  died.  The  spoils  sup- 
plied the  Camisards  with  arms  of  every 
kind,  besides  a  number  of  good  horses; 
with  money  and  jewels  to  a  considerable 
extent,  which  afforded  the  means  of  pro- 
curing many  necessaries.  Cavalier  had 
scarcely  retired  from  the  scene  of  action, 
when  the  Marquis  de  Lalande  arrived 
with  eight  hundred  men:  too  late  to  attack 
the  Camisards,  he  gave  orders  for  remo- 
ving the  wounded  and  burying  the  slain. f 

Montrevel  had  daily  fresh  proofs  that 
the  majority  of  the  population  favoured 
the  insurgents;  and  to  counteract  their 
plans,  he  ordered  a  strictsearch  in  Nismes, 
which  led  to  the  arrest  of  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  persons:  they  were  con- 
fined in  a  fort.  He  also  built  a  new  wall 
around  the  city,  to  enclose  the  suburbs; 
and  the  discovery  of  two  thousand  loaves 
at  a  baker's  in  the  faubourg  was  a  proof 


*  The  troops  were  ofien  paralyzed  hy  the  religious 
fervour  of  the  Camisards.  The  anonymous  historian 
mentions  a  conversation  wilh  an  officer,  who  declared, 
as  soon  as  his  men  heard  Que  Dieu  se  montre  th?y  were 
no  longer  under  command.    Vol  i  p.  244. 

t  The  Mem.  de  Villars  (vol  ii.  p.  138)  states  that  La 
Jonquiere's  division  consisted  of  five  hundred  marines 
and  fifiy  dragoons;  yet,  farther  on  (p.  142,)  we  find, 
"  the  troops  Inst  five  orsix  hundred  men,  the  insurgents 
only  two  hundred"  Louvreleuil  estimates  the  troops 
killed  at  above  three  hundred;  and  Y)e  la  Baume  men- 
tions that  only  four  officers  and  one  hundred  and  eighty 
men  escaped.  Court  has  summed  up  the  conflicting  ac 
counts 


RECALL  OF  MARSHAL  MONTREVEL. 


405 


that  the  Camisards  drew  their  supplies 
from  such  sources.* 

Montrevel's  removal  from  the  command 
of  the  troops  in  Langnedoc  was  ordered 
in  compliance  with  ihe  suggestions  of 
Basville  and  the  clergy.  The  marshal 
had  at  first  opposed  the  cruel  measures 
of  the  intenduit:  when  the  government 
ordered  him,  he  obeyed  with  the  unre- 
served ardour  of  a  soldier;  but  he  had 
raised  secret  enemies,  and  was  deprived 
of  the  honour  of  tranquillizing  the  pro- 
vince. Marshal  Villars  was  already 
named  as  his  successor;  and  Montrevel 
determined  on  gaining  before  his  depar- 
ture, some  important  advantages  for  the 
sake  of  his  reputation.  The  day  was 
fixed;  and  knowing  that  Cavalier  was 
well  informed  of  all  that  passed  at  Nismes, 
he  announced  his  intention  of  passing  into 
Guyenne:  an  escort  was  ordered  to  attend 
him  to  Montpellier:  Cavalier,  relying  on 
the  information  he  received,  proceeded  to 
Caveirac,  where  he  reposed  his  troops, 
whom  he  lodged  by  billets  in  the  town 
and  surrounding  villages.! 

The  marshal  was  well  informed  of  Ca- 
valier's movements,  and  sent  a  battalion, 
and  some  dragoons  under  colonel  Grand- 
val  in  pursuit  of  him.  An  action  took 
place  at  Caveirac,  in  which  the  Camisards 
were  defeated  by  their  own  impetuosity  4 
Cavalier  endeavoured  to  rally  his  men, 
and  effect  a  retreat,  when  he  discovered 
fresh  bodies  of  troops  collecting  on  every 
side,  and  among  them  a  division  under 
Montrevel  in  person.  In  vain  did  the  in- 
trepid Cavalier  force  his  way  through  a 
difficult  pass:  he  immediately  perceived 
new  obstacles  to  his  escape:  he  retired 
upon  Nages,  and  hoped  to  reach  the  plain 
of  Calvisson;  but  every  road  and  outlet 
was  occupied  by  soldiers.  The  marshal 
had  five  thousand  men;  while  his  troops 
consisted  of  only  eight  hundred  infantry, 
and  a  hundred  horsemen.  After  vainly 
contending  with  such  a  superior  force, 
Cavalier  addressed  his  comrades,  "My 
children,  if  our  hearts  fail  us,  we  shall  be 
captured  and  broken  on  the  wheel.  We 
have  only  one  resource:  we  must  cut  our 
way  through  those  men.  Follow  me! 
and  keep  close  together!"§ 

An  impetuous  charge  was  made  after 


*  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p  143  t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii  p.  147. 
t  16th  April,  1704. 

fj  Hist,  tics  Camisards,  vol  ii  p.  211. 


this  allocution,  and  the  conflict  was  most 
obstinate  and  fierce.  The  Camisards 
opened  for  themselves  a  way  to  a  bridge, 
across  which  they  forced  a  passage. 
Montrevel  was  indefatigable  in  the  action; 
and  the  pursuit  was  maintained  until 
night-fall,  when  the  approach  to  a  wood, 
and  the  broken  nature  of  the  country  put 
an  end  to  this  disastrous  affair,  which 
lasted  from  three  o'clock  till  nine.  The 
battle  was  considered  as  decisive;  and 
Montrevel  is  reported  to  have  said,  "It  is 
thus  I  take  leave  of  my  friends."* 

There  is  some  difference  in  the  state- 
ments of  the  force  of  the  Camisards,  and 
the  number  they  lost;  both  are  exagge- 
rated by  the  Catholic  writers.  But  all 
concur  in  describing  their  retreat,  as  dis- 
playing unparalleled  courage;  and  Cava- 
lier's conduct  on  this  occasion  has  ob- 
tained from  an  enemy  the  following 
eulogy;  "  Every  one  was  surprised  to  see 
a  man  of  low  origin,  and  without  expe- 
rience in  the  art  of  war,  behave,  under  the 
most  difficult  and  delicate  circumstances, 
like  a  great  general."! 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

Conclusion  of  tliu  Camisard  war,  umlpr  Marshal  Villars. 

Cavalier's  recent  defeat  was  not  so 
overwhelming  a  misfortune  as  to  dis- 
hearten his  party,  had  the  disaster  been 
confined  to  that  battle.  His  friends  had 
sufficient  forces  scattered  throughout  the 
Cevennes  to  complete  his  battalions;  and 
the  course  of  the  war  had  shown  that  the 
king's  troops  were,  in  general,  more  ha- 
rassed and  fatigued  than  the  insurgents, 
even  when  the  results  of  an  expedition 
were  otherwise  satisfactory.  But  a  new 
dilemma  befel  the  Camisards;  a  calamity 
of  far  more  serious  character,  in  the  dis- 
covery of  their  principal  magazine,  near 
Hieuset.  It  was  a  vast  cavern  which 
served  as  hospital,  arsenal,  storehouse, 
and  asylum  for  their  wives  and  children. 

An  aged  female,  who  was  observed  to 
proceed  occasionally  to  the  wood  which 
concealed  this  retreat,  was  charged  with, 
carrying  supplies  to  some  of  the  insur- 
gents: she  was  arrested  and  threatened 


*  Court,  vol.  ii.  p.  313 
f  Villars,  vol.  ii  p  1.32. 


406 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  CAMISARD  WAR. 


with  death,  if  she  did  not  reveal  the  ob-  officer  so  blind  in  his  bigotry,  that  in  his 
ject  of  her  visits.  Her  answers  were  view  the  religion  followed  and  favoured 
evasive,  and  Lalande,  who  commanded  in  I  by  the  king  must  be  good;  and  he  could 
that  district,  ordered  her  to  be  hanged.  I  not  refrain  from  invective  against  those 


Her  firmness  withstood  the  effects  of  that 
threat  until  the  moment  of  execution, 
when  she  purchased  her  pardon  by  re- 
vealing the  fatal  secret.    A  strong  detach 


whose  conscience  did  not  permit  such 
servility  in  their  creed.  On  meeting 
D'Aygaliers,  he  animadverted  with  vio- 
lence against  all  who  had   borne  arms 


merit  proceeded  with  her  to  the  cavern, ; against  their  sovereign.  This  was  in- 
where  about  thirty  wounded  Camisardsj tended  for  the  baron,  who  immediately 
gave  evidence  that  her  denunciation  was 'after  the  revocation  had  joined  the  Prince 
true.  Some  of  them  were  not  expected  of  Orange:  he  did  not  however  notice  the 
to  recover  from  the  wounds  received  atj allusion,  but  on  the  following  day  took 
Nages;  but  although  their  condition  wasjoccasion  to  call  on  Paratte,  when  lie  de- 
sufficient  to  inspire  pity,  they  were  all  clared  thai  his  observations  had  made 
put  to  death  by  the  soldiers.  As  the 'such  an  impression  on  his  mind,  that  he 
troops  advanced,  they  discovered  large!  was  most  anxious  to  prove  his  Zealand 
quantities  of  provisions  of  every  kind, !  fidelity  to  the  king — he  concluded  by 
arms  and  ammunition,  and  a  store  of  me-: asking  a  passport,  which  was  readily 
dicines  and  surgical  instruments.*    This  given. 

was  followed  by  the  pillage  of  Hieuset  On  reaching  the  capital,  D'Aygaliers 
and  other  towns,  with  the  massacre  of j drew  up  a  memorial,  in  which  he  de- 
the  inhabitants.!  !  clared  the  Protestants  of  Languedoc  were 

The  discovery  completely  destroyed 'anxious  and  able  to  terminate  the  insur- 
Cavalier's  resources,  as  the  province  wasirection,  provided  the  government  would 
too  much  impoverished  to  afford  a  re-  allow  them  to  act.  The  Dukes  de  Chev- 
newal:  but  whether  his  genius  could  have: reuse  and  Montford  seconded  his  views, 
rallied  under  such  difficulties,  so  as  to  land  the  minister  Chamillard  introduced 
withstand  the  fresh  troops  who  would  ac-j him  to  marshal  Villars,  who  was  pre- 
company  marshal  Villars;  or  what  plan  he 'paring  to  set  out  for  his  command.  After 
would  have  adopted  for  the  personal  t some  conversation  respecting  the  affairs 
safety  of  his  followers,  can  only  be  con- j  of  Languedoc,  the  marshal  desired  he 
jectured.  Happily  for  the  province,  and  would  await  his  arrival  at  Lyons.* 
no  less  so  for  the  marshal  himself,  a  Pro-:  Villars  left  Paris  on  the  30th  of  April, 
testant  noble  had  ventured  upon  a  mission  '  for  that  city,  having  received  the  king's 


to  appease  the  insurrection. 


commands  to  bring  back  the  insurgents 


The  baron  d'Aygalierst  of  Usez,  who  S  to  their  duty  by  mild  measures.!  He 
lamented  the  dreadful  state  of  affairs,  was  j  was  accompanied  by  D'Aygaliers  on 
of  opinion  that  the  advice  of  a  Protestant;  leaving  Lyons;  and  during  the  journey 
might  be  effectual  in  persuading  the  Ca-  down  the  Rhone,  the  baron  spared  no 
misards  to  lay  down  their  arms;  and  he'efforts  in  cautioning  the  marshal  against 
further  considered  that  such  an  important  the  prejudiced  opinions  he  would  receive 
service  would  induce  the  king  to  appre-  jfrom  the  clergy  of  Languedoc,  who  openly 
ciate  the  unchanging  loyalty  of  the  perse-  maintained  there  was  no  other  way  of 
cuted  Huguenots.  His  plan  was  to  com- ' settling  the  insurrection  than  by  extermi- 
mence  with  a  journey  to  Paris;  but  with-  jnating  all  the  Protestants.  Villars  heard 
out  a  passport  he  could  not  leave  Usez: '  him  with  attention,  and  promised  impar- 
how  to  obtain  one  was  difficult,  as  hejtiality;  and  it  is  due  to  the  marshal's 
could  not  expect  it  would  be  given  by  character  to  state,  that,  beset  as  he  was 
Montrevel  or  Basville.  Circumstances  \  with  the  advocates  of  severity,  he  en- 
favoured  his  projects:  he  dined  one  dayjcouraged  D'Aygaliers  in  his  laudable  ef- 
fort; and  when  the  Protestants  of  Nismes 
signed  an  act,  requesting  permission  to 
march  against  the  rebels,  he  thanked 
them,  and  authorized  the  promise  of  am- 


in  company  with  the  brigadier  Paratte,  an 


*  Hist,  des  Caniisards,  vol.  ii.  p.  241. 
t  Court,  vol.  ii.  p  321!. 

%  De  Rnssel  baron  D'Aygaliers.  composed  Jilemoires 
sur  les  Drrniers  Troubles  de  la  Province  de  Languedoc 
Court  liad  the  use  of  this  account,  which  is  of  great 
value,  as  the  author  relates  only  what  be  positively 
saw. 


*  Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  271- 
f  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p.  156. 


PROPOSALS  FOR  PEACE. 


407 


nesty  to  all  who  would  return  to  their 
homes  within  eight  days.  Still  Basville 
exerted  his  influence  to  prevent  Villars 
from  granting  the  required  permission; 
and  D'Aygaliers  at  length  overcame  his 
repugnance,  and  demanded  an  interview 
with  the  sanguinary  intendant,  whom  he 
told,  on  entering,  that  although  he  would 
rather  die  than  accept  a  glass  of  water  at 


left  his  men  at  some  distance  from  the 
bridge,  and  advanced  singly  to  the  par- 
ley, which  lasted  nearly  two  hours.  The 
result  was  kept  secret,  and  subsequently 
deprived  Cavalier  of  the  confidence  of  his 
men :  but  Lalande  was  so  pleased  with 
the  conclusion,  that  he  expressed  a  wish 
to  see  the  Camisards  under  arms ;  and 
having  approached  them,  scattered  a  hand- 


his  hands,  his  desire  to  pacify  the  province  i  ful  of  louis  d'or  before  them.    The  present 


induced  him  to  entreat  that  the  marshal 
might  not  be  dissuaded  from  giving  his 
project  a  trial.  All  difficulties  were  soon 
after  removed,  and  D'Aygaliers  received 
his  commission  to  wage  war  against  the 
Camisards.*  Such  were  the  terms  used, 
although  D'Aygaliers  had  no  design  of 
using  other  weapons  than  exhortation  and 
argument.  He  set  out  the  next  day,  and 
in  every  town  announced  amnesty  to  all 
who  would  surrender. 

Basville  and  Lalande  instantly  became 
jealous  of  the  importance  which  D'Ayga- 
liers was  likely  to  acquire;  and  without  loss 
of  time  engaged  La  Combes,  by  whom 


boy,  to  use  his  influence  with  the  Cami- 
sard  chief.  Cavalier  himself  was  inclined 
to  despair  of  his  cause,  and  the  advice  of 
his  old  master  harmonized  with  his  feel- 


was  refused  by  the  men,  who  said  they 
did  not  want  money,  but  liberty  of  con- 
science. "  That  is  beyond  my  power  to 
grant,"  replied  Lalande ;  "  but  you  will  do 
well  to  submit  to  the  king's  wishes." 
"  We  are  ready,"  rejoined  Cavalier,  "  to 
obey  his  orders,  provided  he  will  grant 
our  just  demands;  otherwise  we  will  die 
with  arms  in  our  hands,  rather  than  be 
exposed  to  the  cruel  violence  we  have 
had  to  endure."*  Before  they  separated, 
Cavalier  informed  his  men  that  they  might 
accept  the  money,  as  peace  was  con- 
cluded.t  There  was  in  fact  an  amnesty; 
for  Cavalier's  troop  went  that  evening  to 


Cavalier  had  been  employed  as  shepherd's  "Vezenobre,  where  they  were  quartered 


by  billets;  and  divine  service  was  per- 
formed in  the  temple,  which  had  escaped 
demolition.  Cavalier  himself  preached 
and  prayed  with  such  effect,  that  he  drew 


ings:  yet  it  is  said  that  his  answers  were  ■  tears  from  his  hearers:  and  marshal  Vil- 
haughty,  inasmuch  as  he  declared  he  lars  sent  his  nephew  to  inform  the  court 
would  never  lay  down  his  arms  until  of  Cavalier's  proposals.}; 


liberty  of  conscience  was  established.! 
This  was  followed  by  an  invitation  to  a 
conference  from  Lalande.J  Catinat  was 
sent  by  Cavalier  to  fix  the  place  and  time 
of  meeting.  The  bridge  of  Avenes  was 
selected ;  and  within  two  hours  Lalande 
and  Cavalier  were  in  presence. 5 

Lalande  was  attended  by  thirty  dra- 
goons, colonel  Menon,  and  about  ten  offi- 
cers, and  Cavalier's  brother,  a  youth  of 
fifteen,  who  was  lately  taken  prisoner,  and 
who  was  to  be  restored,  with  a  view  to 
promote  conciliation.  Cavalier  was  ac- 
companied by  sixty  picked  men  of  his  in- 
fantry, and  eight  horsemen. ||    Each  party 

*  4ih  M.iv.  1704.    Court",  vol.  ii.  p  .'39. 
T  Court,  p  343. 

I  In  ill--  Mem.  de  Villars  ilU  said  that  the  overture 
Game  from  Cavalier;  but  thai  chieftain,  in  his  own  Me 
inr.irs.  savs  that  Lalande  wrote  first  to  bint. 

$  Vilh  May,  !?04. 
This  is  Cavalier's  account  :  Flechier  says  them  was 
a  iroop  of  three  or  four  hundred,  of  whom  eighty  were 
mounted,  and  that  M  de  Lalande  had  only  twenty  dra- 
goons In  the  Memuircs  de  fidars.wc  find  Cavalier 
was  attended  hy  ah  ■>ut  forty  badly  mounted  horsemen 
and  two  hundred  infantry,  in  which  account  Crucys 
coincides.    If  so  much  discrepancy  is  discovered  in  a 


Flechier,  in  a  letter  written  the  day  fol- 
lowing, after  expressing  himself  in  the 
coarsest  invective  against  the  fi/tiniics,  re- 
marks that  Cavalier  entered  into  the  ne- 
gotiation because  he  was  afraid  of  being 
surrendered.  "  The  reasonings  of  this 
peasant,"  observes  the  prelate,  "are  very 
coarse  and  savage,  although  he  be  preach- 
er, prophet,  and  general :  still  he  is  not 
without  a  fund  of  good  sense  for  effecting 
his  object."§ 

On  the  very  day  of  the  conference  Rol- 
land  completely  defeated  a  strong  de- 
tachment at  Fondmorte.  It  was  com- 
manded by  Courbeville,  who  was  killed, 
with  four  captains,  six  lieutenants,  and 
above  two  hundred  soldiers.  Viala,  an 
advocate,  who  had  been  active  in  troubling 
the  Protestants,  was  taken  with  his  son 
and  nephew :  all  three  were  massacred. 

detail  of  no  moment,  need  we  he  surp'ised  to  find  va- 
riance on  questions  of  real  importance? 

*  Mem.d  Ctcaticr,  quoted  hy  Court. 

t  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p  173.  — Iliueys,  vol.  :i  p.  315. 

J  Court,  vol.  i.  p  330.   §  Flechier,  Lett  re  du  )3.Mni. 


408 


THE  COURT  ACCEPTS  THE  TERMS  OF  THE  TREATY. 


Holland  obtained  great  booty  in  money,  Rolland  urging  him  to  follow  his  example, 
arms  and  clothing.*  This  event  doubt- 1  The  Camisards  were  left  in  possession  of 
less  contributed  to  render  the  government  Calvisson,  awaiting  the  reply  of  the  go- 


more  willing  to  accede  to  Cavalier's  pro- 
posals. 

Cavalier's  troop  was  meanwhile  quar- 
tered like  the  division  of  the  royal  army. 
He  exchanged  visits  with  the  king's  offi- 


vernment ;  and  during  the  interval  were 
treated  with  more  consideration  than  is 
usually  shown  for  the  regular  troops. 
This  did  not,  however,  deter  Cavalier 
from  detaining  hostages,  and  placing  sen- 


cers;  and  in  every  place  had  public  wor-  tinels,  as  if  hostilities  had  continued.  The 
ship,  with  all  the  freedom  of  the  best  times  clergy  were  horrified  at  the  consequences 
of  Protestant  liberty.    He  wrote  to  mar-  to  be  apprehended ;  the  whole  population 


shal  Viilars  expressing  his  regret  at  the 
engagement  of  Fondmorte ;  and  having 
met  D'Aygaliers,  was  urged  by  that  gen- 
tleman to  request  a  conference  with  the 


was  in  such  rapturous  joy  at  free  oppor- 
tunities for  worship  according  to  their 
conscience,  that  the  town  resounded  with 
accents  of  praise;  and  psalms  and  thanks- 


marshal.  D'Aygaliers,  whose  mission  was' givings  were  openly  heard  in  the  streets 
to  make  war  against  the  Camisards,  was  land  public  places.  The  bishop  of  Nismes 
no  sooner  in  their  presence  than  the  divi-  thus  alludes  to  the  spectacle:  "  We  have 


sions  mingled,  embraced,  and  joined  in 
singing  psalms ;  while  the  leaders  con 
versed  on  the  line  of  conduct  to  be  adopt 


seen  Cavalier  at  our  gates :  his  interview 
with  the  marshal  and  M.  de  Basville ;  his 
submission  and  his  pride ;  the  boldness  of 


ed.  D'Aygaliers  convinced  Cavalier  that  the  scelerels  who  accompany  him;  the 
the  happiness  of  all  his  brethren  in  religion 'assembly  of  so  many  unpunished  mur- 


demanded  his  submission,  and  the  Ca 
misard  chieftain  signed  an  offer  to  submit 
with  his  troops  to  the  king's  clemency.t 
After  this  preliminary  Viilars  hastened  to 
bring  the  insurgent  leader  to  positive 
terms,  speculating  probably  on  the  effect 


derers ;  the  concourse  of  new  converts 
who  go  to  see  them;  the  psalms  they 
chant,  and  with  which  the  Vaunage  re- 
sounds; their  sermons,  in  which  they 
utter  a  thousand  extravagancies,  ap- 
plauded by  all  our  people :  the  prophets 


which  this  increase  of  importance  might |  and  prophetesses  who  spring  up  among 
have  on  the  mind  of  an  uneducated  youth. !  them,  and  encourage  the  hope  of  the 
The  arrangements  for  the  meeting  were!  speedy  re-establishment  of  their  religion. — 
speedily  concluded;  hostages  were  left  AH  this  greatly  scandalizes  and  afflicts 
under  the  custody  of  Ravanel;  and  senti-  the  Catholics;  and  seems  sad  to  endure." 
nels  and  piquets  were  posted  to  maintain  But  he  adds,  that  the  hope  of  restoring  the 
a  communication  with  the  main  body  of!  Romish  religion   makes  them  overlook 


the  Camisards,  before  Cavalier  ventured 
on  entering  Nismes.l 

Sandricourt,  governor  of  that  city,  con 


many  things* 

Basville  represented  to  the  marshal  that 
such  a  scandal  ought  not  to  be  tolerated ; 


versing  with  the  marshal,  endeavoured  to! that  the  assemblies  should  be  forbidden, 
prevent  the  conference,  by  representing !  and  the  troops  ordered  to  fall  upon  them. 


the  astonishment  which  would  be  caused 
by  a  low-bred  man,  known  only  by  his 
crimes  and  rebellion,  succeeding  in  con- 


Villars  would  not  listen  to  a  project  cal- 
culated to  revive  the  insurrection,  and  de- 
sired the  intendant  to  be  patient  for  some 


eluding  a  treaty  of  peace  with  his  sove-jtime.  He  sent  word,  however,  to  the 
reign.  Viilars  replied  by  an  allusion  to  chiefs  to  restrain  their  preachers  from  ex- 
the  general  advantage  of  the  state;  and  travagance.t  The  marshal's  biographer 
Cavalier  was  soon  after  announced.  He  makes  no  attempt  to  disguise  his  dislike 
presented  his  sword  to  the  marshal,  who  to  the  Camisards,  whom  he  styles  misera- 
desired  him  to  retain  it;  after  which  theyjble  fanatics;  but  D'Aygaliers,  who  was 
conversed  at  length  upon  the  projected '  present  when  Basville  urged  a  renewal  of 


pacification  § 

After  the  conference  Viilars  wrote  again 


persecution,  has  recorded  an  observation, 
highly  to  the  marshal's  credit.    "  There 


to  court,  and  Cavalier  sent  a  despatch  to:  is  something  very  ridiculous  in  the  impa 


*  Viilars,  vol  ii  p.  177  — Bru  vs  vol.  ii.  p.  3 1 9. 
t  Coiir;,  vol  ii.  p.  360.  !  I6tti  May,  17114. 

$  Viilars,  vol.  ii.  p.  180 — Erue  s,  vol.  ii.  p.  327. 


I     »  Flrchicr,  Letlre  du  23  Mai,  1704.— Tile  language  of 
i  Bruet s  is  similar.    Vol.  ii.  p  331. 
I    t  Viilars,  vol.  ii.  p  187. 


QUARRELS  OF  THE  CAMISARD  CHIEFS. 


409 


tience  of  the  priests  on  tin's  subject :  I  have  who  offered  to  proceed  to  Nismes  and 
received  I  know  not  how  many  letters,  learn  the  conditions  offered.  Villars  and 
filled  with  complaints,  as  if  the  prayers  of  Basville  met  and  discussed  the  terms  as, 
the  Camisards  blistered  not  only  the  ears,  before;  and  Salomon  Couderc  was  au- 
but  the  skins  of  all  the  clergy.  I  wish  thorized  by  the  marshal  to  offer  Rolland 
from  my  heart  I  knew  all  those  who  have  a  colonel's  commission,  with  privileges 
written  to  me,  that  they  might  be  basti-  equal  to  Cavalier.  It  was  soon  evident 
nadoed;  for  I  think  it  a  very  great  impro-  that  Rolland  would  refuse  such  terms; 
priety  that  those  who  have  caused  these  for  Couderc,  before  he  quitted  Nismes, 
disasters  should  complain  and  disapprove  delivered  to  Lalande  a  letter  from  the  in- 
of  the  means  used  to  make  them  cease."*,  flexible  chief  to  the  marshal,  observing,  as 
On  the  22d  of  May,  the  Chevalier  de  he  gave  it,  that  peace  could  not  be  ex- 
St.  Pierre  returned  with  the  answer  of  pected,  without  granting  liberty  of  con- 
the  government  to  Cavalier's  proposals. i  science.  Rolland's  letter  was  to  the  same 
What  were  the  terms  demanded  is  not  effect :  his  conscience  he  declared  would 
known.  Cavalier  being  accused  of  be- [  not  permit  him  to  depose  his  arms  until 
traying  his  party,  for  the  advancement  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  completely  re-es- 
his  own  interests,  has  given  a  prolix  state-  tablished,  and  the  imprisoned  Protestants 
ment  in  his  Memoirs,  which  on  a  close  were  freed.* 

scrutiny  will  appear  full  of  improbabilities:  i  There  were  unfortunately  at  this  period 
such  for  instance,  as  the  asserted  fact  of  some  intriguing  individuals  who  if  com- 
Villars  and  Basville  signing  a  complete  missioned  by  any  party,  must  have  ob- 
approval  of  his  demands,  on  the  day  fol-  tained  their  authority  by  misrepresenta- 
lowing  the  conference.  Common  sense  tion  :  such  were  Sallier,  Guiscard,  Bel- 
would  require  the  submission  of  such  castel,  and  others,  induced,  by  the  despe- 
terms  to  the  king's  approbation;  and  nar-  rate  condition  of  their  fortune,  to  obtain 
rators  of  every  party  agree  that  Villars  the  means  of  improving  it,  by  serving  the 
did  so  send  them  for  the  opinion  of  the  allies,  in  preventing  the  restoration  of 
court,  before  he  ventured  to  sign  the  tranquillity  in  France.  Two  of  these 
treaty.  Basville  was  averse  to  the  very | agents  were  arrested  at  Avignon;  their 
last;  and  only  signed  as  a  matter  of  ne-i  object  was  to  encourage  the  Camisards 
cessity,  such  was  his  hatred  of  the  see-  by  the  promise  of  assistance.  They  were 
UratsA  j  punished,  but  other  emissaries  were  more 

In  consequence  of  the  marshal's  in-  successful  ;f  and  to  this  cause  it  is  rea- 
structions  from  court,  he  delivered  to  Ca-;  sonable  to  attribute  the  extraordinary 
valier  a  commission  of  colonel,  with  the  scene  which  occurred  at  Calvisson,  when 
right  of  appointing  the  officers  of  his  regi-!  Cavalier  returned  there,  after  meeting 
ment,  which  was  to  serve  in  Spain;  and  Rolland. 

a  pension  of  twelve  hundred  livres.t  In  composing  the  regiment  to  be  formed 

Rolland  had  not  yet  submitted ;  but  by  virtue  of  Cavalier's  commission,  Ra- 
hopes  were  entertained  that  Cavalier  vanel  was  named  lieutenant-colonel,  a 
would  persuade  him  to  accept  terms,  such  post  to  which  his  bravery  and  successful 
as  had  been  granted  him;  and  for  that  expeditions  fully  entitled  him.  His  mind 
purpose  the  Camisard  chieftains  met  at  was  under  that  violent  excitement,  which, 
Anduze.  Cavalier  repeated  to  Rolland  when  based  upon  religious  feeling,  ex- 
all  the  arguments  which  D'Aygaliers  had  eludes  all  idea  of  fear,  disregards  every 
used  in  persuading  him;  but  Rolland  was  earthly  consequence,  and  almost  renders 
not  so  easily  drawn  from  what  he  deemed  martyrdom  an  object  of  glory.  The  life 
the  path  of  duty.  He  accused  Cavalier  he  had  led,  the  dangers  to  which  he  had 
of  having  betrayed  the  cause  ;  and  vowed  been  exposed,  the  plaudits  of  his  brethren, 
that  he  would  not  submit  to  any  thing!  which  were  obvious  even  in  the  thanks- 
short  of  recognised  liberty  of  conscience,  givings  offered  to  the  Almighty,  and  the 
The  interview  was  very  stormy,  and  constant  habit  of  mingling  warfare  and 
might  have  had  fatal  consequences,  with-  worship, — altogether,  it  was  no  more  than 
out  the  interposition  of  Salomon  Couderc,  a  natural  result,  that  he,  one  of  the  most 


*  D'Ayjaliers,  quoted  by  Court,  vol.  ii.  [>.  401. 

t  Brueys.  vol.  ii.  p.  3H.       J  Villar?,  vol.  ii  p.  187. 

35 


*  Court,  vol.  ii  p.  410  el  seq. 
t  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p.  194. 


410 


QUARRELS  OF  THE  CAMISARD  CHIEFS. 


active  of  the  Camisards,  should  have 
taken  fire  the  moment  a  suggestion  was 
made  to  him  that  their  cause  was  be- 
trayed. 

Cavalier  on  his  return  to  Calvisson* 
was  questioned  by  Ravanel,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  principal  officers,  on  the  con- 
ditions of  his  treaty  with  the  marshal.  A 
refusal  to  impart  particulars  increased  the 
eagerness  of  the  demand ;  threats  were 
uttered ;  and  when  at  length  Cavalier  in- 
formed them  that  they  were  to  serve  in 
Portugal,  he  was  assailed  with  the  epi- 
thets coward  and  traitor.  Ravanel  vow- 
ed that,  for  his  part,  he  would  not  lay 
down  his  arms  till  religious  liberty  was 
granted,  and  their  temples  were  restored. 
His  violence  caused  Cavalier  to  draw  his 
pistol ;  but  Moyse,  a  preacher,  appeased 
the  rising  quarrel.  With  the  exception 
of  forty  men,  the  troop  of  Camisards  fol- 
lowed Ravanel ;  and  when  Cavalier  en- 
deavoured to  change  their  resolution, 
above  twenty  muskets  were  levelled  at 
him.  Moyse  again  addressed  the  Ca- 
misards, and  saved  their  late  leader's  life; 
but  fearing  a  sentiment  of  attachment 
might  win  them  over  to  the  man  who  had 
formed  them  to  victory,  Ravanel  and 
Moyse  hastened  the  departure  of  the 
troop,  which  took  the  direction  of  Pierre- 
don,  shouting,  "  The  sword  of  the  Lord  !"t 

This  unexpected  scene,  at  a  moment 
when  the  complete  pacification  of  the  pro- 
vince was  hoped  for,  caused  some  display 
of  severe  intentions,  deemed  requisite  as 
a  warning. 

Almost  immediately  after  Ravanel's 
mutiny,  an  ordinance  was  issued,  forbid- 
ding religious  assemblies ;$  and  another 
fixed  the  termination  of  the  period  of  sub- 
mission for  the  5th  of  June;  after  which 
day  the  devastations  of  the  preceding 
year  would  be  renewed.§  At  the  same 
time  Villars  expressed  his  complete  ap- 
proval of  Cavalier's  conduct;  the  remains 
of  his  troop  were  quartered  at  Vala- 
bregues,  an  island  on  the  RhCne,  and  his 
offices  were  accepted  by  Villars,  who 
postponed  his  measures  of  rigour  until 
after  the  result  of  another  effort,  in  con- 
cert with  D'Aygaliers,  to  persuade  the  in- 
surgents to  submit:  with  a  further  view 


*  28th  May,  1704.  .. 
+  Court,  vol.  ii.  PP-  424-431.   Villars,  vol.  II.  p.  169. 
Brueys,  vol  ii.  p.  343. 

1  Dated  Nismes,  2Uth  May,  1704. 
§  Dated  St.  Geiiies,  1st  June,  1704. 


of  conciliation,  he  ordered  the  gibbets  and 
scaffolds  to  be  generally  removed.* 

D'Aygaliers  induced  Rolland  and  Ra- 
vanel who  had  joined  him  to  meet  on  a 
mountain  near  Anduze.  Cavalier's  ap- 
pearance gave  rise  to  some  animated  re- 
proaches between  him  and  Rolland ;  but 
they  afterwards  embraced  each  other. 
Not  so  Ravanel :  he  repeatedly  called  Ca- 
valier a  traitor,  and  a  slave  of  Marshal 
Villars.  Rolland  was  persuaded  to  ac- 
cept the  proffered  terms ;  which,  con- 
sidering all  the  circumstances,  were  very 
reasonable.  Cavalier  and  Rolland  were 
each  to  have  a  regiment,  to  serve  out  of 
the  kingdom ;  each  might  be  attended  by 
a  minister;  the  prisoners  were  to  be  freed, 
the  exiles  recalled,  and  free  permission  to 
be  generally  granted  for  the  emigration 
of  the  new  converts.  The  Camisards 
who  remained  were  to  lay  down  their 
arms;  and  none  were  to  be  molested  for 
their  religion,  if  they  remained  peaceable. 
There  was  moreover  full  and  complete 
amnesty.  But  Ravanel  could  not  suppose 
good  faith,  on  the  part  of  a  king  who  had. 
violated  the  most  solemn  engagements 
with  the  Protestants;  he  suddenly  quitted 
them  to  harangue  the  troop,  and  impress 
his  comrades  with  distrust.  In  conse- 
quence, when  the  negotiators  of  both  par- 
ties proceeded  to  announce  the  result,  an 
advanced  guard  seized  on  R.olland,  and 
upbraiding  him,  carried  him  off  to  the 
main  body.  Cavalier  was  obliged  to  spur 
his  horse,  or  he  would  have  been  sacri- 
ficed ;  and  D'Aygaliers,  who  was  too  far 
advanced  for  retreat,  found  himself  as- 
sailed with  reproaches,  and  his  life  in 
great  danger,  having  six  muskets  close 
pointed  at  his  breast,  and  a  pistol  at  each 
ear.  His  good  intentions  were,  however, 
so  well  appreciated  by  the  preachers,  that 
the  Camisards  were  pacified,  and  he  was 
permitted  to  depart  without  injury.! 

Meanwhile  small  parties  of  the  Ca- 
misards occasionally  rejoined  their  late 
commander:  they  were  well  treated  by 
the  marshal,  and  received  great  attention 
from  the  Protestants  and  new  converts. 
They  prayed  and  sang  psalms  so  much, 
that  the  Catholics  became  indignant,  and 
would  have  thrown  them  into  the  Rhone, 
but  for  the  soldiers.t 

Cavalier  quitted  Valabregues  on  the 


*  Court,  vol.  ii.  p.  455.  -f  Ibid  ,  p  459. 

J  De  la  Baume,  quoted  by  Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  4. 


QUARRELS  OF  THE  CAMISARDS. 


411 


22d  of  June,  accompanied  by  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  It  was  considered  that  if 
the  Cainisard  leaders  had  acted  in  con- 
cert, they  might  have  obtained  favourable 
terms  for  the  Protestants  in  general :  the 
efforts  of  D'Aygaliers,  however  well  inten- 
tioned,  created  jealousy,  and  destroyed 
combination.  The  little  band  was  well 
received  on  their  route.  At  Macon  they 
found  orders  to  halt;  and  Cavalier  came 
on  alone  to  Versailles,  to  confer  with  Cha- 
millard.  The  king  wished  to  see  the  far- 
famed  mountaineer.  Cavalier  was  placed 
on  the  grand  staircase,  and  was  pointed 
out  to  the  haughty  monarch,  as  he  passed; 
surprised  and  perhaps  indignant,  that  one 
so  young  and  homely  should  have  braved 
his  authority,  he  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  passed  on. 

Cavalier  being  suspicious  of  some  trea- 
cherous design  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, communicated  to  his  followers  a 
project  of  evasion.  It  was  generally  ap- 
proved: they  traversed  Montbelliard,  en- 
tered Porentruy,  and  proceeded  to  Lau- 
sanne. 

Villars  recommenced  a  system  of  se- 
verity the  day  after  Cavalier's  departure, 
by  arresting  every  one  supposed  to  be 
connected  with  the  Camisards.  All  the 
prisons  were  crowded,  and  above  five 
thousand  agricultural  labourers  were  im- 
prisoned on  that  suspicion,  until  they 
could  give  evidence  of  their  catholicity. * 
At  the  same  time  a  band  of  Cadets  de  la 
Croix,  who  had  been  imprisoned  for  their 
atrocities,  were  let  loose  upon  the  pro- 
vince, as  auxiliaries  to  the  king's  forces.t 
The  Camisards  on  their  side  resumed  a 
hostile  position ;  but  although  they  con- 
tinued their  former  system  of  warfare, 
they  were  less  inclined  to  violence  than 
before  the  armistice,  of  which  de  la  Baume 
has  recorded  two  examples.! 

Rolland  meanwhile  sent  letters  and 
messages  to  the  marshal,  declaring  his 
willingness  to  surrender,  but  explaining 
that  he  was  restrained  by  his  own  fol- 
lowers. Villars  then  informed  the  king 
that  he  had  to  deal  with  madmen,  who 
after  consenting  to  submit  and  receive  the 

*  Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  54. 

t  Plusieurs  villars  furont  pilles  el  briiles  par  les 
troupes;  on  fit  de  nouveaui  enleveinens  parmi  les  pro- 
leslans  suspects,  el  on  autunsa  de  nouveau  les  course 
des  Cadets  de  la  Croix  .  .  .  les  troupes  regulieres  fi  sil- 
laient  toos  les  t.'amisards  dout  elles  s'emparaient.  Ba 
ragnon,  Jib.  de  f  llisl.  de  Nismes,  vol.  iii.  p.  203. 

f  Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  25. 


royal  pardon,  suddenly  broke  off,  and 
stood  upon  the  defensive.  In  one  of  his 
despatches  the  marshal  observes :  "  If  they 
continue  this  state  of  indecision,  I  shall 
constrain  them  by  force."* 

The  appearance  of  a  hostile  fleet  off  the 
coast  of  Provence  gave  Villars  some 
apprehensions.  A  storm  dispersed  the 
squadron,  and  drove  some  of  the  vessels 
ashore;  by  which  means  two  French 
refugee  officers  were  captured.t  The 
aspect  of  affairs  became  serious,  and  Vil- 
lars devastated  and  massacred,  in  imita- 
tation  of  his  predecessor;  at  the  same 
time  the  judicial  vengeance  was  no  less 
active. 

D'Aygaliers  continued  his  efforts  to 
persuade  Rolland  into  submission,  and  a 
meeting  was  held  at  Durfort  for  discuss- 
ing the  subject;  but  Ravanel's  obstinacy 
prevented  the  success  of  the  negotiation. 
That  enthusiastic  man,  accustomed  to  re- 
gard martyrdom  as  the  highest  honour, 
was  insensible  to  all  idea  of  consideration 
for  others,  desirous  of  leading  a  peaceable 
life,  although  they  would  prefer  death  to 
the  disgrace  of  abandoning  their  party  in 
its  decadence.  In  reply  to  an  observa- 
tion made  by  D'Aygaliers,  he  declared 
with  energy—  "  I  adore  God  !  Cavalier  is 
a  traitor — but  for  my  part,  I  will  serve  the 
Lord,  even  though  thirty  thousand  devils 
would  prevent  it.".t 

The  promise  of  a  hundred  louis  d'or 
induced  a  young  man  named  Malarte  to 
betray  Rolland's  retreat.§  Paratte  sent 
a  battalion  of  infantry  and  some  dragoons 
to  Castelnau,  where  the  formidable  Ca- 
misard was  to  lodge,  The  approach  of 
the  troops  was  not  discovered  until  escape 
was  no  longer  possible.  Rolland,  half- 
dressed,  with  five  of  his  officers,  contrived 
to  reach  some  trees  behind  the  house, 
where  they  were  discovered  and  sur- 
rounded. The  resolute  air  of  these 
i  desperate  men  caused  the  officers  present 
to  hesitate :  the  marshal  would  have  pre- 

■  ferred  taking  them  alive;  but  a  dragoon 

*  Villars,  vol.  ii.  p  2C«. 
)      t  Pierre  Martin,  a  captain  in  the  CiiL'Hsh  service ;  he 
,   was  hanged;    His  companion  was  Charles  o>  Goulaine, 
holding  a  Dutch  commission  ;  he  was  beheaded. 
I  D'Aygaliers, quoted  hy  Court,  vol.  iii.  p  30. 
{  Brneys.  L,nuviel.-uil,  and  the  Mem  de  Villars  exult 
«   upon  a  hit  of  scandal,  respecting  the  demoiselles  Oor> 

•  nely.  said  to  be  the  mistresses  of  Rolland  and  Ins  com- 

*  paaion  Mullie.    If  true,  the  fact  is  not  very  important; 

■  because  the  Camisards.  from  their  station  and  circum- 
stances, could  not  he  selected  as  specimens  id'  Protestant 
conduct :  but,  if  false,  how  disgraceful  for  a  party  to  ad- 

I  vance  such  a  calumnious  argument ! 


412 


EXTINCTION  OF  THE  PARTY. 


speedily  settled  theirdoubts.by  levelling  his 
piece  at  Rolland,  who  fell  dead.  His  com- 
panions made  no  further  resistance,  and 
died  upon  the  wheel  with  great  firmness. 
Five  bishops  who  were  present  at  their 
execution  were  so  lost  to  the  require- 
ments of  propriety,  as  to  manifest  an  in- 
decent joy  at  the  spectacle*  Roiland's 
body  was  brought  to  judgment,  and  con- 
demned to  be  drawn  on  a  hurdle  and 
burned.t 

From  this  time  the  Camisards  sustained 
repeated  losses  and  discouragements.  Ra- 
vanel  remained  undaunted,  until  all  the 
other  leaders  had  made  terms  with  the 
government;  and  by  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber the  insurrection  was  terminated.  The 
Camisards  were  conducted  under  escort 
to  Geneva ;  they  received  the  assurance 
that  their  captive  brethren  should  be  libe- 
rated, and  that  no  Protestant  should  be 
molested  on  account  of  his  religion  .J 

Cavalier  served  with  distinction  in  the 
allied  forces,  and  at  his  death  was  a  gene- 
ral in  the  British  army.  The  arrange- 
ments he  had  concluded  for  his  compa- 
nions would  have  opened  for  them  an 
equally  honourable  career;  but  after  the 
pacification  of  Languedoc,  their  position 
as  discontented  exiles  made  them  an  easy 
prey  to  political  adventurers  and  agents; 
and  particularly  to  such  intriguers  as  Mi- 
remont,  Guiscard,  and  Flotard.  At  the 
instigation  of  one  or  another  of  these  men, 
most  of  the  Camisard  leaders  returned  to 
Languedoc.  The  Duke  of  Berwick  had 
replaced  Villars  in  the  command ;  and  his 
vigilance  detected  a  conspiracy  for  re- 
kindling a  civil  war  in  the  Cevennes,  as  a 
diversion  to  favour  the  alliance  against 
France.  The  death  of  Basville  and  the 
arrest  of  Berwick  were  to  be  the  signals 
of  insurrection  :  at  least  it  is  so  asserted, 
and  with  some  probability.§  The  plot 
being  discovered,  the  result  was  fatal  to 
all  the  conspirators.  Castanet  was  ar- 
rested in  the  Vivafais,  and  died  upon  the 
wheel  at  Montpellier.  Ravanel  and  two 
others  were  taken  in  Nismes ;  and  Catinat 
was  seized  while  passing  the  gates  of  the 
city  in  disguise.  Ravane)  and  Catinat 
were  burned  alive;  their  two  comrades 
were  broken :  all  four  suffered  with  al- 

*  14lli  Aug  1704.    Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  56. 

t  limeys,  vol  ii.  p  377.       I  Court,  vol.  iii.  p  92. 

§  Menard  attributes  the  most  atrocious  projects  to 
these  misguided  men;  but  his  accusation  is  too  violent 
to  merit  refutation.   Hist,  de  Nismes,  vol.  vi.  p.  415. 


most  incredible  resolution;  and  as  it  was 
feared  they  would  address  the  spectators, 
drums  were  beaten  during  their  execu- 
tion. They  had  been  previously  tortured; 
but  although  three  of  them  confessed  pro- 
jects and  accomplices,  no  pain  could  ex- 
tort a  single  confession  from  Ravanel.* 

A  frightful  list  of  executions  followed; 
and,  notwithstanding  these  severe  exam- 
ples, fresh  projects  were  set  on  foot  in 
1707  and  1709.  The  principles  of  the 
insurgents  were  still  founded  on  the  claim 

jof  religious  liberty;  but  they  were  the 
mere  instruments  of  political  purposes. 
Ere  we  quit  this  period  of  cruelty  and 

I  vengeance,  the  unfortunate  destiny  of  the 
Baron  D'Aygaliers  claims  a  passing  re- 
mark. This  nobleman's  well-meant  ex- 
ertions procured  him  the  king's  approba- 
tion, and  a  pension  of  twelve  hundred 
livres.  But  his  residence  in  France  was 
not  permitted.    On  the  payment  of  his 

|  pension  being  withheld,  he  considered 
himself  entitled  to  return  to  his  estates, 
as  the  natural  resource  for  his  supply. 
The  authorities  of  Lyons  were  informed 
of  his  project:  he  was  arrested  as  lie 
passed  through  that  city,  and  conducted 
to  the  castle  of  Loches,  in  Anjou,  where 
he  perished  in  an  effort  to  recover  his 
liberty.  He  had  escaped  from  his  cham- 
ber, by  removing  one  of  the  window  bars, 
with  which  he  despatched  the  first  senti- 
nel, when  another  soldier  fired  upon  and 
killed  him.f 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 

Ri  igns  of  Louis  XV.  and  XVI. 

The  remainder  of  the  reign  was  occu- 
pied with  military  disasters  and  contro- 
versies between  the  contending  sections 
of  the  Romanists.  The  amiable  Fenelon 
and  the  dignified  Noailles  became  in- 
volved in  serious  disputes  through  the 
vehemence  of  the  Jesuit  or  Molinist  par- 
ty; and  even  Madame  de  Maintenon  was 
in  some  measure  embroiled.  The  Je- 
suits were  victorious,  and  the  destruction 
of  Port  Royal  displays  the  measure  of 
their  resentment. 

The  death  of  Father  La  Chaise,  an 
event  seemingly  to  be  desired  by  the 

*  22d  April,  1705.    Brueys,  vol.  ii.  p.  484.   Court,  vol. 
iii.  p.  194, 
t  Court,  vol.  iii.  p.  69. 


DEATH  OF  LOUIS. 


413 


Jansenists,  and  their  off-set  party  the  |  opposed  to  the  Molinist  views.    Yet,  as 

they  were  conformable  to  the  doctrines  of 
St.  Paul,  St.  Augustin,  and  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  one  of  his  assistants  represented 
the  danger  to  which  lie  would  he  exposed, 
if  he  thus  assaulted  those  pillars  of  Chris- 
some  note:  "Animated  with  the  pride  of  j  tianity.     "St.  Paul!"  exclaimed  Tellier 


Quietists,  became  a  misfortune  to  the 
sects  thus  designated  on  account  of  the 
morose  and  vindictive  character  of  the 
new  confessor,  Tellier,  of  whom  the  fol- 
lowing sketch  is  given  by  a  writer  of 


a  wicked  angel,  endowed  with  a  robust 
body,  a  mind  strong  and  capable  of  great 
efforts;  without  the  least  social  virtue,  he 
had  all  the  vices  of  a  vigorous  understand- 
ing. Imbued  with  the  desire  of  power, 
of  subjugating  all  to  his  society,  and  his 
society  to  himself;  incessantly  devoted  to 
his  purpose,  he  was  feared  by  those 
whom  he  obliged,  whom  he  enslaved; 
and  abhorred  by  all  others,  even  his  so- 


with  earnestness:  "  St.  Paul  and  St.  Au- 
gustin were  hot-headed  fellows,  who 
would  in  these  days  be  sent  to  the  Bas- 
tille: with  regard  to  St.  Thomas,  you  may 
judge  how  little  I  care  for  a  Jacobin, 
when  I  scarcely  trouble  myself  about  an 
apostle."* 

Under  the  influence  of  such  a  confes- 
sor, it  is  quite  natural  that  sanguinary 
edicts  should  be  issued  until  the  close  of 


ciety,  which  he  rendered  powerful  and  the  reign;  and  a  declaration  published  not 


odious."* 

His  first  appearance  at  court  sufficiently 
announced  his  disposition.  Aware  that 
his  penitent  would  be  more  struck  by  an 
apparent  contempt  of  courtly  honour  than 
by  the  obsequious  (lattery  with  which  he 
was  usually  surfeited,  he  manifested  from 
the  outset  that  sternness  of  disposition 
which  alone  could  impress  the  king  with 
awe.  When  his  name  was  first  men- 
tioned, Louis  asked  if  he  was  not  related 
to  the  late  chancellor,  Tellier  de  Louvois. 
"Very  far  from  it,"  replied  the  Jesuit, 
bending  reverentially:  "  I  am  a  poor  pea- 
sant of  Lower  Normandy,  where  my  fa- 
ther was  a  farmer."t 

The  confessor,  steady  to  the  tactics  of 
his  society,  immediately  commenced  his 
measures  for  injuring  the  Cardinal  de 
Noailles,  archbishop  of  Paris,  whom  he 
accused  of  Jansenism, to  be  avenged  of 
that  cardinal's  assertion  that  he  sold 
church  preferment.  Circulars  were  ad- 
dressed to  the  bishops,  with  directions  for 
their  conduct,  and  orders  to  denounce 
Noailles  and  Quesnel  to  the  king:  this 
scheme  was,  however,  defeated  by  a  copy 
of  the  circular  falling  into  the  cardinal's 
hands.  It  was  made  public,  and  Tellier 
was  on  the  point  of  being  dismissed.! 
Having  failed  in  that  plan,  the  Jesuit  re- 
solved on  persecuting  Quesnel,  whose 
works  had  been  patronized  by  Noailles; 
and  in  searching  for  propositions  to  be 
condemned,  he  took  care  to  select  those 


*  Duclos,  Mcmoires  secrets  sur  la  re'gne  de  Louis  XIV  , 
vol.  i.  p.  135. 

t  Mum.  (In  Due  de  Saint  Simon,  vol.  iii.  p.  201.  Pans 
1818. 

t  La  Beaumelle,  vol.  v.  p.  131. 

35  s 


long  before  the  death  of  Louis  is  at  once 
a  monument  of  cruelty,  injustice,  and  in- 
capacity.! L  declared  that  a  residence 
in  the  kingdom  of  those  who  had  hereto-; 
fore  professed  the  pretended  reformed  re- 
ligion was  more  than  sufficient  proof  that 
they  had  embraced  the  Catholic  religion, 
without  which  they  would  not  have  been 
tolerated.  Further  on,  and  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  concluding  article  of  the 
edict  of  revocation,  die  whole  body  of 
Protestants  were  exposed  to  the  rigours 
decreed  against  relapsed  heretics,  all  who 
persisted  in  the  pretended  reformed  reli- 
gion being  deemed  in  a  state  of  relapse. 

Within  six  months  Louis  ceased  to 
live;  and  the  heavy  yoke  which  hypo- 
crisy and  bigotry  had  laid  upon  the  na- 
tion during  the  period  he  filled  the  throne 
was  exchanged  for  the  sway  of  a  prince 
completely  the  reverse  of  the  Grand 
Monurque, 

In  this  work  it  would  hardly  be  fair  to 
attempt  a  delineation  of  his  character,  the 
subject  of  these  pages  being  almost  exclu- 
sively connected  with  his  blemishes, 
while  the  more  brilliant  scenes  of  his  pro- 
tracted reign  have  had  no  claim  upon  our 
notice.  The  numerous  panegyrists 
whose  pens  were  enlisted  to  throw  an 
aureole  of  glory  around  this  "  great  era" 
of  the  French  monarchy  have  contributed 
to  mislead  the  judgment  of  subsequent 
times;  but  his  policy,  his  published  senti- 
ments, and  his  personal  conduct  must 
suffer  seriously,  when  subjected  to  the 
analysis  of  impartial  men.  While  hia 
courtiers  were  lavish  in  abject  adulations, 


*  Duclos,  vol.  i.  p.  142.      t  Dated  8ih  March,  1715 


414 


NEW  PERSECUTIONS  DURING  THE  REGENCY. 


he  was  detested  by  the  people  at  large; 
and  the  indecent  joy  displayed  on  the  day 
of  his  interment  must  have  been  grounded 
on  some  very  obnoxious  sentiments.* 

It  may  not  be  misplaced  to  insert  here 
the  opinion  of  a  modern  writer,  compri- 
sing an  idea  which  certainly  should  enter 
largely  into  the  estimate  of  this  monarch's 
character.  "I  demand  of  all  sound 
minds,  of  all  upright  hearts,  free  from 
passion, — the  Convention,  whose  chiefs 
are  justly  stigmatized  for  having  substi- 
tuted the  legislation  of  murder  and  ven- 
geance for  the  code  of  liberty,  does  it  pre- 
sent in  its  decrees  a  single  barbarous  or 
immoral  combination,  the  example  of 
which  has  not  been  given  by  the  council 
of  Louis  XIV. ?"t  The  question  contains 
an  overwhelming  accusation,  the  answer 
to  which  is  beyond  doubt. 

As  his  successor  was  a  mere  child,  the 
Duke  of  Oileans  was  appointed  regent; 
and,  during  the  period  of  his  government 
a  different  policy  was  followed.  His  re- 
putation for  impiety  was  an  earnest  that 
persecution  on  account  of  heterodox  opi- 
nions would  cease;  and  he  commenced 
his  reparatory  measures  immediately 
after  the  late  king's  burial,  when  the 
doors  of  the  Bastille  were  thrown  open  to 
the  victims  of  Father  Tellier,  who  at  first 
relied  upon  the  authority  of  the  deceased 
monarch's  will,  by  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed confessor  to  Louis  XV.  He  pre- 
sented himself  with  confidence,  and  in- 
quired of  the  regent  what  were  to  be  his 
functions  until  the  king  was  of  an  age  to 
need  his  ministry.  "  That  is  no  concern 
of  mine,"  the  regent  coolly  answered: 
"apply  to  your  superiors."  This  rebuff 
tormented  the  imperious  ecclesiastic, 
whose  brethren  took  revenge  by  preach- 
ing most  fanatical  sermons  against  the  go- 
vernment.:}: 

Under  other  circumstances  the  Hugue- 
nots might  have  complained  of  the  re- 
gent's administration,  for  he  maintained 
all  the  edicts  against  Protestant  worship; 
and,  whatever  may  have  been  his  real 
opinion  in  their  favour,  as  has  been  pre- 
tended, he  did  nothing  to  improve  their 
condition. §    Yet,  by  comparison,  they 

*  Lacietelle,  Hist,  de  France  pendant  le  lime  Sieclc. 
Vol.  i  p.  132. 

■f  De  VEiat  den  Protestans  en  France,  par  M.  Aignan, 
de  l'Academie  Frangaise,  p.  23. 
%  Lacretelle,  ul  avtea.  p.  134. 

,»  An  ordinance  dated  20th  July,  1720.  pprmilted  the 
establishment  of  a  burial-place  in  Pans  for  Protestant 


were  in  a  happy  state:  emigration  in  con- 
sequence ceased,  and  although  no  positive 
favour  could  be  expected,  they  were  free 
from  apprehensions  of  fresh  persecution. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  was  succeeded 
in  the  direction  of  affairs  by  the  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  who  had  the  weakness  to  ima- 
gine he  could  immortalize  his  administra- 
tion by  renewing  the  severities  of  Louis 
XIV.;  a  new  persecution  was  in  conse- 
quence commenced  by  an  absurd  and 
odious  edict,  more  cruel  than  that  of  re- 
vocation.* Children  were  torn  from  their 
parents  to  be  educated  in  the  Romish  re- 
ligion; death  was  again  decreed  against 
pastors,  confiscation  against  relapsed  con- 
verts, and  every  kind  of  oppression  en- 
dured in  the  late  reign  was  renewed;  and 
this  disgraceful  measure  has  been  styled 
a  masterpiece  of  Christian  policy.! 

There  was  some  abatement  of  the  hor- 
rors of  persecution  while  Cardinal  Fleury 
was  prime  minister;  yet  the  system  did 
not  terminate  for  many  years;  and,  to 
judge  from  the  writings  of  more  than  one 
prelate,  an  unabated  desire  existed  to  be 
freed  from  the  presence  of  heretics.  A 
memorial  from  the  clergy  in  April,  1745, 
declared  there  was  no  hope  of  their  con- 
version, and  that  there  was  rising  up  a 
generation  of  Protestants,  more  obstinate 
and  headstrong  than  their  fathers.  "They 
may  protest  fidelity,  and  publish  that  the 
spirit  which  pervades  their  assemblies  is 
free  from  revolt  and  insurrection;  but  they 
will  be  good  subjects  no  farther  than  fear 
constrains  them. "J 

Monclus,  bishop  of  Alais,  in  reply  to 
an  intendant  who  was  a  friend  to  tole- 
rance, thus  writes:  "  The  magistrates 
have  relaxed  the  severity  of  the  ordinances, 
and  thus  caused  all  the  evils  of  which  the 
state  has  to  complain. "§  Chabannes, 
bishop  of  Agen,  about  the  same  time  pub- 
lished a  letter,  in  which  he  laments  the 
incurable  obstinacy  of  the  heretics,  and 

foreigners ;  but  every  precaution  was  taken  that  no 
French  body  should  be  interred  there  ;  and  the  6th  clause 
especially  declares  that  the  public  profession  of  the  Pro- 
testant rejujion  was  not  permitted,  even  to  foreigners, 
who  wi  re  forbidden  all  ceremonial  in  the  sepultures; 
nor  could  any  Frenchman  be  present 

*  Dated  May,  1724.  This  declaration,  observes  M. 
Boissy  U' A riplas,  forms  the  summary  of  all  the  t>enal 
provisions  scattered  I  hroughout  the  laws  of  Louis  XI V  , 
some  of  w  hich  it  renders  even  more  severe. —  Kssai  sur 
la  vie  de  Maleshcrbes,  vol.  i.  p.  18. 

|  CaVevrac,  Ayologie  de  Louis  XIV..  p.  449. 

i  Proces  Verbaux  de  l'Assem'dce  generale  du  Clerge. 
quoted  by  Menard,  vol.  vi  p.  601). 

k  Reponse  de  M.  l'eveque  d'Alais,  dated  6  Octobre, 
1751. 


EXECUTION  AND  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


415 


recommends  that  the  state  should  he  freed 
from  them  by  permitting  their  departure. 

The  bishop  had  heard  indirectly  that 
the  edict  of  Nantes  was  to  be  re-enacted: 
this  horrified  his  intolerant  soul,  and  he 
composed  a  tract  which  is  no  credit  to  the 
Romish  party.  He  commences  by 
praising  the  piety  of  Louis  XIV.,  who 
made  the  greatest  sacrifices  at  the  peace 
of  Ryswick,  rather  than  listen  to  any  pro- 
posal in  favour  of  the  Protestants.  '•  He 
renounced  the  fruit  of  his  victories,  pur- 
chased with  so  much  blood  and  toil;  he 
even  acknowledged  the  usurper  of  Eng- 
land, notwithstanding  the  ties  which 
bound  him  to  the  dispossessed  king — he 
granted  all,  he  yielded  all;  he  surrendered 
every  thing  except  the  return  of  the  here- 
tics." The  bishop  then  argues,  that 
what  Louis  XIV.  refused,  being  in  the 
greatest  difficulty,  his  successor  cannot 
yield  in  the  midst  of  prosperity.* 

This  correspondence  arose  out  of  the 
inconvenience  perpetually  springing  up, 
respecting  marriage  and  baptism  among 
the  Protestants;  a  subject  which  renders 
it  necessary  to  revert  to  an  earlier  period. 
Ever  since  the  edict  of  revocation  the  ju- 
risprudence had  assumed  that  there  were 
no  Protestants  in  France;  while  edict  ra- 
pidly followed  edict,  inflicting  penalties 
upon  Protestants  and  new  converts 
leaving  the  kingdom.  The  church  of 
Rome  declaring  marriage  a  sacrament, 
could  not  administer  that  rite  to  any  who 
denied  its  ecclesiastical  authority;  and  in 
consequence,  the  new  converts  were 
called  upon  to  give  proof  of  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism, before  their  marriages  could  be 
celebrated.  The  Huguenots  sought  their 
proscribed  pastors  in  the  deserts  and  fo- 
rests. When  the  benediction  of  a  minis- 
ter could  not  be  obtained,  the  blessing 
was  pronounced  by  aged  heads  of  fami- 
lies, awaiting  the  occasion  of  a  pastor's 
arrival;  and  whenever  it  was  known  that 
a  minister  was  in  the  country,  multitudes 
hastened  to  meet  him,  to  have  a  religious 
sanction  conferred  on  their  unions,  to 
present  their  children  for  baptism,  and  to 
receive  the  sacrament  of  communion.t 


*  Lettre  rie  M.  rew^que'd'Agen  a  M.  le  contrdleut  ge- 
neral contre  la  tolerance  des  Huguenots  Hans  le  roy 
aume.  It  Mai  1751.  This  pamphlet  was  so  eagerly 
Bought  for  that  ii  could  nor  be  procured  without  difli 
culty;  but  it  was  reprinted,  in  17.W,  by  Court,  along 
with  the  Patrinte  Fravvai<e  and  Impartial,  which  is  a  se- 
vere commentary  on  the  letter 

t  Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  p.  174.   Menard  also  testifies  to 


As  the  assemblies  in  the  Desert  con- 
sisted of  many  thousand  persons,  a  fresh 
persecution  occurred  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  their  suppression.*  In  a  report 
addressed  to  the  secretary  of  state  the 
severities  are  not  concealed.  In  Langue- 
doc  twenty-eight  persons,  and  in  Guyenne 
forty-five,  were  condemned  to  the  galleys, 
and  attached  to  the  chain  of  fa  real s,  for 
nothing  else  than  attending  these  meetings 
for  worship.  In  Normandy,  the  goods 
of  those  who  had  not  allowed  their  chil- 
dren to  be  baptized  by  the  cure  were  sold 
without  any  form  of  procedure.  These 
iniquities  occurred  in  1746;t  and  in  1752 
an  attempt  to  re-baptize  by  force  the  chil- 
dren of  Protestants  caused  such  resistance 
at  Ledignan,  in  the  diocess  of  Nismes, 
that  the  measure  was  relinquished.! 

The  punishment  of  death  was  inflicted 
upon  all  ministers  who  fell  into  the  power 
of  the  government.  M.  Desubas,  a  young 
preacher,  was    arrested   in  December, 

1745,  and  conducted  by  a  body  of  soldiers 
to  Vernoux  in  the  Vivarais.  Some  of 
his  flock,  learning  his  capture,  assembled 
on  the  road,  unarmed,  to  implore  his 
liberation:  a  discharge  of  musketry  was 
the  reply  to  their  appeal,  when  six  per- 
sons were  killed,  and  four  were  made 
prisoners.  Crowds  arrived  at  A7ernoux 
to  intercede  for  their  pastor's  life.  The 
assemblage  was  fired  upon — thirty-six 
were  killed,  and  two  hundred  wounded; 
the  greater  part  mortally.  The  feelings 
excited  by  this  wanton  cruelty  might 
have  led  to  serious  consequences,  as  the 
majority  of  the  population  was  protestant, 
and  the  escort  not  very  powerful;  the 
pastors  however  exerted  themselves  in 
persuading  the  people  to  abstain  from 
violence. §  Desubas  was  conveyed  to 
Montpellier,  where  he  was  condemned  to 
death,  and  suffered  on  the  1st  of  February, 

1746,  in  presence  of  an  immense  con- 
course of  people:  his  conversation  with 
those  who  visited  him  in  prison,  and  his 
calm  behaviour  at  the  time  of  execution, 


their  steadfastness  in  describing  their  assemblies  in 
1743.    Hist  de  Nismes.  vol.  vi.  p.  5'M. 

*  C'nninie  les  Protestans  be discontiuuaient  pas  leurs 
assemblies,  it  fa.Ua.it  punir  les  nouveaui  convertia  des 
lieux  de  I'arrnnilissemeni  dans  lesquels ellus se  tenaient, 
Menard,  vol.  vi.  p.  tj'26. 

t  Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  p.  340. 

i  Menard,  vol.  vi.  p.  032. 

$  A  biographer  of  Paul  Rabant  mentions  that  minis- 
ter's noble  conduct  on  this  occasion.  Vide  Appendix. 
No.  6. 


416        EXECUTION  AND  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


kindled  much  commiseration,  even  among 
the  Catholics  * 

The  minister  Benezet,  arrested  at 
Vigan,  wis  executed  at  Montpellier  in 
January,  1752.  Francis  Rochette,  ano- 
ther minister,  suffered  at  Toulouse,  in 
1702,  with  three  brothers,  named  Grenier. 
The  eldest  was  not  twenty-two  years  of 
age.  Tlfey  had  endeavoured  to  release 
their  pastor  from  captivity,  and  were  be- 
headed close  to  the  gibbet  on  which 
Rochette  was  hanged. t  They  were  I 
offered  their  lives  if  they  would  abjure;  I 
but  their  firmness  did  not  relieve  them  I 
from  the  obtruding  solicitations  of  four 
priests,  who  beset  them  until  the  fatal 
moment.  As  the  crucifix  was  occasion- 
ally presented  to  the  brothers,  the  eldest 
observed:  "Speak  to  us  of  him  who  died 
for  our  sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justi- 
fication, and  we  are  ready  to  listen;  but 
do  not  introduce  your  superstitions." 
Rochette  was  forced  to  descend  in  front 
of  the  cathedral,  where  he  was  ordered  to 
make  the  amende  honorable;  but  he 
boldly  declared  his  principles,  refused  to 
ask  pardon  of  the  king,  and  forgave  his 
judges:  to  the  hist  he  displayed  a  martyr's 
constancy.  The  brothers  Grenier  were 
equally  firm.  After  two  had  suffered,  the 
executioner  entreated  the  youngest  to 
escape  their  fate  by  abjuring.  "Do  thy 
duty,"  was  the  answer  he  received,  as 
the  youth  submitted  to  the  axe.| 

The  celebrated  Calas,  broken  on  the 
wheel  upon  a  false  charge  of  having 
killed  one  of  his  children,  who  was  dis- 
posed to  become  a  catholic — an  injustice 
discovered  too  late;  and  the  filial  tender- 
ness of  Fabre,  who  suffered  condemnation 
to  the  galleys  in  the  place  of  his  father, 
are  so  well  known  that  allusion  to  them 
is  sufficient.  The  effect  produced  upon 
the  public  mind,  when  the  circumstances 
were  made  known,  contributed  essentially 
to  the  removal  of  a  great  reproach  upon 
French  legislation. 

The  habit  of  excluding  Protestants 
from  every  advantage  was  so  confirmed 
at  this  period  that,  in  a  list  of  twenty- 
seven  soldiers,  entitled,  by  government 
order,  to   subsistence    as  invalids,  the 


*  Hist,  of  the  Persecutions  endured  by  the  Prote.-tants 
of  the  South  of  France,  hy  Mark  Wilks.  vol.  i.  p.  7. 

t  Rulhiere,  vol.  ii.  p.  351.  Boissy  d'Anglas,  vol.  i.  p. 
379. 

j  From  the  Toulousaines,  a  series  of  letters  published 
in  17G3. 


names  of  two  German  Lutherans  are 
erased,  with  a  marginal  explanation  of 
the  cause  against  each, — -'Sent  home  to 
his  own  country  with  sixty  francs,  per- 
sisting in  his  religion."  The  name  of  a 
third  German  Protestant  is  allowed  to 
remain,  he  having  consented  to  abjure. 
The  document  is  dated  19th  August,  1762. 
This  may  have  been  unknown  to  the 
minister  of  war,  and  seems  a  consequence 
of  the  previous  regulations;  for  all  en- 
lightened classes  now  began  to  exclaim 
against  the  illiberal,  exclusive  nature  of 
the  laws  and  administrations  respecting 
non-Catholics.  At  the  same  time  there 
were  so  many  changes  required,  of  far 
greater  importance,  that  this  abuse  was 
long  overlooked,  and  so  late  as  1791  it 
was  necessary  to  profess  the  Romish  re- 
ligion to  be  admitted  into  the  Hospital  of 
the  Invalids.  The  impulse  was,  however, 
given,  and  every  thing  indicated  the  ap- 
proach of  an  era  of  justice. 

An  effort  was  made  by  the  clergy,  in 
1765,  to  resist  the  tendency  to  toleration 
by  a  remonstrance  to  the  king.  "  It  is  in 
vain,"  that  body  declares,  "  that  all  public 
worship,  other  than  the  Catholic,  is  for- 
bidden in  your  dominions.  In  contempt 
of  the  wisest  laws,  the  Protestants  have 
seditious  meetings  on  every  side.  Their 
ministers  preach  heresy  and  administer 
the  Supper;  and  we  have  the  pain  of  be- 
holding altar  raised  against  altar,  and  the 
pulpit  of  pestilence  opposing  that  of  truth. 
If  the  law  which  revoked  the  edict  of 
Nantes — if  your  declaration  of  1724  had 
been  strictly  observed,  we  venture  to  say 
there  would  be  no  more  Calvinists  in 
France  Consider  the  effects  of  a  tole- 
rance which  may  become  cruel  by  its 
results.  Restore,  sire!  restore  to  the 
laws  all  their  vigour — to  religion  its 
splendour.  Let  the  solemn  renewal  of 
your  declaration  of  1724,  the  fruit  of  your 
wisdom  and  piety,  be  the  happy  result  of 
our  remonstrance."  Similar  representa- 
tions were  made  by  the  clergy  in  1770 
and  1772  against  the  Protestant  assem- 
blies.* The  hostility  shown  to  this  mea- 
ore,  half  toleration  has  inflicted  a  perma- 
nent evil  on  France.  Protestantism  was 
suppressed  to  the  extent  of  administrative 
power;  but  as  no  enactments  could  enforce 
sincere  respect  for  the  victorious  church 
of  Rome,  a  spread  of  irreligion  has  been 


Boissy  d'Anglas,  ut  antea,  vol.  i.  p.  18. 


THE  PERSECUTION  RELAXES. 


417 


the  consequence.  Ardent  Huguenots 
defied  authority  and  braved  martyrdom; 
while  the  indifferent,  although  they  de- 
clared themselves  converted,  were  unable 
to  submit  their  conscience  to  papal  tyran- 
ny, and  became  the  leaders  and  teachers 
of  the  Encyclopaedist  school. 

The  philosophic  party,  in  its  hatred  of 
the  clergy,*  co-operated  vviih  the  enlight- 
ened members  of  the  educated  classes  in 
producing  a  mitigation  of  the  code  under 
which  the  Huguenots  groaned;  and  the 
writings  of  Caveyrac  and  the  Abbe  L'En- 
fant,f  in  favour  of  bigotry,  were  received 
with  general  contempt.  Louis  XVI. 
gave  an  edict  in  1787,  which  improved 
the  condition  of  Protestants  in  a  small 
degree.  This  ill-fated  king,  although  re- 
markable for  humane  feelings,  was  still 
influenced  by  education,  as  well  as  by 
respect  for  the  opinions  and  policy  of  his 
immediate  predecessors;  and,  without  the 
exertions  of  the  admirable  Lamoignon 
Malesherbes,  it  is  doubtful  whether  this 
edict  would  have  been  obtained.];  That 
eminent  man  was  indefatigable  in  the 
council  and  by  his  writings.  41  It  is  the 
least,"  he  observed  on  one  occasion, 
"  that  I  can  do  to  repair,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Protestants,  all  the  harm  which  M. 
de  Basville,  my  uncle,  did  to  them  in 
Languedoc."§ 

The  concessions  were  no  more  than 
what  could  not  be  with  safety  withheld; 
and  the  terms  of  the  edict  expressly  state 
"that  the  non-Catholics  cannot  claim 
under  its  provisions  more  than  the  law  of 
nature  forbids  being  refused."  In  short 
it  only  conferred  the  means  of  recording 
the  civil  existence  of  the  Huguenots; 
nothing  like  a  privilege  was  granted; 
and  an  express  stipulation  was  made  to 
prevent  any  Protestant  minister  fiom 
signing  certificates  establishing-  the  birth, 
marriage,  or  decease  of  one  of  his  flock. 


*  The  astonishing  popularity  of  Voltaire's  Writings 
effected  much,  and  In-  e.vei  ted  his  influence  with  eminent 
persons  in  behalf  of  totem  lion— particularly  Marshal 
Richelieu,  10  whom  he  addressed  an  admirable  letter  on 
the  subject,  in  1772. 

t  This  writer,  after  grossly  disfiguring  history.,  ob- 
serves, "Telle  est,  Sire  la  filiation  ile  t'irreliguin,  dont 
le  Calvin  i snie  est  la  souche." — Discours  u  lire  au  Lonseil, 
&.C.,  p.  223. 

1  Gilbert  des  Voisins,  conseiller  d'etat,  composed  a 
Memoirc  sur  Us  moyeiisde  ilunner  aui  Protesfans  un  ctat 
civil  en  France.  It  was  written  by  order  of  Louis  XV, 
and  read  to  bun  in  private,  but  remained  unpublished 
until  17H7.  The  consistonal  library  of  the  Oratorio  has 
n  number  of  pamphlets  on  this  subject,  winch  drew  forth 
much  controversy. 

$  Boissy  D'Anglas,  vol.  i.  p.  31. 


The  religious  assemblies  were  no  longer 
the  object  of  such  vigilant  pursuit;  but 
the  Protestant  worship  existed  by  suffer- 
ance rather  than  by  permission. 

The  boon  was  trivial,  yet  the  edict  was 
opposed  in  its  progress,*  and  the  cause  of 
fanaticism  found  a  zealous  defender  in  M. 
D'Epresmenil,  who  resisted  to  the  last, 
and  called  upon  the  magistrates  to  avoid 
"  crucifying  the  Lord  anew"  by  the  sanc- 
tion ofsuch  a  sacrilegious  measure.  It  may 
indeed  be  doubted  whether  any  conces- 
sion would  have  been  made  if  the  different 
parliaments  had  not, on  several  occasions, 
given  decrees  in  favour  of  the  Protestants. 
One  or  two  instances  will  display  the 
civil  degradation  of  the  Huguenots  until 
the  sanctuary  of  justice  afforded  some 
relief. 

Andre  Greffeuille,  a  Protestant,  left  by 
will  certain  property  to  his  daughter;  and 
his  widow,  to  whom  he  had  been  married 
in  the  desert,  proceeded  to  act  as  guardian 
of  her  child.  But  Jean  Roche,  the  re- 
siduary legatee,  iniquitously  endeavoured 
to  take  the  whole  property;  and  obtained 
a  favourable  decree  from  the  seneschal  of 
Nismes  on  the  grounds  of  the  absence  of 
legal  forms  in  the  marriage:  the  child  was, 

to  o  » 

in  fact,  baptized  at  the  church  as  the 
natural  daughter  of  Andre  Greffeuille 
and  Susannah  Metge,  living  in  concu- 
binage; for  such  was  the  invariable  mode 
of  describing  the  children  of  Protestants. 
However,  a  declaration  from  the  paternal 
relatives  that  the  parents  had  been  mar- 
ried in  the  Protestant  form,  and  that  the 
child  was  always  regarded  as  legitimate, 
sufficed  to  obtain  a  decree  in  her  favour. f 
The  same  parliament  gave  other  de- 
cisions in  favour  of  widows,  to  whose 
prejudice  collateral  relatives  had  raised 
claims,  grounded  on  their  pretended  con- 
cubinage; or  restoring  the  heritage  to 
children,  whose  legitimacy  was  disputed.]: 
These  conclusions  were  based  upon 
equity:  there  had  existed  impediments, 
arising  out  of  contradictory  enactments, 
and  the  principles  of  justice  were  de- 


*  The  bishop  of  Rnchelle  issued  a  maiidement; dated 
26th  Feb.,  1788  enjoining  his  clergy  to  refuse  their  mi- 
nistry to  all  non  Catholics,  referring  them  to  the  secu- 
lar authorities.  The  king  was  displeased,  and  by  arrets 
du  conscil  3d  April,  1788,  declared  the  mandement  very 
reprehensible,  and  ordered  it  to  be  considered  as  non 
avenu. 

t  Arret  du  paiiement  de  Toulouse,  9  Mars,  1759. 

[  Ai-rets  dated  19th  Aug.,  1709;  9th  July,  1770;  and 
17th  July,  1770;  the  parliament  of  Grenoble  gave  a  simi- 
lar decree,  10th  Feb.  1778. 


418 


PARTIAL  FREEDOM  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION. 


fended,  in  opposition  to  conflicting  tech- 1 
nicalities.  Yet,  on  one  occasion,  the  i 
parliament  of  Toulouse  gave  a  judgment 
which  involved  a  still  greater  principle. 
Antoine  Beneeh,  a  Protestant,  being  on 
his  death-bed  in  1747,  was  summoned 
by  a  cure,  in  the  presence  of  three  wit- 
nesses, to  receive  the  sacraments  of  the 
church.  He  refused,  and  the  court  of 
Montauban  confiscated  his  property,  as  a 
relapsed  heretic,  under  the  enactments  of 
1715  and  1724,  by  which  all  persons 
persisting  in  the  pretended  reformed  re- 
ligion are  declared  relap.s.  An  appeal 
was  presented  against  this  decision  in 
1769;  and  after  a  delay  of  eight  months, 
the  parliament  decreed,  that  as  no  one 
could  be  declared  a  relapsed  heretic  who 
had  not  abjured,  the  memory  of  the  de- 
ceased was  free  from  calumny,  and  his 
property  must  in  consequence  pass  to  the 
next  of  kin.* 

The  decrees  of  the  National  assembly 
opened  a  new  era  for  the  Huguenots. 
In  the  sittings  of  August  and  September, 
1789,  the  non -Catholics  were  declared 
eligible  to  all  public  functions.  They 
were  no  longer  an  inferior  caste,  and  be- 
came candidates  for  civil  and  military 
employments.  It  was  therefore  natural 
that  the  revolution  should  be  hailed  with 
joy  by  those  who  from  their  cradles  had 
endured  severe  persecutions:  they  re- 
ceived a  benefit  far  beyond  the  range  of 
their  expectations,  their  forlorn  condition 
forbidding  the  contemplation  of  a  change 
so  favourable.  Yet  the  adversaries  of 
religious  freedom  accuse  them  of  disturb- 
ing the  good  feeling  which  prevailed  at 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution;  and 
represent  them  as  aggressors,  where  evi- 
dence abounds  to  substantiate  their  in- 
tended doom  as  victims. 

The  news  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Bastille  gave  rise  to  the  most  joyous  en- 
thusiasm at  Nismes.  The  nobility  and 
clergy  of  that  province  had  been  fore- 
most in  promoting  the  establishment  of  a 
limited  monarchy;  and  until  the  church 
property  fell  into  discussion,  and  was  de- 
voted to  public  purposes,  the  greatest 
harmony  prevailed;!  for  at  that  time  the 
new  constitution  was  generally  in  favour. 

*  Arret  du  parlement  tie  Toulouse,  10  Juillet,  1770. 

t  The  elfiCI  ion  of  twelve  commissioners  lor  organizing 
the  milice  JVismoise  in  July,  1789,  passed  off  Willi  per- 
fect harmony  M.  Vidal, subsequently  a  violent  ultra, 
was  among  the  successful  candidates. 


But  a  proposal  in  the  National  Assembly* 
lo  sequestrate  the  ecclesiastical  revenues 
kindled  a  sympathy  between  the  secular 
clergy  of  all  ranks,  the  regular  clergy  of 
all  denominations,  and  the  noblesse,  who 
could  duly  appreciate  the  retreat  of  a  rich 
benefice  as  a  good  provision  for  younger 
sons.  The  nobility  and  clergy  had  al- 
ready begun  to  quit  the  countiy,  and 
their  adherents  prepared  for  the  organi- 
zation of  patties  in  the  municipal  coun- 
cils of  Nismes,  and  for  raising  separate 
companies  in  the  national  guard.  These 
intrigues  began  in  December,  1789,  when 
meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  a 
cure,  and  in  the  church  of  the  Penitens 
Blancs.  Other  cures  co-operated,  and 
their  efforts  were  directed  to  inflame  the 
people.t  In  all  subsequent  elections,  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  interests  were 
placed  in  hostile  array;  and  at  the  muni- 
cipal elections  in  February,  1790,  out  of 
the  eighteen  members,  only  one  Protest- 
ant was  elected.  The  Catholic  clergy 
had  previously  circulated  some  inflamma- 
tory, or,  more  properly  speaking,  incen- 
diary pamphlets  to  excite  a  feeling  against 
the  Protestants,  and  urging  the  necessity 
of  their  destruction.  f 

One  of  the  chief  instigators  in  this  un- 
happy business,  named  Froment,  being 
disappointed  of  the  full  recompense  for 
his  services,  at  the  restoration  of  the  royal 
family,  published  a  statement  of  his  ex- 
ertions in  behalf  of  the  clergy  in  1790; 
and  it  is  not  assuming  too  much  lo  de- 
clare, that  the  intrigues  of  such  persons 
were  the  sole  causes  of  the  trouble  and 
confusion  which  followed,  and  of  the 
animosity  displayed  between  the  Pro- 
testants and  Catholics  of  Nismes. § 

*  10th  Oct.,  1789. 

f  Lauze  de  Peret,2e  livraison,  pp.  174—  210  Thisau- 
thor  will  he  frequently  referred  to.  His  work  consists 
of  two  pans ;  h  claircissemens  liistoriques,  in  three  livrai- 
sons,  Paris,  1818  ;  and  Causes  et  precis  des  Troubles,  &c  , 
ill  1  vol  ,  Paris,  1819. 

J  1  have  fortunately  procured  two  of  these  violent 
tracts,  the  character  of  which  may  he  gathered  from  an 
extract  from  each  : — "  Je  ne  crains  pas  d'assurer  qu'ac- 
corder  aux  protestans  la  liberie  du  culte  radmissioti 
aux  charges  et  aux  honnenrs  civils  et  militaires,  c'est 
urn  malqui  oe  renferme  aucun  avantage  reel  pour  vous 
ni  pour  I'etat,  niais  qui  Men  plus  expose  I'un  et  I'autre 
aux  plus  grands  desastres.'*  Pierre  Romaiv  aux  Catka- 
liques  de  JVismes,  p  4.  "  Les  calhohques  de  la  Sine- 
cha.issee  n'oni  jamais  entendu  dormer  a  leins  deputes 
le  droit  de  les  sonmetlre  au  deppotisrhe  de  leurs  plus 
cruels  ennemis',  el  ils  deviendraient  reelli  merit  les  es* 
cla  vi  s  iles  protestans  si  on  accorduii  a  ces  fnnatiques  re- 
publicainsln  liberie  du  culte."  Charles  Sincere  d  Pierre 
Romaiit,  p  10. 

$  This  was  so  evident  that  Froment's  pamphlets  were 
soon  suppressed  :  he  published  one  in  19 15',  another  in 
I  1817.   Tlte  latter  I  have  been  able  to  procure ;  but  I  only 


REVIVAL  OF  PERSECUTION  AT  NISMES. 


419 


"  Faithful  to  my  religion  and  my  king," 
says  M.  Froment,  "I  endeavoured  to 
diffuse  the  spirit  bv  which  I  was  animated. 
I  published  in  1789  several  writings,  in 
which  I  exhibited  the  dangers  that  threat- 
ened the  altar  and  the  throne.  My  fellow 
countrymen  beingstruck  with  the  justness 
of  my  observations,  displayed  the  most 
ardent  zeal;  and  with  a  desire  to  avail 
myself  of  the  favourable  feeling,  1  went 
secretly  to  Turin  in  January,  1790,  to 
solicit  the  approbation  and  assistance  of 
the  French  princes.  At  a  special  meeting 
held  on  my  arrival,  I  showed  that  if  they 
would  arm  the  partisans  of  the  altar  and 
the  throne,  making  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion march  with  those  of  loyalty,  it  would 
be  easy  to  save  both.  .  .  After  a  general 
plan  was  decided  upon,  and  a  secret 
correspondence  arranged,  I  returned  to 
Nismes;  where  while  I  awaited  the  pro- 
mised assistance  from  Turin,  and  which 
I  never  received,  I  employed  myself  in 
exciting  the  zeal  of  the  inhabitants.  It 
was  at  my  suggestion  they  adopted  the 
declaration  of  the  20lh  of  April,  which 
demanded  that  the  Catholic  worship 
alone  should  be  permitted,  and  which 
was  signed  by  three  thousand  citizens."* 

Unhappily  this  band  of  conspirators 
was  encouraged  by  the  municipal  authori- 
ties;! and  with  such  support  they  were 
enabled  to  create  some  confusion  at  the 
elections  for  departmental  officers;  yet 
not  to  the  extent  expected  by  Froment 
and  his  friends,  who  piepared  for  a  vigor- 
ous effort.  The  13th  of  June  was  the 
day  fixed  upon;  when  about  two  hundred 
leaguers  attacked  some  dragoons,!  who 
drove  them  back  after  long  resistance. 
At  the  same  lime  Froment  despatched 
messengers  into  the  country  parishes,  to 
claim  help;  asserting  as  a  motive  to  en- 
force the  appeal,  that  unarmed  Catholics 
were  massacred  at  Nismes.  The  mes- 
sengers were  arrested,  and  their  letters 

know  the  other  through  Hip  extracts  given  by  Lauze  de 
Peret  and  Mark  VVilks. 

♦  Lnuze  lie  Peret,  2e  livraison.  p.  JOG. — Priidhomme, 
Rh-ohition' d'  Piris  Ni.  44  p.  3(19. 

t  Verites  bistoriques  *ur  les  evenemens  arrives  a 
Nismes  le  13  de  Juin  et  les  jours  suiians.  PnDliees  par 
lecluhdes  Amisde  la  Constitution,  en  Jui Hot,  1780,  p  2 

+  These  were  the  ravalrv  of  the  national  guard,  they 
were  composed  of  the  wealthiest  among  the  inhabitants 
of  Nismes,  and  comprised  inanv  Protestants  The  com- 
panies raised  under  party  influence,  and  consisting  of 
violent  Catholics,  had  frequent  quarrels  with  them. 
They  prepared  on  the  sth  June  to  express  their  contempt 
bv  proceeding  through  the  town  mounted  on  asse«;  hut 
the  authorities  prevented  them.  Resume  dcs  Prods  Ver- 
bauz,  p.  21. 


thus  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  electoral 
assembly,  created,  as  may  be  well  sup- 
posed, much  indignation  at  such  a  per- 
fidious attempt  to  cast  upon  their  intended 
victims  the  odium  and  initiative  of  the 
project  framed  by  the  conspirators.*  In 
the  fermentation  which  ensued,  all  the 
Protestants  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
rustics  were  murdered. f 

On  the  following  morning,  at  seven 
o'clock,  the  procureur  du  roi  proceeded 
to  verify  the  number  of  slain,  when  he 
was  informed  that  there  was  fighting  in 
the  adjoining  streets.  The  national 
guards  were  drawn  up  on  the  esplanade 
facing  the  convent  of  the  Capucins,  a  place 
notorious  as  the  focus  of  conspiracy,  and 
whence  the  most  inflammatory  libels  had 
been  issued.  The  convent  being  sus- 
pected was  searched,  but  nothing  was 
discovered:  however,  to  the  surprise  of 
all,  a  firing  was  heard:  it  was  supposed 
lo  proceed  from  the  convent;  and  M. 
Massip,  the  municipal  officer  of  St. 
Come,  was  killed.!  The  national  guards 
rushed  forward  to  attack  the  convent;  and 
the  superior,  from  a  window,  insulted 
the  assailants,  while  the  convent  bell  was 
rung  to  summon  aid.  The  expected 
support  did  not  arrive  in  time;  the  gate 
was  forced  open,  and  five  Capucins  with 
three  laymen  were  killed  on  the  spot. 
The  edifice  was  then  attacked;  and  while 
it  is  stated  by  one  party  that,  even  in 
their  rage,  the  people  respected  the  chapel 
and  objets  du  arite,  their  opponents 
charge  them  with  rapacious  pillage.§ 

Meanwhile  Froment  and  his  partisans 
kept  up  a  fire  from  the  ramparts,  whither 
they  had  retreated.  He  was  not  aware 
of  his  letters  being  intercepted, ||  and  main- 
tained the  conflict,  fully  expecting  the 
arrival  of  multitudes  from  the  country  to 
support  him.  He  placed  thirty  men  in 
the  Dominican  convent,  decidedly  again3t 


*  On  searching  the  houses  of  the  abbe  Cabanel  and 
Hrajouze,  curate  of  St.  Paul,  arms  were  discovered. 
Verites  historif/ues.  p.  13 

{•  l.au/.e  de  Peret,  3«  livraison,  pp  21—34.  This  an. 
thhr  has  drawn  largely  for  information  from  the  official 
report  made  to  the  National  Assembly  by  M.  Alquier. 

i  Vide  Appendix,  No.  8. 

■S  I  ,a  uze  de  Peret,  3"  livraison,  pp  39  et  44. — Veritis 
Hittoriqtiis.  &c,  p  12  The  letter  states  that  four  men 
were  with  the  monks  and  refers  to  a  prorcs  verbal, 
drawn  up  by  the  cure  of  St.  Castor,  to  show  that  profa- 
nation occiirrred.  The  Resume  des  Pror.es  Verbauz  (p. 
32)  pretends,  on  the  other  hand,  that  plunder  and  devas- 
tation took  place. 

1  The  letters  of  Froment  and  Oescombies  to  the  Mar- 
quis de  Bouzols,  commandant  of  Languedoc,  are  given 
at  length  in  the  Veritas  fflstoriques,  &c,  p.  20. 


420 


REVIVAL  OF  PERSECUTION  AT  NISMES. 


the  wishes  of  the  monks,  while  another 
party  took  a  position  in  Froment's  house. 
With  a  view  to  prevent  the  threatened 
loss  of  life,  the  electoral  assembly  sent  a 
flag  of  truce,  accompanied  by  the  town 
trumpeter:  a  parley  ensued,  and  the 
leaguers  consented  to  surrender  to  the 
assembly.  The  white  flag  was  displayed, 
and  preparations  were  commenced  for 
executing  the  terms,  when  the  firing  was 
renewed  from  the  ramparts,  and  recon- 
ciliation became  impossible.  A.  vigorous 
attack  followed  immediately,  and  the 
leaguers  experienced  the  effects  of  popu- 
lar fury.  Most  of  them  were  killed  on 
the  spot;  and  among  the  number  was 
Pierre  Froment,  brother  of  the  chief  con- 
spirator.* 

The  disturbance  created  a  great  sensa- 
tion in  the  National  Assembly,  as  it  was 
represented  in  the  light  of  an  attack  upon 
the  Catholics  by  the  Protestants,  a  charge 
which  has  been  frequently  repeated  since 
the  restoration.  In  consequence,  Rabaut 
St.  Etienne,  deputy  of  Nismes,  addressed 
the  assembly:  "  A  number  of  facts  de- 
monstrate that  the  afTair  of  Nismes,  far 
from  being  a  war  of  religion  excited  by 
the  animosity  of  Protestants  against  I 
Catholics,  had  religion  only  for  pretext; 
but  for  its  principal  object,  the  restoration 
of  the  old  government;  and  that  the  two 
parties  of  Nismes,  far  from  being  Pro- 
testants against  Catholics,  were,  on  one 
side,  the  friends  of  liberty  and  the  consti- 
tution, both  Protestant  and  Catholic;  and 
on  the  other,  all  those  of  both  religions 
who  were  discontented  with  the  revolu- 
tion,— ci-devant  nobles,  canons,  &e."f 
This  assertion  has  been  denounced  as  a 
calumny;  but  Froment's  publication  has 
established  its  correctness.! 

This  conflict  has  obtained  the  name  of 
the  bagarre  de  Nismes.  One  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  persons  were  killed;  four 
were  severely  wounded;  and  twenty-four 
houses  were  pillaged  or  destroyed.  The 
loss  was  most  severe  on  the  side  of  the 

*  Lauzo  dfi  Peret  3e  livraison,  pp.  44  ct  seq.  Wiiks, 
p.  71     Verites  Historiques,  p.  14. 
t  Seance  tin  24  Fevrier.  1791. 

I  A  cette  epnque  (Janvier,  17!)0  )  je  fns  charge  par  S. 
A-  R.  Monsieur  le  Comte  d'Artois.  alors  a  Turin,  de 
former  un  pirti  royaliste  dans  le  in  id  i,  do  I  organiser  et 
de  le  commander :  je  remplis  ma  mission  avec  succes; 
mats  le  1.1  Juin.  17'JO  ayant  fete  attaque  a  Nismes  par 
des  forces  lies  siiperieuros.  avant  d'avoir  rec/ii  les  armes 
et  les  secours  qu'on  m'avait  promts,  je  perdis  dans  cette 
lulte  un  de  mes  freres  et  sept  :i  huit  cents  rnyalistes. 
Fromenl,  Letlre  a  M.  le  Marquis  de  Foucault,  &c,  ldl7, 
p.  24. 


leaguers,  two-thirds  being  of  that  party: 
but  it  was  a  combat,  and  not  a  massacre, 
as  the  Catholics  maintain;  and  which 
they  have  exaggerated  with  shameless 
effrontery,  declaring  that  in  1790  fifteen 
hundred  victims  were  massacred,  and  that 
priests  were  slain  at  the  foot  of  their 
altars.* 

During  the  reign  of  terror  the  Protest- 
ants suffered  in  the  same  proportion  as 
the  Catholics:  this  being  incontestably 
established  by  the  list  of  condemnations 
is  a  proof  that  religion  was  not  in  ques- 
tion.! To  condemn  the  Protestants  in 
general,  as  Jacobins  and  revolutionists,  is 
therefore  a  monstrous  injustice  as  well  as 
an  absurdity;  yet  such  was  the  prevalent 
opinion  among  the  ultra-royalists  after 
the  restoration;  and  the  sentiment  was 
strengthened  by  an  expression  attributed 
to  Malesherbes;  who  after  expatiating  on 
the  benefits  which  Louis  XVI.  had  con- 
ferred on  the  Protestants,  exclaimed: 
"  Some  gratitude  was  due  from  them;  but 
it  is  known  that  the  king  had  no  enemies 
more  cruel."  This  was  repeated  and 
enlarged  upon,  although  there  is  not  the 
least  proof  that  Malesherbes  ever  uttered 
such  a  phrase;!  and  the  illiberal  feeling 
gave  rise  to  a  series  of  events  which  pre- 
vent the  conclusion  of  our  task  at  this 
period;  for  the  rights  of  conscience  and 
liberty  of  worship  were  legally  admitted 
when  the  anarchy  of  1792  was  replaced 
by  a  regular  government.  The  spirit  of! 
party  then  vanished;  during  a  period  of 
nearly  twenty  years  none  ever  dreamed 
of  inquiring  into  his  neighbour's  religious 
opinions;  and  if  any  fanatical  feeling 
existed,  it  was  silenced  by  the  irresistible 
authoritv  of  the  laws. 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 


Restoration  of  Louis  XVIIt. — Troubles  at  Nismes  and 
environs 

The  return  of  the  Bourbon  princes 


*  Mcmoircs  Happorl,  &c,  presented  to  the  king,  23d 
Aug..  1815.  Another  account,  hostile  tothe  Protestants, 
was  published  in  Sepr.,  171)0,  entitled  Details  circon- 
slanciis.  &c;  but  the  event  was  then  too  recent  to  per- 
mil  such  gross  exaggeration — at  least  in  the  numbers; 
although  a  distortion  of  the  facts  is  very  glaring,  even 
there. 

t  Lanze  de  Peret  gives  the  name  and  residence  of  each 
victim  :  there  were  ninety-one  Catholics,  lorty-six  Pro- 
testants, and  one  Jew. 

1  Boissy  d' A  nglas  expresses  great  doubt  on  the  subject, 
vol.  i.  p.  37. 


PROVOCATIONS  OF 


THE  PROTESTANTS. 


421 


was  sincerely  hailed  by  the  French  Pro- 
testants. In  most  towns  their  numbers 
were  too  small  to  attract  observation;  but 
at  Nismes,  and  in  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts, they  constituted  a  large  proportion 
of  the  inhabitants.  There  were  instances 
of  Protestants  beingappointed  mayors;  but 
none  were  ever  named  prefect,  procureur- 
general,  nor  chief  president  of  the  Cour 
Royale,  in  the  department  of  the  Gard. 

As  the  majority  ofthe  Protestants  were 
engaged  in  commerce  or  manufactures,  the 
fall  of  Napoleon  was  to  them  the  dawn  of 
prosperity :  a  wide  field  was  opened  for 
their  operations,  and  they  had  no  motive 
for  any  concealed  affection  towards  the 
deposed  dynasty.  In  the  religious  ser- 
vices with  which  they  celebrated  the  re- 
storation, their  loyalty  was  manifested  in 
an  unequivocal  manner,  the  return  of  the 
Israelites  from  the  Babylonish  captivity 
being  selected  as  the  closest  parallel  in 
sacred  history.*  The  Catholics  on  the 
other  hand  did  not  conceal  their  regret  at 
the  change  ;  and  when  the  Royal  govern- 
ment was  established,  the  more  zealous 
among  them  renewed  their  demonstrations 
of  animosity,  and  persisted  in  representing 
the  Protestants  as  Jacobins.t  In  their 
view  none  but  Catholics  could  possibly 
entertain  correct  political  sentiments  ;  and 
the  members  of  the  rival  religions  were 
on  a  sudden  enrolled  in  opposing  interests 
— such  a  division  was  at  least  assumed 
by  the  ultra-royalists,  who  styled  them- 
selves les  honnetes  gem.  The  Marquis 
d'Arbaud  Jouques,  in  attempting  to  justify 
his  party,  indirectly  admits  an  aggression. 
"  The  popular  joy  among  the  Catholics 
was  unbounded,  but  not  without  a  mix- 
ture of  bitter  recollections,  and  imprudent 
threats  against  theCalvinists.  The  senti- 
ments manifested  by  the  latter  on  this  oc- 
casion were  on  the  contrary  free  from  re- 
proach."}: 

The  mayor  of  Nismes,  M.  Castelnau, 
member  of  an  ancient  noble  family,  was 
a  Protestant ;  and  he  quickly  experienced 
the  insults  of  a  bigoted  faction.  Being  in 
public  with  the  other  authorities  on  occa- 
sion of  a  fete  to  celebrate  the  restoration, 
while  shouts  of  applause  greeted  the  pre- 


*  Wilks,  p.  97. 

t  Protestans  oil  revolutionnaires,  disait  on.c'est  sy- 
nonyme.  Le  Journal  du  Ganl  I'impi iiriait.  J.,auzede 
Peret,  liv.  i.  p.  55. 

I  Troubles et  agitations  du  departementduGard,  &c, 
par  le  Marquis  d'Arbaud  Jouques,  p.  3. 

36 


feet,  numerous  voices  exclaimed  a  has  le 
rnaire .'  Some  even  ordered  him  to  re- 
sign his  office.  M.  Vincent  Saint  Lau- 
rent, whose  influence  had  in  1790  pre- 
served the  property  of  a  violent  partisan 
named  Vidal,*  was  in  the  prefect's  box  at 
the  theatre :  immediately  the  public  in- 
sisted on  his  being  sent  away,  calling  out 
to  the  prefect  to  purify  his  box.f  When 
Catholics  met  Protestants  in  the  streets, 
they  cried  out  Five  le  rot .'  with  mena- 
cing gests;  and  insulting  songs  were  con- 
stantly heard.  One  in  particular  had  a 
refrain  worthy  ofthe  sixteenth  century — 
"  They  would  wash  their  hands  in  Protes- 
tant blood."!  The  lower  orders  were 
speedily  trained  to  ferocity,  and  the  caba- 
rets and  market-places  resounded  with 
phrases  such  as  these :  "  Marianne  will 
soon  come  down — The  black  throats 
must  go  back  to  the  ftigottlletles — The 
charter  will  last  but  a  month — The  St. 
Bartholomew  is  not  far  off."} 

To  these  portentous  warnings  must  be 
added  the  proceedings  of  some  influential 
individuals.  It  was  currently  reported, 
that,  according  to  the  declarations  of  per- 
sons of  rank,  the  country  would  never  be 
quiet  without  a  second  St.  Bartholomew.!! 
In  May,  18 14,  an  address  to  the  king  was 
drawn  up  at  Nismes,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  declaration  of  St.  Ouen,  on  which 
the  charter  was  founded :  it  boasted  of  the 
principles  of  1790,  and  called  for  the  esta- 
blishment of  absolute  power.  Addresses 
were  also  voted  in  other  towns,  declaring 
that  there  ought  to  be  only  one  religion  in 
France — one  God,  one  king,  one  faith : 
that  was  the  motto  of  the  party,  and  it 
was  inscribed  over  the  gates  of  Lyons 
when  the  Count  d'Artois  entered  that 
city.1T  The  celebrated  Carnot  has  also 
denounced  the  manifestation  of  a  similar 
feeling;  for  he  mentions  that  some  indivi- 
duals connected  with  the  old  parliament 
were  advancing  the  most  senseless  pre- 
tensions of  vengeance,  the  necessity  of 

*  Vidal  was  n  zealous  supporter  of  Ffoment's  conspi- 
racy:  he  was  very  conspicuous  in  the  troubles  of  1815, 
as  commissary  general  of  polios  for  the  s  mthern  depart- 
ments. 

t  Purgcr  sa  log*.  Lauze  de  Peret,  3"  Hvrai50n,  p  04. 
The  first  volume  is  in  three  distinct  parts  ;  the  second 
has  a  continued  pagination. 

I  Lavaren  n'istri  mans 

Din  lou  sang  di  Proutestans. 

§  Marianne  is  the  hell  of  t  he  Protestant  temp'e;  gorac* 
uoires,  a  name  given  to  the  Protestant?;  les  frigoulette.-t 
means  the  worship  in  the  desert.  Lauze  de  Peret,  3= 
livraison,  p.  !)5.    Wilks,  p  J00. 

-  Biblio'hdquc  Historique,  vol  i.  p.  251. 

IT  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 


422 


PROVOCATION  OF  THE  PROTESTANTS. 


absolute  intolerance,  and  of  one  exclusive 
religion.* 

Another  symptom  of  reaction  was  the 
organized  demand  for  restoring  the  bi- 
shoprics suppressed  by  the  revolution: 
this  was  coupled  with  uniform  recom- 
mendations given  by  the  clergy  to  their 
penitents  to  say  a  certain  number  of  paler 
and  ave  for  the  prosperity  of  the  throne, 
and  the  re-establishment  of  the  Jesuits.t 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this  state  of  irri- 
tation, the  king's  authority  was  suffi- 
ciently maintained  to  prevent  any  out- 
break. Castelnau  resigned  his  mayor-] 
alty,  on  account  of  the  hostile  feelings 
publicly  manifested :  Louis  XVIII.  imme- 
diately named  as  his  successor  another 
Protestant,  M.  Daunant,  to  whose  energy 
the  people  of  Nismes  were  indebted  for 
the  preservation  of  order :  but  the  zealous 
discharge  of  his  duties  drew  upon  him  the 
sneers  and  malevolent  insinuations  of  the 
violent  royalists. 

The  "Men  of  1790"  continued  inde- 
fatigable in  the  prosecution  of  their  de- 
signs; and  fresh  insults  were  daily  offered 
to  the  Protestants,  whose  conduct  was 
cruelly  misrepresented  to  the  govern- 
ment. A  writer,  who  has  carefully  in- 
vestigated the  proceedings  of  this  period, 
observes,  in  alluding  to  the  service  in 
January,  1815,  to  commemorate  the  death 
of  Louis  XVI. :  "  The  sermons  and  prayers 
delivered  on  the  occasion  at  Nismes  were 
printed  and  distributed  by  the  consistory; 
but  this,  like  all  other  acts  of  respect  and 
loyalty,  was  despised  and  perverted  :  they 
were  told  it  was  in  vain  for  them  to  dis- 
semble; that,  in  spite  of  their  pretended 
loyalty,  their  security  had  terminated  with 
the  reign  of  Napoleon ;  that  their  temples 
would  soon  be  razed,  and  their  ministers 
proscribed."! 

It  has  been  surmised,  and  with  great  pro- 
bability, that  the  ultra-royalists  wished  to 
goad  the  Protestants  into  some  act  of  re- 
bellion, by  which  they  might  obtain  an  oc- 
casion for  acquiring  importance;  because 
unfortunately  for  those  ambitious  notabili- 
ties, the  king  did  not  dismiss  all  the  func- 
tionaries whom  he  found  in  the  public 
service.  The  inferior  classes  discerned 
the  impending  storm  much  earlier  than 
the  wealthy  Protestants;  the  merchants 


*  JHcmoire  adressc  au  lioi,  Juillct,  1814. 

t  Wilks,  p.  108.  t  Ibid.  p.  122. 


and  manufacturers  indulged  in  the  hope 
of  better  times,  when  the  king  would  be 
more  amply  informed ;  but  the  labourers 
and  husbandmen  soon  abandoned  their 
confidence  in  the  promises  of  Louis 
XVIII. ;  and  when  Napoleon  returned 
from  Elba  they  hailed  his  appearance  as 
a  preservation  from  the  Jesuits.  The 
Cafe  de  File  d' 'Elbe  was  thenceforth  the 
rendezvous  of  all  who  disliked  the  per- 
spective of  sacerdotal  influence;  among 
whom  were  many  Catholics,  and  almost 
all  the  disbanded  officers :  it  is  therefore 
with  injustice  that  the  caf6  has  been  de- 
signated as  the  seat  of  a  Protestant  con- 
spiracy for  restoring  Napoleon. 

There  is  now  no  doubt  of  the  essenti- 
ally military  origin  of  the  revolution  of 
■  1815;  and  it  is  equally  well  known  that 
[Nismes  was  one  of  the  very  last  places  in 
France  to  submit  to  the  emperor.  How- 
ever, the  purposes  of  faction  required  an 
(accusation  against  the  Protestants  of  the 
Card,  the  only  department  where  they 
form  an  important  body;  and  for  a  time 
the  party  wreaked  its  vengeance  on  the 
unhappy  inhabitants  while  the  tribunals 
were  either  enlisted  as  assistants  in  the 
relentless  work,  or  had  become  powerless 
'to  afford  protection  or  redress. 

The   duke  d'Angouleme   arrived  at 
Nismes  on  the  12th  of  March,  1815.  In 
reply  to  his  proclamation,  the  Protestants 
of  the  higher  classes  volunteered  their 
j services  for  the  royal  cause;  but  the  fac- 
tion prevented  their  offer  from  being  ac- 
cepted.   Accused  of  dissimulation,  they 
were  obliged  to  withdraw  from  the  ranks, 
as  they  heard  repeated  on  all  sides — 
j"We  will  not  allow  these  rascally  Protes- 
tants to  join  us."* 

The  prince,  it  is  notorious,  was  unable 
to  keep  the  field,  and  having  capitulated 
at  La  Palud,  his  army  of  miqnehls  was  dis- 
banded.! These  men  being  hastily  levied, 
deficient  in  discipline,  and  excited  by  poli- 
tical animosity,  frequently  conducted  them- 
selves in  an  unruly  manner ;  but  only  in 
one  instance  did  any  thing  serious  occur, 
although  ihey  had  to  pass  in  detachments 
through  a  district  inhabited  by  those  who 
are  designated  as  their  blood-thirsty  and 


*  Lauze  de  Peret,  Causes  et  precis,  p.  37. 

t  JYliovelets  are  volunteers  enrolled  for  local  service 
without  uniform,  and  armed  according  lo  ilie  means  at 
their  command.  The  term  was  used  in  the  Uamisard 
wars,  and  appears  peculiar  to  the  South,  where  it  is  ap- 
plied only  by  opponents. 


PARTY  AFFRAY  AT  ARPAILLARGUES. 


423 


savage  enemies.  The  unfortunate  excep- 
tion has  however  been  so  much  exagge- 
rated, that  it  demands  a  circumstantial 
mention. 

Not  far  from  Uzes  is  the  village  of 
Arpaillargues,  inhabited  almost  entirely  by 
Protestants!.     Through  this  place  fifty 
royalist  volunteers   had  to  pass;  and 
they  would  undoubtedly  have  traversed 
it  as  quietly  as  their  comrades  had  passed 
other  towns,  if  a  mischievous  individual, 
named  Bertrand,  a  Catholic,  had  not  has-j 
tened  on  horseback  to  Arpaillargues,  to( 
announce  that  the  miquelets  were  ad 
vancing,  and  that  on  their  route  they  had  J 
plundered  houses,  violated  females,  and 
murdered  forty  Protestant  ministers.* 

Such  a  report  being  spread,  Boucarut, 
mayor  of  the  village,  summoned  the  in- 
habitants, who  prepared  for  defence.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  miquelets,  who  had 
no  hostile  intentions,  on  hearing  the  tocsin, 
reversed  their  arms  as  they  approached, 
to  manifest  their  friendly  disposition. 
Having  stated  their  desire  to  pass  through 
the  village,  the  mayor  offered  them  safety 
and  accommodation,  if  they  would  lay 
aside  their  arms ;  but  refused  them  even 
the  permission  to  enter,  unless  they  com-j 
plied  with  that  stipulation  of  the  treaty  of 
La  Palud ;  and  to  infringe  which  they 
had  berm  advised  by  their  commander, 
General  Vogue,  as  they  might  soon  re-' 
quire  them  eigain.j  At  the  same  time  their  j 
ungenerous  leaders  had  abandoned  them, 
to  reach  their  homes  as  they  best  could. 

At  first  there  appeared  a  willingness  to 
yield  to  the  mayor's  demand,  but  some  of 
the  party  attempted  to  enter  the  village 
without  complying  with  the  terms.  The 
suspicions  of  the  inhabitants  were  aroused, 
confusion  ensued,  and  in  apprehension  of 
the  horrors  reported  by  Bertrand,  the 
miquelets  were  attacked  and  severely 
treated.  Four  were  wounded,  of  whom 
two  died,  one  in  the  village,  the  other  in 
the  hospital  of  Uzes4    The  affray  was 

*  Tins  man's  culpability,  as  to  the  original  cause  of 
the  affray,  was  amply  prove  I  al  the  trial,  and  was  de- 
clared in  the  speech  of  the  procureur-general  Bernard  : 
— "Si  tons  les  accuses  ulaient  devant  vous,  je  iigoale- 

rais  d'abord,  conime  les  plus  coupables,' Bertrand  

Boucarut— qui  ont  mis  euxmetnes  les  armes  <i  la  main 
aux  habitans  d'Arpaillargnes  :  Bertrand,  qui  a  dit  que 
les  volontaires  royaux  pillaient,  violaient  les  femincs 
les  jelaient  ensuite  par  les  fenetres,  et  qu'ils  avaient 
assassine  quarante  ministers  proteslans."  Page  32  of 
the  speech,  printed  separately  at  Avignon  in  ISlfi. 

t  Lauze  de  Peret  gives  the  depositions  of  three  of  the 
volunteers,  to  this  effect.    Vol  ii.  p.  79. 

$  In  no  other  country  would  *Jie  public  accuser  be  al- 


truly  lamentable  in  itself;  but  its  conse- 
quences were  rendered  still  more  so.  At 
the  second  restoration,  the  villagers  of 
Arpaillargues  were  selected  as  objects  of 
judicial  vengeance;  when  three  men  and 
two  women  were  guillotined  for  the  al- 
leged assassination  of  royalist  volunteers.* 
In  addition,  the  melancholy  event  has  been 
repeatedly  put  forward  to  justify  the  bar- 
barities committed  by  the  ultra-royalists, 
who  endeavour  to  shelter  the  excesses  of 
religious  fanaticism  under  the  pretext  of 
political  reaction.  Even  the  king's  pro- 
clamation! is  not  free  from  party  colour- 
ing; it  contains  the  following  unjust  as- 
sertion: ''Atrocious  persecutions  have 
been  committed  against  those  of  our  faith- 
ful subjects  who  under  the  banners  of  our 
beloved  nephew  courageously  attempted 
to  save  France." 

But  to  return  to  the  affray  at  Arpail- 
largues— the  proces-verbal  of  the  judge 
de  paix  of  Uzes  corroborates  the  pre- 
ceding account.  "  We  learned  from  a 
royalist  volunteer,  who  was  confined  in 
the  prison  of  Arpaillargues,  that  the 
stranger  was  killed  for  endeavouring,  at 
the  head  of  armed  men,  to  enter  by 
violence  the  said  commune  of  Arpail- 
largues, at  the  moment  when  the  inhabi- 
tants offered  to  furnish  them  with  every 
tiling  they  could  want,  on  condition  that 
they  should  not  enter  without  surrendering 
their  arms:  a  condition  which  they  would 
not  accept,  wishing  to  enter  armed.  This 
occasioned  the  insurrection  of  the  inhabi- 
tants and  the  death  of  the  stranger.  The 
same  statement  has  been  made  to  us  by 
several  inhabitants  of  the  commune."} 
Boucarut,  the  mayor,  was  included  in  the 


lowed  to  use  such  language  as  this :  "  Fourrieret  Calvet 
ne  furent  pas  les  seuls  qui  pe  rtirent  la  vie  dans  cetle 
funesle  soiree ;  inais  il  n'a  pas  cte  possible  de  faire  le 
denorritrremenl  exact  des  volontaires  royaux  qui  n'om 
plus  repo.ru  ;  el  qui,  par  conee'iuent,  sont  presumes  avuir 
ptri."  Kequis.tuire  de  M.  Bernard,  p  10.  Fifieen 
months  had  elapsed,  and  there  had  not  been  time  to  see 
who  was  missing  in  a  company  of  fifty  !! 

*  The  court  of  assizes,  by  decree  dated  II  July,  18J6, 
condemns  eight  persons  to  death,  and  one  to  the  galleys 
for  life.  The  sentence  wascominuted  in  favour  of  three. 
The  others  suffered  at  the  close  of  September  following  : 
three  at  Nismes,.  and  two  at  Arpaillargues.  The  de- 
tails of  their  behaviour  at  the  awful  moment,  as  related 
by  the  Rev.  Mark  Wilks,  h  ive  leen  continued  to  me  by 
a  most  respectable  inhabitant  of  \ismes.  In  ]61U  the 
King  granted  a  free  pardon  to  the  survivors. 

t  Oated  1  Sept.  1815,  countersigned  "  Pasquier." 

j  This  prods  verbal,  dated  the  12lh  April,  the  day 
after  the  occurrence,  was  commented  upon  by  the  pro- 
cureur  general,  Bernard,  who  maintained  the  right  of 
the  soldiers  to  force  an  entrance,  as  it  was  a  public  road. 
He  had  the  prudence  to  say  nothing  of  the  treaty  con- 
cluded three  days  previous. 


424 


TREACHERY  OF  THE  ROYALISTS  AT  NISMES. 


accusation;  but,  being  absent,  was  con- 
demned only  for  contumace.  He  subse- 
quently returned  to  Arpaillargues,  where 
he  remained  unmolested :  the  return  of 
tranquillity  insured  him  a  fair  trial  if  called 
to  account ;  but  the  true  circumstances 
of  the  case  being  well  known,  he  remained 
unmolested.  On  the  other  hand,  Ber- 
trand,  the  malicious  and  mischievous 
cause  of  the  disaster,  being  placed  on  his 
trial,  was  acquitted.  The  Abbe  Raffin, 
his  employer,  ex-vicar  general  of  Alais, 
testified  in  his  favour,  "that,  being  born 
and  educated  in  the  Catholic  religion,  he 
scrupulously  practised  all  its  duties,  and 
professed  all  its  holy  principles."*  The 
testimonial  further  mentioned  that  Ber- 
trand  had  exposed  himself  in  the  royal 
cause  at  Aries,  in  1790.  At  the  period 
under  consideration,  such  a  man  could 
defy  justice  before  the  tribunals  of  the 
Card. 

The  affair  of  Arpaillargues  is  not  the 
only  charge  of  cruelty  exercised  by  the 
Protestants  during  "the  hundred  days." 
One  zealous  partisan  has  had  the  hardi- 
hood to  accuse  them  of  assassinating  three 
hundred  royalist  volunteers.t  This  ca- 
lumny drew  forth  a  reply  from  a  magis- 
trate of  Nismes,  who  declared  that  inqui- 
ries, made  with  scrupulous  care,  had 
established  the  proof  that  only  two  volun- 
teers perished  in  the  department  of  the 
Gard ;  and  they  were  traversing  the  vil- 
lage of  Arpaillargues  with  a  numerous 
troop,  of  which  they  formed  part.J 

The  news  of  Napoleon's  defeat  at  Wa- 
terloo revived  the  spirits  of  the  Catholics ; 
and  the  remains  of  the  army  collected  by 
the  Duke  O'Angouleme  reassembled  at 
Beaucaire,  where  they  were  rapidly  joined 
by  numbers,  ever  ready  to  enlist  in  the 
ranks  of  the  stronger  party.  No  opposi- 
tion was  made  to  the  proclamation  of 
Louis  XVIII.,  at  Nismes,  after  it  was 
known  that  the  government  was  changed 
at  Paris.  The  urban  guard,  a  corps 
raised  under  the  imperial  government,  was 
disbanded  ;  and  the  readiness  of  the  Pro- 
testants to  surrender  their  arms  deprived 
the  partisans  of  civil  war  of  all  pretext  for 
an  attack  upon  Nismes.§ 

But  the  precautions  which  common  re- 

*  Wilks,  p.  155.    Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p  91. 
t  Alphonse  Beauchamp,  Hist,  de  la  Campagne  de  1815. 
1  Letter  of  M  Achille  Daunant,  in  Journal  de  Paris, 
lllh  Sept.,  1617. 
§  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  182. 


sponsibility  demanded  of  the  superior 
military  officers  were  converted  into  a 
ground  of  accusation,  and  perverted  to 
justify  a  scene  of  horror.-  The  braves  de 
Beaucaire  gave  early  proof  of  a  preda- 
tory disposition,  and  the  measures  adopted 
for  preserving  Nismes  from  plunder  were 
construed  into  a  defiance  of  the  king's 
authority.  The  religious  prejudices  of  the 
rabble  had  been  artfully  excited,*  and,  in 
an  official  harangue,  delivered  soon  after, 
D'Arbaud  Jouques  declared  that  the  de- 
partment was  agitated  by  resentments,  re- 
collections, and  rivalries,  more  religious 
than  political.! 

Count  Rene  de  Bernis,  one  of  the  royal 
commissioners  for  directing  the  govern- 
ment, allowed  the  army  of  Beaucaire,  an 
undisciplined  horde,  to  enter  Nismes, 
without  attending  to  maintain  order  by 
his  presence.  The  chiefs  of  a  ferocious 
band  already  collected  in  the  town  were 
Jacques  Uupont,  surnamed  Trestaillons; 
Graffan,  alias  Quatre  Taillons;  Truphe- 
my,  a  butcher,  and  about  six  others — 
names  devoted  to  execration.  Their  first 
exploit  at  Nismes  was  equal  to  the  worst 
episodes  of  1 793. 

The  garrison  of  that  city  consisted  of 
two  battalions  of  infantry;  there  were 
also  in  the  barracks  five  pieces  of  artillery. 
The  accounts  of  Waterloo  caused  great 
desertion  ;  and,  at  this  time,  their  numbers 
were  reduced  to  about  two  hundred,  offi- 
cers included.  The  soldiers  had  assumed 
the  white  cockade,  and  only  waited  orders 
from  the  competent  authorities  to  regulate 
their  future  movements.  After  the  depar- 
ture of  General  Gilly,  who  resigned  his 
command  on  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  his  au- 
thority had  devolved  on  General  Maul- 
mont,  who  no  sooner  heard  that  the 
royalists  were  advancing  from  Beaucaire, 
than  he  took  a  position  on  an  eminence 
as  a  measure  of  precaution:  however,  as 
no  hostile  movement  followed,  the  troops 
returned  to  their  barracks.  At  length  the 
populace  was  fully  excited,  and,  being 
backed  by  the  royalist  forces,  a  mob  as- 
sembled, and  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  cannons.  In  vain  did  Maulmont  en- 
deavour to  convince  the  people  of  the  im- 
propriety of  their  demand;  they  replied  to 


*  This  has  been  confirmed  to  the  author  by  one  who 
joined  the  levy. 

t  Speech  on  occasion  of  his  installation  as  prefect  at 
Nismes,  30lh  July,  1815. 


CRUELTIES  PRACTISED  AT  NISMES. 


425 


his  harangue  by  a  discharge  of  fire-arms: 
he  retired  with  his  officers  into  the  bar- 


J  soldiers  were  massacred.  Some  in  at- 
tempting to  escape  by  the  roofs,  or  over 


racks,  and  closed  the  gates.  The  mob  garden  walls,  fell  and  broke  their  limbs, 
meanwhile  was  rapidly  increasing,  as  the, and  in  that  condition  were  mangled  by 
alarm-bell  was  rung;  and  the  country  their  relentless  enemies.  The  gendarmes, 
population  thronged  into  Nismes,  deluded  j  drawn  up  to  protect  the  unhappy  men,  re- 


by  a  report  that  the  Catholics  were  being 
murdered  by  protestant  insurgents.* 

As  the  mob  continued  to  attack  the 
barracks,  and  threatened  the  utmost  vio- 
lence, the  soldiers  resolved  to  sell  their 
lives  dearly,  and  a  few  shots  were  fired 
from  the  windows,  which  killed  some  of 
the  assailants,  and  induced  their  main 
body  to  retire  to  a  distance.  In  the  even- 
ing a  commissioner  approached  the  bar- 
racks to  converse  with  General  Maulmont 
upon  the  terms  of  surrender.  That  com- 
mander claimed,  as  a  just  right,  that  his 
soldiers  should  leave  with  their  arms  and 
baggage;  and  proposed  that  they  should 
wait  at  a  certain  distance  from  Nismes  for 
orders  respecting  their  march.  It  was 
near  two  in  the  morning  when  the  com- 
missioner returned  to  announce  that  the 
troops  must  depose  their  arms  ;  and  the 
decision  was  accompanied  with  an  inti- 
mation that,  if  the  offer  were  not  forthwith 
accepted,  it  would  soon  be  too  late  to 
capitulate,  as  the  popular  fury  might  be 
beyond  restraint. 

Maulmont  had  loyally  waited  the  arrival 
of  the  king's  representative  at  Nismes ; 
and  although  the  proposed  sacrifice  was 
painful,  he  consented,  from  honourable 
motives,  that  the  soldiers  should  depose 
their  arms  before  they  quitted  the  bar- 
racks; and  when  a  murmur  from  the 
ranks  announced  the  disappointment 
caused  by  his  arrangement,  he  convinced 
them  that,  among  fellow-countrymen,  the 
surrender  could  not  be  viewed  as  a  dis- 
grace. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  disarmed  column 
should  be  protected  by  gendarmerie ;  and, 
in  full  confidence,  the  soldiers  piled  their 
muskets  and  quitted  the  barracks  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Scarcely,  how- 
ever, had  fifty  made  their  appearance, 
when  the  royalists  began  firing  upon 
them,  killing  or  wounding  the  greater 
part.  General  Maulmont  was  one  of  the 
victims.  Those  inside  immediately  closed 
the  barrack  gates,  but  the  royalists  forced 
an  entrance,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 


17th  J.ily,  1815. 


mained  inactive.  To  use  the  expression 
of  an  eye-witness,  "  They  doubtless 
thought  it  was  a  judicial  execution,  which 
it  was  their  duty  to  preserve  free  from  in- 
terruption." However,  when  the  popu- 
lace had  terminated  their  butchery  of  the 
soldiers,  the  gendarmes  were,  in  their 
turn,  attacked;  and  many  of  them  were 
killed,  wounded,  or  plundered.* 

In  defiance  of  notoriety.  M.  de  Bernis 
thus  describes  this  tragic  scene:  "The 
barracks  had  capitulated ;  the  troops 
quitted  to  proceed  to  Uzes.  Peasants  ar- 
riving from  the  country  attacked  them  on 
the  road;  some  soldiers  were  killed:  it 
was  a  misfortune  which  could  neither  be 
prevented  nor  foreseen. "t  Such  a  misre- 
presentation is  not  surprising,  since  the 
writer  so  far  degraded  himself  as  to  wear 
a  cockade  of  icliite  and  green,  the  dis- 
tinctive mark  of  Trestaillon's  band.J 
That  sanguinary  troop,  assured  of  im- 
punity, and  excited  by  the  effects  of  their 
own  crimes,  proceeded  to  fresh  atrocities 
at  Nismes;  while  Quatre  Taillons  wreak- 
ed his  fury  upon  the  Protestants  of  Uzes. 
During  several  months  the  department  of 
the  Card  presented  a  frightful  scene  of 
massacre  and  devastation ;  and  it  is  me- 
lancholy to  reflect  that  the  arm  of  the  law 
was  paralyzed,  and  the  tribunals  became 
powerless  before  a  secret  influence  which 
emboldened  many  of  the  individuals  im- 
plicated to  brave  the  authorities  no  less 
than  public  opinion. §  The  press  was  at 
the  same  time  employed  to  misrepresent 
the  facts;  and  unblushing  falsehoods  have 
been  sent  forth  to  the  world  by  a  party 
incessantly  charging  its  opponents  with 
exaggerations  and  calumny. 

It  is  therefore  indispensable  to  detail 
some  of  the  terrible  occurrences  of  this 
period ;  for  otherwise  the  old  assertion  of 
pol  tical  reprisals  may  be  again  brought 


*  L'-liredVin  nfficjer  d6ta  garnison  de  Ni.-raes,  inserted 
in  Durand,  Marseille*.  ASma,  Sec.  pait  2,  p.  65.  Lanze 
de  Peret,  vol.ii.  pp.  185— 19],  Wilks,  pp.  191 — 197.  Bib. 
Ilisinrique,  vol.  i.  p.  '2.",:t 

t  Precis  de  ce  qui  s'estpusse  en  1815  dans  les  departe- 
merits  du  Oard  el  de  la  Lou're,  par  le  C'omte  Kene  de 
Bernis,  p.  03. 
+  Wilks,  p.  211. 

$  Vide  passim,  MaJier  Montjau,  Du  gouvernemenl 
occulte. 

36* 


426 


CRUELTIES  PRACTISED  AT  NISMES. 


forward  to  colour  the  misconduct  of  the^holic  is  an  indirect  evidence  of  the  per- 
royalists.    Not  only  were  the  houses  ofsecution. 

Protestants  and  Jews  selected  for  destruc-     M.  Negre  had  a  chateau  near  Nismes, 
tion;   but  in  cases  where  the  lawless  called  Yaqueirolles,  which  was  pillaged 
bands  had  any  doubt  of  a  man's  opinions, 1  and  burnt.    His  daughter,  recently  de- 
they  would  call  upon  him  to  declare  hisjceased,  had  been  interred  in  the  garden: 
religion.    Several  courageously  acknow-  the  wretches  untombed  the  body,  and 
ledged  they  were  Protestants,  and  were  treated  it  with  gross  indignity. * 
almost  instantly  murdered.    The  aged]    The  condemnation  of  Bois  of  Milhaud 
housekeeper  of  the  farm  of  Chambaud  was  has  established  that  he  had  several  con- 
thus  addressed  by  some  ruffians.    She  Terences  with  his  friend  'Prestations,  pre- 
was  a  Catholic;  but  as  the  wretches  en-'viousto  uttering  cries  of  Vive  Pemjiereur! 
tertained  doubts,  they  compelled  her  to  in  the  country  towns:  which  cries  they 
recite  her  pater  and  are,  as  proof.    Alarm  i  were  to  charge  upon  the  Protestants.t 
made  the  poor  woman  hesitate,  and  she'     The  following  is  the  declaration  of  a 
was  at  once  knocked  down  with  a  mus-j  Catholic  magistrate,  when  compelled  to 
ket.    A  serving  man  named  Daniel  Ladet,  justify  himself  for  courageously  denouncing 
entering  soon  after,  the  same  question  was  the  iniquities  of  this  time:  "The  people, 
addressed  to  him.    "I  am  a  Protestant,"  excited  to  pursue  the  Protestants, dragged 
he  firmly  replied.    A  musket  was  imme-;them  to  prison.    In  open  day  I  saw  a 
diately  discharged  at  him,  and  he  fell : Protestant  woman,  stripped  of  all  her 
wounded.    The  monsters  perceiving  he | clothes,  led  round  the  boulevards  of  the 
was  not  killed,  made  a  fire  with  straw!  town.    Two  forked  sticks,  held  under  her 
and  planks,  threw  the  dying  man  into  the  arms  by  men,  sustained  the  victim  as  she 
flames,  and  left  him  to  expire  in  protracted ,  proceeded.    She  was  struck  at  intervals ; 
agony.    After  they  had  regaled  them-  and  her  cries  were  stifled  by  shouts  of 
selves  and  plundered  the  premises  they  IVive  le  roi!    I  beheld  this  barbarous  pro- 
rejoined  their  savage  comrades  in  Nis-  cession  pass  between  a  company  of  newly 
mes.*  raised  troops  of  the  line,  and  one  of  t lie 

D'Arbaud  Jouques,  in  extenuation  of  national  guard. "\ 
this  cruelty,  which  was  too  notorious  for  From  the  moment  the  army  of  Beau- 
denial,  represents  it  in  the  following  light,  caire  was  directed  upon  Nismes  a  great 
One  Ladet,  a  valet  de  ferme,  aged  about  emigration  had  taken  place.  M.  de  Bernis 
fifty  years,  was  suffocated  in  the  smoke,  .issued  an  arrete,  or  decree^  commanding 
On  the  approach  of  a  band  of  armed  men,  i  all  absentees  to  return  home  within  eight 
all  the  servants  who  were  Protestants  days,  under  pain  of  sequestration  of  their 
fled ;  but  Ladet,  a  Catholic,  remained,  property.  The  injunction  was  absolutely 
Alarmed  at  such  a  visit,  he  concealed  i  barbarous  while  the  Protestants  were  ex- 
himself  in  some  straw,  where  he  was  (posed  to  assassination.  It  surpasses  in 
neither  sought  for  nor  discovered.  The  fact  every  thing  in  the  annals  of  tyranny; 
brigands  having  set  fire  to  the  straw,  little  I  for,  as  it  has  been  justly  remarked,  "  The 
supposing  that  Ladet  was.  there,  this  un-jdespots  of  Asia  send  the  fatal  cord  to  their 
fortunate  man,  unable  to  extricate  himself  slaves,  but  never  order  them  to  seek  it."|| 
before  the  flames  encircled  him,  was  suf-     At  the  close  of  July  the  king  revoked 


focated  by  the  smoke  and  reduced  to 
ashes.t 

The  victim's  fate  was  clearly  substan- 
tiated by  the  depositions  of  witnesses  ;  his 


all  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred 
during  the  crisis  of  a  revolution;  and  the 
regular  authorities  were  again  summoned 
to  activity.*!"    D'Arbaud  Jouques,  the  new 


Protestantism  was  attested  by  the  minis-!  *  Conouicavemni  c<np.i>  ixamunuM.  ei  >»v"  iiM 

.         T.,;n«^nf         l  \T\  j    I  •  minxerunt.    Madier  <ie  Monljau,  Petition  d  la  chambre 

ters  Juillerat  and  Vincent;  and  his  age ,  des  deputes. 

proved  to  be  sixty-thi  ee.t    All  these  show    }lM»di*r de  «tf„  wd»        '        ,  ■  . 

•f.  e  '.,      „,<   -         ,  '.  1  Ibid  .  Plaidoycr  dtrant  la  cour  de  cassation,  30lh  Nov. 

the  ex  prefect's  disregard  to  accuracy;  ih  j),  P.  32. 

while  his  anxiety  to  prove  Ladet  a  Ca-    ?  ?a'ed  2°,hJ"' v„  IVs-  ■,   ,   h.  ,  ^  ,„ 

,  Variier  de  M.,  Petition  a  la  chambre  des  deputes. 
IT  Unhappily  ihe  king's  wishes  were  disregarded  at 
Nismes.  Alexander  Deferal.  a  Pierimnnlese  captain, 
was  condemnad  in  death  by  a  eourt-martial.  for  having 
joined  Napoleon  on  the  3d  of  April,  alihoi  gji  the  royal 
ordinance  amnestied  all  «ho  remained  loyal  until  the 
23d  of  March.    IX  feral  waa  shot  5th  of  August,  and  his 


*  Lauze  de  Peret.vol  ii  p.  217.    Wilks,  p.  199.  This 
diabolical  deed  was  committed  17lh  July,  itilo. 
t  D'Arbaud  Jouques,  up.  97.  98. 
t  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  219.   Wilks,  p  200 


DREAD  OF  A  SECOND  ST.  BARTHOLOMEW. 


427 


prefect,  entered  on  his  functions;  but  his 
arrival  had  disconcerted  the  violent  fac- 
tion, and  Jules  de  Calviere,  the  provisional 
prefect,  refused  to  quit  his  post.  D'Ar- 
baud  Jouques  addressed  the  inhabitants 
in  a  proclamation  recommending  unity ; 
he  concluded  by  inviting  all  to  join  in  one 
sentiment — "  the  King,  the  Charter,  and 
France."* 

This  was  most  unpalatable  to  the 
"  white  and  green"  faction,  who  cla- 
moured loudly  against  the  new  prefect. 
"  Down  with  him! — Calviere  for  ever! — 
Down  with  the  Protestants' — Vive  le 
Koi .'"  D'Arbaud  Jouques  quitted  Nis- 
ines  in  consequence,  and  joined  the 
Duke  d'Angouleme  at  Toulouse:  nor  did 
he  return  to  his  prefecture  until  the  18th 
of  August.t 

On  his  second  arrival  he  was  very  dif- 
ferently received;  and  the  leaders  of  the 
faction,  perceiving  the  necessity  of  obey- 
ing the  king's  indisputable  command,  al- 
lowed his  nomination  to  take  eflect  j  At 
the  same  time  the  new  funclionary 
speedily  convinced  them  of  their  mistake 
respecting  his  character;  and  his  address 
on  this  occasion  made  no  mention  of  the 
charter.  It  was  now  "The  king — order — 
peace. "§  Trestaillons  and  his  band  were 
as  free  in  their  murderous  career  as  under 
Calviere;  and  Protestants  who  had  re- 
turned to  Nismes,  on  the  faith  of  procla- 
mations, were  assassinated  in  the  bosom 
of  their  families. || 

Among  other  methods  of  inflicting  ven- 
geance, one  was  disgustingly  barbarous. 
The  ruffians  would  raise  the  garments  of 
Protestant  females,  and  beat  them  with  a 
bat,  (such  as  is  used  by  French  washer- 
women) on  which  was  traced  a  fleur  de 
lis  in  sharp  points.  This  was  repeatedly 
done;  and  in  several  cases  caused  the 


body  was  treated  with  indignity.  Political  vengeanre 
alone  operated  in  this  case,  for  the  victim  was  a  Ca- 
tholic. 

*  30th  July.  18)5.    D'Arbaud  Jouques,  p.  131. 
t  Wilks.  p  231. 

f  The  interval  had  witnessed  some  curious  negotia 
tions.  D'Arbaud  Jouques  had,  previous  to  the  first  re 
■toratjon.  published  a  proclamation  in  which  the  Duke 
d'Anaouleuie  was  described  u?i  qnidtrm.  The  ultras 
llneatened  to  reprint  it,  and  the  price  of  its  suppression 
was  to  be  the  unrestrained  exercise  of  party  vengeance 

6  20th  Aug.    Lauze  dePeret,  vol  it.  p.  312. 

\  An  inhabitant  of  Nismes,  wlose  house  was  de- 
stroyed by  incendiaries,  assures  me  that  when  he  called 
upon  D'Arbaud  Jouques  in  consequence,  he  found  him 
quite  indifferent  to  the  terrible  state  of  the  town,  and 
employing  his  leisure  in  translating  Juvenal!! — M.  Juil- 
lerat  received  for  answer  to  an  appeal  inconsequence 
of  the  death  of  M.  AfToiirtet,  "  II  n'jr  a  pas  grand  mal; 
on  n'a  encore  tud  qu'un  chapeau  noir." 


death  of  the  suflerers.*  The  minister 
Juillerat  appealed  to  D'Arbaud  Jouques, 
and  endeavoured  to  move  him  by  "a  pa- 
thetic description  of  such  horrors;  but  the 
prefect  received  his  address  with  a  smile, 
and  gave  an  evasive  answer,  replete  with 
cruel  insult. t 

At  Uzes  the  terror  was  equal  to,  if  it 
did  not  surpass  that  of  Nismes.  There 
the  sub-prefect,  Vallabrix,  after  humbly 
soliciting  employment  during  "  the  hun- 
dred days,"J  proclaimed  that  the  Protest- 
ants were  violent  Bonapartists;  and,  on 
that  account,  permitted  the  most  violent 
excesses  against  them.  GrafTan,  sur- 
nafned  Quatre  Taillons,  was  his  worthy 
coadjutor,  and  proved  that  the  menace  of 
a  second  St.  Bartholomew  was  not  en- 
tirely unfounded.  On  the  3d  of  August 
every  quaiter  of  Uzes  presented  a  spec- 
tacle of  organized  plunder,  conflagration, 
and  murder,  amid  shouts  of  Vive  lit  Croix.' 
Viveiit  les  Bourbons!  At  midnight  The- 
denat,  commissary  of  police,  proceeded  to 
the  prison;  and,  after  liberating  a  Catholic, 
informed  the  jailer  that  the  other  prison- 
ers were  to  be  shot  the  next  morning. 
Six  Protestants  were  accordingly  led  out 
two  by  two,  and  shot  upon  the  esplanade, 
while  the  air  resounded  with  shouts  of 
Vive  le  Roi !  a  has  les  Protestcmts ! 
Among  the  victims  was  Ribot,  who  had 
just  before  returned  to  Uzes,  relying  upon 
a  proclamation^  which  promised  protec- 
tion to  persons  and  property.  Two  other 
victims  were  doomed,  but  the  jailer's 
tirmness  saved  them.|| 

As  St.  Bartholomew's  day  approached, 
a  general  massacre  was  apprehended  as 
well  as  threatened.  This  produced  an 
extensive  emigration,  which  fully  an- 
swered the  purposes  of  the  chief  leaguers; 
for  the  absence  of  Protestants  at  the  ap- 
proaching election  enabled  them  to  secure 
the  return  of  partisans  who  would  do  their 


*  Bib.  Historique,  vol.  i.  p.  2G5.  Lauze-de  Peret,  vol. 
ii  p.  394. 

t  "  Allez,  Monsieur!  les  magistrals  de  Paris  auraient 
Irop  a  (aire,  s'ils  avaient  a  s'occuper  des  querelles  de  la 
place  Maubert." 

%  D'Arbaud  Jouques  did  t  he  same,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing his  fulsome  phrases  respecting  the  "  wisest,  most  au- 
gust, and  best  of  kings."  he  had  applied  to  Fotiche  for 
a  prefecture  soon  afler  Napoleon's  return  to  Paris.  He 
e\  en  aci epteil  the  patronage  of  Manuel,  who  introduced 
him,  and  with  the  most  loyal  assiduity  waited  among  a 
herd  of  applicants  in  the  police  minister's  antechamber. 

§  Issued  by  t he  commissary  general  of  police,  Vidal, 
whose  life  was  sived  in  17'JOby  the  interference  and  aid 
of  a  Prolestant  named  Ribot.  Lauze  de  Peret,  3me  livrai- 
son,  p.  51. 

||  Lauze  de  Beret,  vol.  ii.  p,.  2G0.   Wilks,  r,  336. 


428 


NEW  MURDERS. 


utmost  to  efface  the  detested  liberty  of 
worship  from  the  charter  by  legislative 
means.  To  effect  that  object,  nothing  ap- 
peared too  violent  or  too  cruel;  and  it  has 
been  subsequently  declared  in  the  cham- 
ber of  deputies,  that  sixteen  Protestants 
were  murdered  on  the  eve  of  the  election.* 
The  result  was  such  as  might  be  expect- 
ed: four  violent  ultra-royalists  were 
chosen  deputies  for  the  Gard.  But  if  the 
chiefs  were  contented  with  this  success, 
the  wretches  by  whose  co-operation  they 
had  succeeded  were  not  yet  satisfied;  and 
Trestaillons,  Truphemy,  and  Quatre  Tail- 
Ions  marched  with  armed  bands  under 
pretence  of  maintaining  order,  but  really 
with  the  design  of  murdering  and  plun- 
dering the  Protestants. 

A  corps  designated  as  the  royal  chas- 
seurs of  Vezenobre  quitted  Nismes  on 
account  of  the  arrival  of  some  Austrians. 
They  were  proceeding  to  Alais,  and  un- 
expectedly made  their  appearance  in  the 
Protestant  commune  of  Ners  on  the  24th 
of  August,  the  day  so  fatal  in  the  annals 
of  Protestantism,  and  publicly  announced 
for  a  repetition  of  the  awful  drama.  The 
presence  of  such  a  force,  and  at  such  a 
time,  seriously  alarmed  the  inhabitants  of 
Ners,  who  assembled  in  arms  to  protect 
their  families  and  sell  their  lives  dearly;  a 
most  tragical  event  was  the  result. 

It  may  not  be  superfluous  to  notice 
here  that,  as  many  of  the  fugitives  from 
Nismes  had  taken  refuge  in  the  Cevennes, 
whither  their  enemies  did  not  dare  to  fol- 
low them,  it  became  essential  for  the  per- 
secuting faction  to  exhibit  that  district  in 
a  state  of  insurrection  in  order  to  procure 
the  assistance  of  the  Austrians  in  sup- 
pressing the  revolt:  this  may  in  some 
measure  explain  the  catastrophe  at  Ners.t 
The  opinions  of  the  Austrian  command- 
ers were  poisoned  against  the  inhabitants, 
who  were  represented  as  barbarians  and 
savages;  and-,  at  the  same  time,  the  advance 
of  the  chasseurs  was  preceded  by  emis- 
saries, who  announced  that  the  miquelets 
were  coming  to  pillage  their  town:  there 
was  a  violent  desire  to  create  a  collision 
with  the  Protestants. 1 

On  the  evening  of  the  memorable  day 
in  question,  M.  Perrier,  a  Protestant,  who 

*•  Discours  <le  M.  Uevaiu,  25th  April,  1820;  Moniieur 
of  2Cth. 

t  Bib.  Histnrique,  vol.  i.  p  255. 
1  This  has  been  assured  to  me  by  several  inhabitants 
of:  the  Gard. 


had  filled  the  office  of  mayor  until  the  se- 
cond restoration,  when  he  was  super- 
seded, accompanied  by  M.  Bruguier,  a 
minister,  had  exhorted  his  fellow-towns- 
men to  disperse  quietly,  and  return  to 
their  homes,  and  the  consideration  he  en- 
joyed gave  him  such  influence  that  the 
object  of  his  mission  appeared  effected. 
He  was  retiring  when  an  officer  of  the 
chasseurs  induced  him  to  return  to  the 
assemblage.  On  reaching  the  extremity 
of  the  village,  M.  Perrier  was  fired  at, 
and  killed  on  the  spot.  Cambon,  the  de- 
puty mayor,  and  two  other  inhabitants, 
were  instantly  arrested  and  conveyed  to 
Nismes,  where  they  arrived  the  following 
day  in  the  midst  of  the  festival  of  St. 
Louis.  D'Arbaud  Jouques  gave  on  that 
occasion  a  splendid  dinner  to  the  princi- 
pal Austrian  officers;  and,  without  the 
least  inquiry,  placed  the  captives,  as  re- 
bels taken  in  arms,  at  the  disposal  of 
Count  Stahremberg.  Deceived  by  the 
misrepresentations  of  the  local  authorities, 
that  general  at  once  ordered  them  to  be 
shot;  and,  without  the  least  investigation 
— not  even  the  semblance  of  a  military 
trial,  three  unoffending  persons  were  in- 
humanly sacrificed.* 

Independently  of  all  other  evidence, 
the  apologetic  account  published  by  D'Ar- 
baud Jouques  is  sufficient  to  condemn  his 
conduct;  for,  in  raising  a  quibble  upon  a 
trivial  point,  he  establishes  the  important 
part  of  the  accusation. t  This  is  the  state- 
ment drawn  up  for  his  own  justification: 
"  In  the  combat  which  took  place  between 
Ners  and  Boucoiran,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Gard*  the  25th  of  August,  1815,  between 
the  royal  troops  and  the  imperial  forces 
of  Austria  united  against  the  insurgents 
of  the  Gardonnenque  and  the  Cevennes, 
three  men  were  made  prisoners  by  the 
Austrians  at  the  very  moment  they  were 
firing  upon  the  Austrian  troops.  Con- 
ducted by  an  Austrian  detachment  before 
the  General  Count  Stahremberg,  the 
French  authorities  were  informed  by  that 
general  that  those  prisoners  belonged  to 
the  Austrian  army  and  its  military  jus- 
tice; aml(  according  to  the  laws  of  that 
justice,  inhabitants  in  revolt  against  the 


*  Lauze  de  Perel,  vol.  ii.  p.  379.  Wilks,  pp.  2139  and 
400. 

t  Durand,  (Marseilles,  JVismej,  S[C.  en  1815)  had  de- 
plored the  fatal  rapidity  with  which  they  were  judged 
and  condemned;  and  D'Arbaud  Jouques,  in  reply,  de- 
clares they  had  not  even  the  furm  of  a  trial !! 


NEW  MURDERS. 


429 


lawful  authority,  and  taken  in  arms  against 
the  regular  troops,  could  not  be  considered 
as  prisoners  of  war,  and  should  have  been 
shot  on  the  field  of  battle.  There  was, 
therefore,  no  commission  formed  to  judge 
them,  neither  French  nor  Austrian.  The 
order  of  General  Count  Stahremberg  was 
their  only  judgment."*  To  estimate  the 
value  of  this  writer's  veracity,  the  pre- 
ceding justification  may  be  compared  with 
the  preamble  of  a  decree  issued  by  him- 
self at  the  time:  "The  royal  troops  were 
yesterday  attacked  at  Ners;  an  officer  was 
wounded,  and  a  magistrate  killed  by  the 
rebels."t  It  has  been  already  observed 
that  Perrier's  functions  had  ceased. 

The  proces-verbal  drawn  up  on  the  in- 
spection of  Perrier's  body  establishes 
that  the  piece  fired  was  placed  close  to 
his  breast,  the  wound  being  about  three 
inches  in  diameter.^  This  renders  it  im- 
possible that  it  proceeded  from  the  inha- 
bitants of  Ners,  who  were  drawn  up  at  a 
distance.  Indeed,  the  esteem  enjoyed  by 
the  deceased  was  alone  sufficient  to  refute 
the  charge.  On  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
decent haste  with  which  Cambon  and 
his  companions  were  murdered  is  best 
explained  by  supposing  a  desire  to  re- 
move those  who  could  have  borne  testi- 
mony against  the  assassin.  After  Per- 
rier's death  the  people  of  Ners  were  not 
likely  to  depose  their  arms;  and  several 
skirmishes  took  place  on  the  following 
day:  but  nothing  of  consequence  occurred, 
as  the  presence  of  the  Austrians  restored 
order. 

The  sub-prefect  Vallabrix  did  mare 
than  follow  the  example  of  his  superior — 
he  surpassed  him.  On  the  very  same 
day,  the  25th  of  August,  Quatre  Taillons 
was  sent  on  an  expedition  to  Hieuset,  a 
commune  not  under  his  authority,  being 
situated  in  the  arrondissement  of  Alais. 
That  ruffian  arrived  in  the  night  with 
thirty  men  at  St.  Maurice,  a  Protestant 
commune,§  where  a  post  of  the  national 
guard  was  stationed  by  the  authorities. 
Being  challenged  by  the  sentinel,  the  band 
fired  on  the  post;  and  instantly  rushing 

*  D'Arbaud  Jouquca,  p.  161. 

\  Dated  25lh  August,  1815.  So  far  from  alluding  to 
the  presence  of  the  Austrians  on  this  occasion,  the  de- 
cree states  that,  inconsequence  of  the  insurrection,  the 
French  and  Austrian  troops  are  to  be  sent  there. 

X  See  the  proccs-verbal  at  length  in  Lauze  de  Peret, 
vol.  ii.  p.  335. 

§  As  St.  Maurice  was  not  i  n  the  di  reel  road  to  Hieu  ■ 
set,  that  place  must  have  been  the  real  object  of  the  ex- 
pedition. 


in,  seized  six  of  the  national  guards,  who 
were  carried  off  to  Montaren  before  the 
inhabitants  could  make  any  effort  for 
their  rescue:  one  of  their  comrades  was 
killed  by  the  fire.  At  Montaren,  Quatre 
Taillons  prepared  to  shoot  his  prisoners, 
but  the  inhabitants  interfered  and  prevent- 
ed him:  in  the  discussion  which  arose  the 
wretch  exhibited  a  written  order  to  justify 
his  proceedings.  He  then  hastened  to 
Uzes  and  marched  his  captives  to  the  es- 
planade, where  they  remained  while  he 
consulted  M.  Vallabrix.  That  unworthy 
functionary,  with  characteristic  brutality, 
said,  "  Do  as  you  please;  they  were  taken 
in  arms."  Quatre  Taillons  immediately 
caused  them  to  be  shot.  Twenty-two 
children  were  rendered  fatherless  by  this 
butchery.* 

An  account  of  the  sad  affair  was  pub- 
lished in  the  official  journal,  denying 
much  and  distorting  the  whole.  "It  is 
false  that  the  sub-prefect  ordered  Graffan 
to  reconnoitre  an  assembly  at  St.  Michel 
d'Yeuzet;  the  sub-prefect  corresponds 
with  the  commandant  alone  respecting 
the  service  of  the  national  guard;  the  ex- 
pedition of  Graffan  with  his  band  was 
only  tolerated  by  the  civil  and  military 
authorities,  to  spare  Uzes  the  horrors 
with  which  it  was  threatened  that  very 
night;  and  this  measure  would  have  been 
a  real  benefit  to  the  town  if  his  return 
had  not  bathed  it  away  in  blood.  Finally, 
it  is  false  that  the  persons  brought  in  by 
Graffan  were  convicted  of  rebellion:  they 
were  purely  and  simply  shot  on  their  ar- 
rival, and  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
authorities;  and  unknown  even  to  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants,,  who  have 
shuddered  with  horror  on  hearing  of  this 
barbarous  expedition."! 

This  explanation,  as  may  be  well  sup- 
posed, was  far  from  appeasing  the  public 
indignation.  Graffan  was  protected  by 
powerful  individuals;  he  knew  it,  and  re- 
lied upon  his  impunity.  He  was,  however, 
arrested  and  conveyed  to  Montpellier, 
where  a  formal  trial  was  got  up,  in  which 
he  was  honourably  acquitted.  But  a  de- 
spatch addressed  byd'Arbaud  Jouques  to 
the  minister  of  the  interior,:]:  fully  esta- 
blishes that  Graffan  was  ordered  by  the 
authorities  of  Uzes  to  make  a  military  re- 

*  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  360. 

t  From  the  Journal  officicl  du  Gord,  2  Sept.,  1815. 
Quoted  hy  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  365. 
t  Dated  27th  Sept.,  1816. 


430 


PLOT  TO  MASSACRE  THE  PROTESTANTS  OF  NISMES. 


connaissance  at  St.  Maurice ;  and  in  ad- 
dition convicts  the  prefect  of  entertaining 
extraordinary  sympathy  for  the  infamous 
assassin :  for  he  advances  an  absurdity  to 
palliate  the  atrocity,  and  declares  that  the 
prisoners  were  killed  by  the  population  of 
Uzes,  not  only  without  his  participation, 
but  to  his  great  regret.* 

The  melancholy  death  of  the  abbe 
d'Egrigny  which  likewise  happened  on 
the  25th  of  August,  was  notoriously  re- 
gretted by  the  Protestants  in  general,  for 
he  was  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
many  among  them.  It  was  the  act  of  an 
unprincipled  miscreant  named  Laporte, 
whose  opinion  of  the  party  in  power  in- 
duced him  to  abjure  Protestantism,  in  the 
confident  hope  of  obtaining  a  pardon:  he 
was,  however,  executed,  as  he  justly  de- 
served ;  and  the  incident  would  hardly 
have  been  noticed  here,  if  its  omission 
were  not  calculated  to  give  occasion  for 
an  unfair  inference/!" 

The  events  of  Nismes,  Uzes,  and  their 
immediate  vicinity,  have  hitherto  engaged 
attention  almost  exclusively;  but  similar 
scenes  occurred  throughout  Languedoc 
and  the  Vaucluse.  Some  years  later, 
when  the  authority  of  the  laws  was  re- ; 
stored,  a  few  cases  were  selected  for  pro- 
secution and  the  evidence  then  adduced 
amply  confirms  the  violence  of  these  trou- 
bles. The  long  impunity  allowed  the 
villains  who  infested  the  department  of  j 
the  Gard  proves  that  they  were  merely 
the  instruments  of  influential  persons,  on 
whom  they  relied  for  protection.  Every 
functionary  was  encouraged  in  promoting 
the  work  of  persecution.  When  the 
widow  Landoz  applied  for  an  arte  de  deces 
of  her  husband,  murdered  in  July,  1815, 
she  was  informed  that  his  death  was  not 
registered ;  and  when  a  similar  demand 
was  made  by  a  widow  of  the  unfortunate 
family  of  Civas,  (five  of  whom  were  as- 
sassinated,) she  received  for  answer,  "  We 
do  not  certify  the  death  of  such  wretches."5 


*  D'Ar'oaud  Jouques.  p.  77.  In  the  Fame  letter  he 
states  that  when  Graffan  arrived  at  St  Maurice,  and 
answered  the  sentinel's  challenge  by  Vive  le  Roil  the 
post  replied  by  Vive  I'Empereur  !  M  Vallabrix  would 
have  been  too  happy  to  advance  such  a  justification, 
had  it  occurred  to  him  in  time. 

t  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  386. 

t  Servant  was  convicted  of  robbery  and  murder  in 
Nov.  1819.  He  was  tried  at  Rioni;  and  after  his  execu- 
tion a  magistrate  did  not  scruple  to  assert—"  Innocent 
blood  has  been  shed  at  Riom."  Madier  de  M.  Petition 
d  la  chambre. 

()  Lauze  de  Peret,  vol.  ii.  p.  227.  Bib.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p. 
269. 


The  prisons  were  filled  with  Protestants, 
confined  without  any  warrant;  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  lawless  bands  was  suffi- 
cient ;  and  no  magistrate  ventured  to  in- 
terpose his  authority.  It  has  been  ob- 
served in  reference,  "  Every  thing  proves 
that  an  unknown  but  formidable  power 
exercised  its  unhappy  influence  upon  this 
country."* 

What  else  could  have  induced  the  pre- 
fect of  the  Gard  to  issue  a  proclamationt 
in  which  we  read,  "  Inhabitants  of  the 
Gard  !  Justice  is  the  basis  of  all  order  and 
public  prosperity.  In  the  first  moments 
which  followed  the  tyrant's  fall,  and  in 
your  noble  efforts  for  the  restoration  of 
the  king's  authority,  an  indignation  too 
natural,  loo  general,  and  too  thoughtless, 
not  to  be  excusable,  burst  forth  among 
you  against  those  whom  genera!  opinion 
designated  as  the  most  violent  enemies  of 
the  best  of  kings.  Some  public  places 
where  they  held  their  fatal  councils,  some 
private  dwellings  were  by  you  attacked 
and  destroyed :  but  illegal  as  was  this 
vengeance,  at  least  it  was  not  stained 
with  the  disgrace  of  pillage,  and  popular 
indignation  was  not  degraded  by  the 
j  spirit  of  robbery.^  Yet,  inhabitants  of  the 
Gard !  see,  notwithstanding,  what  have 
been  the  consequences  of  a  simple  er- 
ror !  !  !  " 

Encouraged  by  such  a  palliation,  the 
;  ruffians  plundered  with  increased  activity  ; 
and  when  money  could  not  be  obtained, 
signatures  to  bills  were  extorted  under 
threats  of  murder. \  Impunity  rendered 
them  more  violent,  and  in  October,  a  plan 
was  formed  for  a  general  massacre  of  the 
Protestants.  The  sixteenth  was  the  day 
fixed  upon  :  Trestaillons  reviewed  his  sa- 
tellites, and  encouraged  them  to  their 
dreadful  task.  The  arrangements  were 
complete:  eight  hundred  men,  divided 
into  bands,  were  to  scour  the  faubourgs; 
a  concerted  signal  was  to  summon  their 

*  Bib.  Hislorique,  vol.  i.  p.  2—59. 
t  Dated  7th  Sept.,  1815. 

|  Overwhelming  proofs  could  be  adduced  to  substan- 
tiate the  contrary,  were  such  evidence  necessary.  The 
falsehood  of  the  prefect's  assertion  is  not  only  notorious, 
it  is  indirectly  admitted  in  the  apologies  of  the  faction. 

§  This  occurred  to  M.  Cremieux,  now  a  distinguished 
advocate.  One  Casteras  was  sentenced  to  imprisonment 
for  the  extortion  ;  but  the  endeavour  to  avert  the  com- 
pulsion of  an  illegal  obligation  exposed  M.  Ciemieux  to 
great  danger.  D'Arbaud  Jouques  was  well  aware  of  the 
circumstance;  for  M.  C.  applied  for  redress  as  soon  aa 
the  brigands  had  quitted  him.  The  prefect  treated  the 
matter  lightly;  but,  finding  the  complainant  was  re- 
solved to  publish  the  affdir  in  Paris,  he  observed,  "  If 
I  you  are  assassinated  on  leaving  me,  I  cannot  help  it!" 


PLOT  TO  MASSACRE  THE  PROTESTANTS  AT  N1SMES.  431 


partisans  from  the  country  ;  and  in  order 
to  ensure  complete  success,  it  was  decided  | 
that  in  the  massacre  any  Catholic  who 
sheltered  a  Protestant  should  himself  be  J 
treated  as  one.  To  the  eternal  disgrace 
of  the  magistrates,  no  measures  had  been 
adopted  for  learning  the  movements  of  the 
faction ;  and  Nismes  would  have  rivalled 
the  St.  Bartholomew,  if  General  Lagarde 
had  not  providentially  discovered  the  plot 
at  ten  o'clock  of  the  night  it  was  to  be  put 
in  execution. 

It  was  then  too  late  to  prevent  the  com- 
mencement of  crime,  for  the  murderers 
had  already  entered  upon  the  realization 
of  their  scheme.  Lagarde,  almost  in  de- 
spair at  the  alarming  state  of  affairs, 
summoned  the  garrison  to  arms,  and  en- 
deavoured to  arrest  the  progress  of  the 
mischief. 

The  horrors  of  this  night  alone  would 
fill  a  volume;  these  pages  therefore  will 
scarcely  admit  an  outline  of  the  enormi- 
ties committed :  the  bandits  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  assault  the  troops  on  meeting  them 
in  small  parties;  which  frequently  oc- 
curred, as  detachments  were  sent  to  pro- 
tect the  houses  attacked.    The  general  in 


military  force  present  was  only  twelve 
men  and  an  officer;  the  robbers  not  only 
rescued  their  comrade,  but  were  proceed- 
ing to  murder  the  officer,  when  a  re-en- 
forcement arrived.  Maurin  was  retaken 
and  committed  to  prison,  under  the  dou- 
ble charge  of  robbery  and  assaulting  an 
officer ;  yet  the  prefect,  attended  by  a 
judge  and  the  commissary  of  police,  set 
him  at  liberty,  while  hundreds  of  Protest- 
ants remained  in  prison  where  they  had 
been  placed  by  Trestaillons,  without  any 
order  or  warrant. 

Lebeiber,  chef-d'escadron,  in  attacking 
a  horde  of  miscreants,  was  almost  mira- 
culously saved,  two  muskets  pointed  at 
his  breast  missing  fire  at  once.  As  a  re- 
compense for  his  endeavours  to  maintain 
order,  he  was  placed  on  the  retired  list  a 
few  days  after.* 

The  Duke  d'Angouleme  was  expected 
at  Nismes;  and  in  order  to  foment  ani- 
mosity against  the  Protestants,  a  measure, 
under  the  specious  appearance  of  a  charita- 
ble design,  was  proposed  to  celebrate  the 
expected  honour.  An  address  was  pub- 
lished, stating  that  many  royalists  had 
been  ruined  by  oppression,  during  the 


consequence  resolved  upon  arresting  the  three  months  of  the  usurpation;  and  a 
chief  insurgents.  Trestaillons  was  on  subscription  was  announced  for  their  re- 
the  Cours  Neuf,  with  an  immense  crowd:  jlief.  A  religious  ceremony  was  to  grace 
his  agents  were  at  his  side;  and  he  was 'the  occasion;  and  the  Protestants  were 
armed  with  sword,  pistols,  and  a  carbine,  grossly  insulted  in  the  official  journal,  as 
To  seize  him  in  the  midst  of  his  accom-  \  violators   of  treaties  and  blasphemous 


plices  was  a  hazardous  attempt ;  yet  Ge- 
neral Lagarde  was  so  resolutely  bent  upon 
securing  the  chief  miscreant,  that  he  un- 
dertook the  perilous  commission,  and  pro- 
ceeded thither  with  a  few  officers.  As 
they  advanced  to  arrest  the  ferocious 
wretch,  they  shouted  Vive  h  Ri.i .'  then, 
rushing  in  upon  him,  he  was  quickly  se- 
cured. Trestaillons  expressed  great  in- 
dignation that  he  should  be  thus  ignomi- 
niously  treated,  and  threatened  signal 
vengeance  on  those  who  hail  arrested 
him.  His  safe  detention  at  Nismes  being 
hardly. possible,  he  was  immediately  sent 
off  to  Montpellier,  under  a  strong  escort: 


jacobins. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that,  on  the 
very  dayf  that  D'Arbaud  Jouques  an- 
nounced his  project,  M.  Voyer  D'Argen- 
son  was  called  to  order  in  the  chamber 
of  deputies,  for  merely  alluding  to  the 
massacres  in  the  south  of  France.  As 
soon  as  he  mentioned  that  such  reports 
had  reached  him,  his  voice  was  over- 
powered by  the  exclamation,  "It  is  false." 
A  scene  of  confusion  followed,  in  which 
the  calls  "  to  order"  were  incessant:  the 
deputy  was  not  even  permitted  to  explain 
his  observation.!  If  the  correspondence 
between  the  agitators  of  Nismes,  and  the 


the  completion  of  the  intended  mischief  nltra-royalists  be  not  thus  established,  a 


was  thus  prevented. 

Some  incidents,  connected  with  this 
dreadful  effort  of  fiction,  will  in  a  great 
measure  account  for  the  hardihood  of  the 
wretches  who  were  most  active  on  the 
occasi  m.  One  Maurin  was  arrested  in 
the  act  of  robbing  a  dwelling,  where  the 


mutual  sympathy  is  incontestably  proved. 
Indeed,  nothing  short  of  a  consciousness 
of  guilt  could  have  induced  the  majority 


*  Not  by  the  government,  but  by  the  local  authorities. 
Durand,  Marseilles,  JVismcs,  &c,  p.  Gd. 
t  S34  Oct.,  1815. 
t  Moniteur, S4th  Oct.,  1815. 


432 


ATTEMPTS  TO  SUPPRESS  THEIR  WORSHIP. 


of  a  legislative  body  to  act  with  such  in-  leurs.*  "  The  brigands  come  to  their 
decency.  There  appeared  a  determina-  temple,  but  we  will  so  serve  them  that 
tion  in  the  chamber  to  stifle  discussion  on  they  shall  have  no  wish  to  return  !  They 
the  subject,  and  the  enemies  of  the  Pro-  shall  not  use  our  churches :  let  them  re- 
testants  derived  additional  assurance  from  i  store  our  churches,  and  go  to  the  desert, 
the  impunity  thus  promised.  I  dehors !   dehors  .'"     The  service  was 

The  Duke  d'Angouleme  entered  Nismes  scarcely  commenced  when  a  band  en- 
on  the  5th  of  November,  when  he  gave  j  tered  the  church  shouting  "  Vive  le  Roi ! 
an  audience  to  the  consistory :  after  hear- ,  Death  to  the  Protestants!  kill!  kill!" 
ing  the  statement  of  their  grievances  he  I  The  gendarmes  succeeded  in  expelling  the 
expressed  a  desire  that  the  temples  should  disturbers;  but  the  continuance  of  wor- 
be  re-opened  on  the  following  Thursday:  ship  was  impossible, 
at  the  same  time  he  ordered  General  La-  [  After  a  most  painful  interval,  a  de- 
garde  to  take  measures  for  securing  pub- ,  tachment  of  troops  passed  :  they  were 
lie  tranquillity.  I  returning  from  mass,  and  the  Protestants 

Such  attentions  from  the  prince  discon- were  encouraged  to  escape  in  iheir  ranks, 
certed  the  Catholics,  whose  disappoint-  The  deliverance  baffled  the  plans  of  the 
ment  was  augmented  when  they  learned  fanatical  party,  who  purposed  murdering 
the  failure  of  a  scheme  closely  interwoven  '  the  Protestants  as  they  quitted  the  tem- 
with  their  policy.  The  grand-vicar,  Ro- 1  pie:  at  the  same  to  create  greater  excite- 
chemaure,  the  cure  Bonhomme,  and  some  ment,  emissaries  had  announced  in  the 
ladies  of  respectability,  unblushingly  so- '.  cathedral  that  the  Catholics  were  being 
licited  the  liberation  of  Trestaillons  and  killed.  M.  Olivier  Desmond,  a  venerable 
his  infamous  comrades.  The  duke  in  a!  minister,  above  seventy  years  of  age,  es- 
tone  of  displeasure  recommended  them  to ;  caped  with  difficulty;  the  firmness  of 
leave  the  prosecution  of  assassins  and  in- !  some  officers  alone  preserved  him  from 
cendiaries  to  the  tribunals.  This  reproof  the  ruffians,  who  surrounded  him,  vocife- 
inflamed  their  desire  for  vengeance,  and  I  rating,  "Kill  the  chief  of  brigands  !"  Yet 
their  partisans  declared  that  the  Protestant ;  M.  Desmond  was  a  decided  royalist;  and 
temples  should  not  be  re-opened.*  his  son  had  joined  the  forces  under  the 

In  the  disturbed  state  of  the  town  it  Duke  d'Angouleme.  M.  Juillerat  was 
was  not  deemed  prudent  to  renew  divine  I  pursued  and  pelted  with  stones,  and  his 
service  until  the  Sunday  following,  (12th  mother  received  a  severe  blow,  which 
November,)  when  it  was  arranged  that  placed  her  life  in  danger  for  some  time, 
only  the  smaller  temple  should  be  opened,  |  Other  Protestants  were  treated  with  great 
and  that  the  organ  should  not  be  played,  j  violence,  and  two  females  died  in  conse- 
General  Lagarde  approved  of  the  precau-  quence  of  wounds  received, 
tions,  and  declared  he  would  answer  with  |  General  Lagarde  advanced  to  suppress 
his  head  for  the  safety  of  the  congrega- 1  the  tumult,  when  a  villain  named  Louis 
tion.  The  Protestants  privately  informed  \  Boissin  seized  his  bridle,  and  discharged 
each  other  of  the  time  and  place  of  meet- j  a  pistol  close  to  his  body.  The  assassin 
ing,  and  they  assembled  with  silence  and  1  was  well  known;  yet  no  one  attempted  to 
caution,  as  if  committing  an  offence  in-  arrest  him;  and  when  Lagarde  had  given 
stead  of  exercising  a  right.  The  minister'  orders  to  the  commander  of  the  gendar- 
Juillerat  was  to  preach:  he  soon  had  rea-  merie  to  protect  the  Protestants,  he  has- 
son  to  anticipate  danger :  for  in  proceed-  tened  to  his  hotel,  where  his  first  care 
ing  to  the  temple,  groups  of  ferocious  men  was  to  inform  the  government  from  what 
scowled  upon  him;  and  he  heard  on  his  quarter  the  blow  had  proceeded;  He 
way  threats  of  most  ominous  import.         would  not  even  allow  his  wound  to  be 

A  crowd  had  early  assembled  at  the  j  examined  until  he  had  discharged  that 
door  of  the  temple,  and  the  measure  of:  duty;  so  important  did  it  appear  to  him  to 
the  popular  rage  may  be  inferred  from  the  j  secure  the  Protestants  from  being  charged 
violent  cries  of  the  assembled  populace. ;  with  his  death,  which  was  then  deemed 
Ji  bas  les  Protestants !  sarre  les  gril-  j  most  probable.t 


*  A  patois  expression,  meaning  Kill  the  Protestants ! 
*  Lauze  de  Peret,  vo!  ii  p.  428.   Wilks,  p.  477.   D'Ar-  \     t  Wilks,  pp.  478  et  seq.  —  Lauze  cle  Peret,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
baud  Jouques,  p  4G.  430 — "36. 


LIBERTY  OF  WORSHIP  RESTORED. 


433 


Meanwhile  the  disturbance  continued. 
The  national  guards  from  the  environs 
joined  the  populace  of  Nismes;  and  the 
authorities  were  so  terrified  with  appre- 
hensions lest  the  mercenaries  might 
make  disclosures,  that  the  energy  of  the 
magistrates  was  directed  to  sheltering, 
rather  than  punishing  the  assassins.  This 
is  clear  from  the  tone  of  the  prefect's 
proclamation,  when  he  was  shortly  after 
compelled  to  order  a  reorganization  of 
the  national  guards.* 

The  Protestants  decided  on  deferring 
their  public  worship  for  a  time;  they  thus 
removed  a  pretext,  which  their  enemies 
looked  for  with  impatience.  It  was  the 
king's  desire  that  they  should  enjoy  com- 
plete liberty  in  the  exercise  of  their  reli- 
gion; and  the  duke,  who  knew  his  uncle's 
sentiments,  sent  for  a  president  and  an 
elder  of  the  consistory,  to  declare  the 
sovereign's  wishes  on  that  head.  The 
truth  respecting  the  events  at  Nismes  had 
been  so  concealed  by  affiliated  functiona- 
ries in  the  interest  of  faetiont,  and  pub- 
licity was  so  stifled  by  the  censorship, 
that  the  excellent  monarch,  who  sincerely 
anticipated  beneficial  results  from  his 
charter,  was  not  aware  of  the  iniquities 
perpetrated  for  the  destruction  of  its  most 
precious  provisions. 

A  royal  ordinance];  admits  the  religious 
character  of  these  troubles,  and  the  arrival 
of  a  reinforcement  of  troops  afforded  some 
respite  to  the  afflicted  population  of 
Nismes.  The  deputies  of  the  Gard  pub- 
lished a  palliative  statement,  in  which 
they  declared  that  the  assassin  would 
have  neither  protection  nor  support  from 
the  inhabitants;  yet  Boisson  was  not 
brought  to  trial  till  after  the  lapse  of  a 
year,  when  he  was  acquitted  on  the 
ground  of  having  acted  in  self-defence. § 

In  January,  1816,  the  law  of  amnesty 
was  discussed  in  the  chambers.  The 
successful  candidates  at  the  election,  car- 
ried under  the  influence  of  terror,  could 

*  Dated  15th  Nov.,  1815. 

■f  To  such  oxient  were  the  abominable  machinations 
carried,  that  agents  were  placed  to  shout  Vive  VE.rn.pe 
reur !  in  the  heating  of  the  Duke  d'Angoul&me.  A  most 
respectable  witness  has  assured  the  author  that  the  cry 
was  uttered  even  in  the  courts  of  the  prefecture. 

j  Dated  21st  Nov.,  1815,  countersigned  Marb'os. 

}  The  indecorous  proceedings  at  this  trial  (in  Jan.. 
1817)  were  related  by  M.  Madier,  in  his  address  to  the 
court  of  cassation,  30lh  Nov.,  1820,  p  39.  The  disrlo 
sures  in  the  evidence  were  apparently  the  cause  of  M 
d'Arbaud's  dismissal  from  the  prefecture.  That  func 
tionary  had  composed  a  jury  be/ore  which  an  acquittal 
wag  almost  certain  :  the  majority  vvete  either  chevaliers 
de  St.  Louis,  or  Vendean  chiefs. 

37 


not  withhold  their  support  from  the 
ruffians  who  had  prevented  the  Protest- 
ants from  voting:  it  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  the  deputies  of  the  Gard 
made  an  effort  to  include  the  murders  and 
pillage  of  Nismes  in  the  abolition  of 
political  offences.*  Their  effort  to  com- 
prise them  in  the  amnesty  failed;  but  they 
succeeded  in  obtaining  an  ordinance, f 
exculpating  Nismes  from  the  stigma  re- 
cently cast  upon  its  population.  The 
reason  assigned  is,  "  that  the  assassin  of 
General  Lagarde  has  neither  asylum  nor 
protection  in  Nismes;  that  the  Protestant 
temple  is  open,  and  every  security  gua- 
ranteed by  law  is  enjoyed."  It  is  true 
that  the  Protestants  were  allowed  to  cele- 
brate divine  service  at  the  end  of  Decem- 
ber; but  it  is  at  the  same  time  a  matter  of 
notoriety  that  no  effort  was  made  to  arrest 
Boissin,  although  his  retreat  was  well 
known. 

The  notice  issued  by  the  mayor  of 
Nismes  on  the  subject  of  the  Protestant 
service  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  misrepre- 
sentation resorted  to  by  the  ultra-royalist 
party.  "The  Protestant  temples  will  be 
opened  on  Thursday  next,  the  21st  in- 
stant; and  that  day  will  prove  to  the  king, 
to  France,  and  to  Europe,  which  accuses 
us,  that  the  blind  infatuation  of  a  few 
women  and  cldldren  is  not  the  crime  of 
the  city  of  Nismes."] 

From  this  time  until  the  celebrated 
ordinance  of  September,  1816,  which  de- 
livered France  from  a  violent  faction  by 
dissolving  the  chamber,  the  condition  of 
the  Protestants  was  very  afflicted. §  The 
fanatical  party  had  powerful  abettors: 
Trestaillons  and  Truphemy  were  brought 
to  trial,  but  the  proceedings  were  a  mere 
mockery  of  justice.  None  dared  to  de- 
nounce them,  and  for  want  of  evidence 
they  were  acquitted.  On  the  other  hand, 
Truphemy  and  his  accomplices  immedi- 
ately afterwards  came  forward  as  wit- 
nesses against  some  Protestants,  five  of 
whom  were  condemned  after  midnight. 
Nismes  was  on  the  eve  of  another  con- 


*  Moniteur,  7th  Jan.,  1816. 
t  Dated  Kith  Jan.  1816. 

X  This  notice  was  published  19th  Dec,  1815.  Wilks, 
p  510. 

i  The  change  of  sys  em  which  followed  is  termed  by 
M  Olausel  de  Coussergues,  "  Une  persecution  atroce  et 
constante  contre  les  homines  les  plus  devoues  a  la  mo- 
narchic." Projrt  de  la  proposition.  (Taccnsation  contre  M. 
le  Due  de  Cazes,  p.  63.  M.  Lanjuinais.  however,  ob- 
serves *'  Ij'ordon  nance  a  fonde  le  credit  public  et  a  sauve 
la  France."   Essai  sur  la  C/iarte. 


434 


THE  PROTESTANTS   AGAIN  DISTURBED. 


vulsion;  and  an  acquittal  might  have  cost 
much  loss  of  life  and  property,  as  the 
populace  of  the  surrounding  districts  had 
li  I  led  the  hall  of  justice,  and  thronged 
about  the  entrance.* 

The  cause  of  religious  liberty  was  too 
dear  to  the  British  public  to  allow  indif- 
ference towards  the  sufferings  of  their 
French  brethren  for  the  rights  of  con- 
science. A  warm  sympathy  was  mani- 
fested, and  interference  in  behalf  of  the 
Protestants  was  loudly  called  for.  This 
feeling  was  at  first  chilled  by  the  mis- 
representations addressed  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  in  which  political  reprisals 
were  stated  as  the  cause  of  the  troubles. 
But  when  the  subject  was  discussed  in 
parliament^  Lord  Castlereagh,  in  op- 
posing the  motion,  could  allege  nothing 
beyond  an  anonymous  letter  from  the 
south  of  France.  The  truth  has  been 
long  since  established,  though  the  perse- 
cuting parly  has  spared  neither  pains  nor 
expense  to  throw  discredit  on  the  public 
statements. J 

It  is  admitted  that  in  the  first  details 
given  by  Clement  Parrot  there  were  in- 
accuracies arising  from  slight  confusions 
in  the  names  of  persons  and  places.  The 
general  facts  were,  however,  decidedly 
true;  and  several  inhabitants  of  Nismes, 
present  at  the  disastrous  scenes,  have  cor- 
roborated the  details  which  precede.  At 
the  same  time,  the  admissions  and  con- 
tradictions to  be  found  in  the  apology  for 
D'Arbaud  Jouques  are  sufficient  to  prove 
his  administration  very  faulty:  they  more- 
over show  that  his  statements  are  very 
far  from  commanding  or  deserving  im- 
plicit belief;  and,  if  any  assertion  required 
positive  proof,  it  was  unquestionably 
requisite  to  substantiate  the  authenticity 
of  a  letter,  said  to  have  been  found  among 
the  papers  of  Sir  Robert  Wilson,  inviting 
a  general  charge  of  religious  persecution, 
real  or  imaginary,  as  the  most  effectual 
method  of  injuring  the  Bourbons. §  M. 


D'Arbaud  Jouques  makes  this  discovery 
a  complete  stalking-horse,  and  presents  it 
repeatedly  as  a  sufficient  reply  to  those 
who  censure  his  administration  of  the 
Gard. 


*  flth  March.  1810.    Bill.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  p.  264. 
+  Debate  of  27th  Feb  ,  1816.  on  tbe  motion  of  Sir  S. 
Romilly. 

+  M.  Marron.  president  of  the  Paris  consistory,  being 
informed  that  his  correspondence  with  England  on  be- 
half of  the  Protestants  exposed  him  to  a  prosecution  for 
high  treason,  under  the  7(ith  article  of  the  Penal  Code, 
he  was  induced  to  publish  a  letter,  declaring  that  no 
persecution  had  taken  place,  and  that  the  reports  in  cir- 
culation were  false. 

j  The  arte  d'accusatiou  mentions  it,  but,  although  Sir 
Robert  Wilson  was  questioned  several  times  on  the  sub- 
ject of  his  papers,  this  letter  from  his  brother  Edward 
was  not  brought  forward.  And  M.  Dupiu,  in  his  de- 
fence of  Sir  Robert,  stated,  "  Ce  passage  ne  se  trouve 


CHAPTER  LXVIII. 


Administration  of  M.  de  Cazes— Intrigues  of  the  Ultras 
—devolution  of  1830— Present  condition  of  the  Pro 
testauts. 


A  new  era  dawned  upon  the  Protest- 
ants of  Nismes  when  Count  D'Argout 
was  named  prefect  of  the  Gard  in  1817. 
His  energy  repressed  the  factious,  and 
restored  the  authority  of  justice.  Vexa- 
tions and  heartburnings  continued,  for  a 
commotion  so  violent  could  not  speedily 
subside.  In  the  hospitals  repeated  at- 
tempts were  made  to  obtain  abjuration 
from  sick  and  dying  Protestants;  and  in 
several  places  disputes  arose  concerning 
the  obligation  of  Protestants  ornamenting 
their  houses  on  occasion  of  Romish  pro- 
cessions. In  1817  the  mayor  of  Puylau- 
rens  enjoined  the  inhabitants  to  place 
hangings  for  the  fete  Dieu.  Three  indi- 
viduals, being  cited  for  contravention, 
pleaded  in  justification  that  they  were 
Protestants:  they  were  each  sentenced  to 
a  fine.  The  case  was  ably  argued  on 
appeal  in  cassation;  but  that  court  de- 
creed that  the  mayor's  order  contained 
nothing  contrary  to  the  charter,  and  con- 
firmed the  sentence.*  In  1818  a  pre- 
cisely similar  case  occurred  in  the  canton 
of  Cadenet  (Vaucluse:)  on  this  occasion 
the  appeal  was  successful;  the  court  of 
cassation  annulled  the  proceedings,  and 
sent  the  affair  to  the  tribunal  of  Aix  for  a 
new  trial. t  The  decision  of  that  court 
being  unfavourable,  there  was  a  second 
appeal  in  cassation,  when  the  proceedings 
were  definitely  quashed.J  The  organic 
law  respecting  public  worship  is  un- 
equivocal on  this  head:  "No  religious 
ceremony  shall  take  place  outside  the 
edifices  devoted  to  Catholic  worship,  in 

pas  dans  la  lettre  du  frere  de  Wilson,  du  moins  avec  le 
sens  qu'on  lui  prete.  Le  frere,  6uiimera.nl  dans  cette 
lettre  les  causes  qui  ont  indispose  quelqnes  individus 
contre  le  gouvernement  Francais,  place  au  nombre  de 
ces  causes,  la  persecution  reelle  ou  iniaginaire  contre 
les  Protestnns.  C'est  le  vrai  sens  de  la  phrase."  Pro- 
ces  des  Irois  Jiiiglais,  p.  138. 

*  29th  Aug  ,  1817.    Journal  du  Palais,  vol.  li. 

t  20th  Nov. ,  1818. 

t  26th  Nov.  1819.  Journal  du  Palais,  vol.  Ivi. 


THE  PROTESTANTS 


AGAIN  DISTURBED. 


435 


towns  where  there  are  temples  destined 
for  different  religions."*  To  what  ex- 
tent provisions  of  this  statute  were  dis- 
regarded is  a  matter  of  notoriety:  positive 
persecution  was,  however,  at  an  end. 

Yet  in  1819  the  discussion  of  a  pro- 
posed change  in  the  election  law  revived 
party  animosity;  and  Nismes  was  again 
threatened  with  a  renewal  of  discord. 
By  a  strange  fatality,  which  never  oc- 
curred in  other  towns,  on  changing  the 
garrison  of  Nismes,  the  new  troops  did 
not  arrive  for  some  days  after  the  de- 
parture of  the  old  force, — an  unpardona- 
ble negligence  at  a  period  of  excitement. 
The  violent  men  of  1815  immediately 
resumed  their  audacity;  and  the  Protest- 
ants were  openly  insulted  and  assaulted, 
amid  shouts  of  Les  Bourbons  ou  let  morl.'f 

Wearied  with  so  much  harassing  per- 
secution, the  Protestants  determined  on 
assuming  a  defensive  attitude;  and  their 
enemies  were  in  turn  seized  with  alarm 
when  they  heard  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Cevennes  were  preparing  to  aid  their 
brethren.  A  collision  was  happily  pre- 
vented by  the  more  eminent  citizens;  but 
assemblages  on  both  sides  continued  for 
several  days. 

At  length  the  procureur-general  re- 
quested M.  Madier  de  Montjau  to  attend 
a  meeting,  at  which  the  Protestants  were 
to  concert  their  measures  of  defence. 
The  authorities  knew  that  M.  Madier 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Protestants 
more  than  any  magistrate  in  the  depart- 
ment; but  that  gentleman  was  unwilling 
to  aceept  the  mission  for  two  principal 
reasons:  if  he  failed,  the  fanatical  party 
would  certainly  accuse  him  as  instigator 
of  the  animosity  which  must  ensue  should 
a  conflict  arise — while  a  successful  me- 
diation would  cause  him  to  be  denounced 
as  a  dangerous  person  on  account  of  his 
influence  over  a  detested  party.  Nor  did 
he  consent  until  the  procureur-general 
repeated  his  request,  and  declared  that 
"  he  believed  the  firm  and  calm  attitude  of 
the  Protestants  had  saved  the  depart- 
ment." JVI.  Madier  attended  the  meeting, 
and,  in  consequence  of  his  persuasions, 
the  armed  bodies  dispersed. J 

*  Loi  du  18  Germinal  an  X.  art.  45. 

+  6th  March,  1819.  The  cry  of  Vive  le  Charles  X.  was 
heard  nn  this  occasion,  which  coincides  with  the  hopes 
of  the  parlv,  founded  upon  that  prince's  hatred  of  the 
charter.  Masse,  Les  Protest ans  de  Nismes  el  leurs  per- 
gicuteurs,  p.  14.    Paris,  1819. 

I  12th  March.  Madier  de  M.,  Plaidoyer  devant  la  cour 
de  cassation,  p.  48. 


The  military  governor  of  the  depart- 
ment summoned  the  garrison  of  Mont- 
pellier;  and  within  two  days  those  troops 
were  employed  in  dispersing  the  Catholic 
bands,  who  had  again  become  boisterous 
immediately  after  the  Protestants  had 
separated.*  Happily  the  troubles  were 
suppressed  without  any  serious  conse- 
quence. 

In  the  year  following,  the  death  of  the 
Duke  de  Berri  became  the  signal  for 
another  attempt  by  the  faction.  That 
event,  so  afflicting  to  all  sincere  royalists, 
was  hailed  with  satisfaction  by  the 
leaguers,  as  an  incident  calculated  to  pro- 
mote their  subject.  Two  circulars  rapidly 
followed  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
catastrophe:  they  were  numbered  34  and 
35.  The  previous  circulars  were  more 
carefully  preserved;  but  the  contents  of 
these  explain  in  a  great  measure  the 
mysterious  influence  which  had  directed 
the  troubles  of  1815.  No.  34  gave  in- 
timation to  the  party,  that  although  the 
minister  (M.  de  Cazes)  was  not  yet  over- 
thrown, they  might  act  as  if  he  were:  it 
recommended  organization,  with  a  pro- 
mise of  instructions  and  supplies.  No. 
35  speedily  arrived,  to  announce  the  dis- 
missal of  M.  de  Cazes,  and  explained  that 
tranquillity  was,  in  consequence,  essential 
to  their  interests.  This  order  stayed  the 
violent  designs,  for  which  preparation 
was  making  on  the  reception  of  No.  34. 
The  old  emblems  and  signs  of  recognition 
had  re-appeared;  and  the  mercenaries 
were  heard  to  say  openly,  "  Why  did  we 
not  make  an  end  of  this  race  in  1815?"f 

The  author  of  these  circulars  was  de- 
nounced to  the  chamber  of  deputies  by 
M.  Madier  de  Montjau,  as  the  functionary 
who  in  1815  thus  reproached  a  magistrate 
for  having  saved  the  life  of  Marshal 
Soult,  when  he  was  arrested:  "  Jntsensc  ! 
apprencz  de  moi  qufi,  dans  les  conjunc- 
tures ou  nous  somm.es,  on  rCarrele  pas 
un  marechal  de  France:  on  le  tue!""1 
The  allusion,  although  obscure  to  the 
uninitiated,  was  so  clear  to  the  politicians 
of  the  day,  that  the  leading  ultra-royalist 
paper  of  that  period  contained  thereon 
some  very  sensitive  passages,  proving  it 
was  well  understood.! 

*  Madier  de  M.,  ut  atitea,  p.  50. 

t  Discours  de  M.  de  Vaux  a  la  etiambre  des  deputes, 
25  Avrjl,  1820. 

I  lis  Journal  des  Dehats,  21  Nov.,  IS^O,  contains  a 
long  article  on  a  publication  by  M  Madier,  entitled 
"Pieces  et  Documents  relatifs  a  son  Proces:" — "  II 


436 


ACCESSION  OF  LOUIS  PHILIPPE. 


In  the  debate  which  followed  the  read- 
ing of  M.  Madier's  petition,  M.  de  St. 
Aulaire  described  the  sufferings  endured 
by  the  Protestants  of  Nismes;  bore  testi- 
mony to  their  good  conduct;  and  appeal- 
ing to  the  other  deputies  of  the  Gard,  de- 
clared that  not  a  drop  of  blood  had  been 
shed  in  Nismes  during  "  the  hundred 
days."*  M.  de  la  Bourdonnaye,  the 
Achilles  of  the  ultra  faction,  made  no  re- 
ply; yet  his  tacit  admission  of  the  fact 
did  not  prevent  his  partisans  from  repeat- 
ing their  hackneyed  assertions  that  Ca- 
tholic blood  had  flown  in  torrents. 

The  possession  of  power  by  the  ultras 
enabled  them  to  gratify  their  adherents, 
without  the  necessity  of  signal  services: 
the  Protestants  in  consequence  ceased  to 
be  denounced  as  revolutionists,  and  were 
allowed  the  rights  of  conscience,  as  sti- 
pulated by  the  charter.  Yet  there  was 
still  manifested  a  great  reluctance  on  the 
part  of  the  government  to  permit  the 
establishment  of  Protestant  temples  and 
schools. 

The  encouragement  afforded  to  the 
ultra-montane  section  of  the  Romanists, 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  X.,  requires 
no  more  than  a  passing  allusion:  the  Je- 
suits were  paramount;  and  the  afliliated 
members  of  the  congregdtion  were  found 
in  every  department  of  state.  The  Ca- 
tholic church  arrogantly  enjoying  the 
distinction  of  the  state  religion,  its  clergy 
were  impatient  to  regain  all  lost  preroga- 
tives. In  the  long  struggle  between  the 
jicnii  pre/re  and  the  advocates  of  liberty, 
the  royal  influence  was  frequently  com- 
mitted. By  a  fatal  system  of  policy,  the 
interests  of  the  royal  family  appeared 
identified  with  hostility  to  the  charter: 
one  impolitic  measure  led  to  another; 
and  the  revolution  of  1830  produced  an 
additional  phase  in  the  history  of  reli- 
gions freedom. 

In  the  newly  modelled  charter  all  reli- 
gions are  placed  upon  an  equal  footing; 
and  an  invidious  distinction  was  soon  af- 
ter remedied  by  a  legal  provision  from 
the  public  treasury  for  the  expenses  of 

s'agirace  dans  precOs  dejustifier  le  silence  qu'il  s'obstine 
a  garder  sur  li  s  membr.es  d'un  gnuvernement  occulta, 
dont  an  mnis  de  Mars  dernier  i]  a  denonce  ^existence  a 
]a  cliatnbre  des  deputes;  et  sur  les  auteurs  de  deux  cir- 
culaires  de  ce  pretei.du  gouvernement  qu'il  a  rter'a'e 
bien  connaitre,  et  que,  sans  les  nninrner,  il  a  dengues 
par  des  indications  asscz  prtcises  pour  se  meuagir  ions 
les  avantagea  de  la  calomnie,  sans  encourir  les  pefpea 
dues  an  calonanialeur."  ^ 
*  Moniteur,  20  Avril,  1820.   Seance  du  25. 


the  Jewish  worship.*  This  tolerance 
has  galled  the  partisans  of  Rome,  and 
brought  down  upon  the  existing  govern- 
ment the  reproach  of  being  atheistical. 
It  is  notwithstanding  an  indisputable  fact, 
that  public  worship  is  better  attended 
now,  than  when  presence  at  mass  was 
the  price  of  court  favour;  and  every  thing 
indicates  the  probability  of  some  great 
change  in  the  prevalent  opinions  on  reli- 
gious subjects.  Materialists  have  astound- 
ed the  world  by  their  audacious  attacks 
upon  the  elementary  principles  of  all  re- 
ligion, while  Romanists  have  persisted  in 
unmeaning  formalities:  the  necessity  of 
a  medial  course,  avoiding  both  extremes, 
naturally  leads  to  revealed  religion.  The 
ancients  tacitly  admitted  that  consequence, 
by  the  importance  attached  to  oracular 
decrees;  and  in  our  day  the  extensive  cir- 
culation of  the  Scriptures  necessarily  in- 
vites examination,  and  cannot  fail  of  pro- 
ducing important  consequences. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  the 
election  of  Louis-Philippe  to  the  French 
throne  was  generally  regarded  as  the  har- 
binger of  a  full  developement  of  the  li- 
berties theoretically  commented  upon  un- 
der the  restoration;  and  in  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Gard  the  public  joy  sur- 
passed all  precedent.  The  new  king 
was  proclaimed  at  Nismes  on  the  15th  of 
August,  amidst  the  most  heartfelt  expres- 
sions of  enthusiasm;  but  it  was  remarked 
that  among  the  shouts  which  resounded 
from  the  assembled  crowds,  the  cry  of 
J'ive  le  Roi  was  not  heard.f  Those  words 
had  been  the  signal  of  massacre  and  de- 
vastation; and  the  present  generation 
must  entirely  pass  away  before  the  peo- 
ple of  Nismes  can  heartily  join  in  that 
exclamation. 

The  change  of  dynasty  did  not,  how- 
ever, pass  off  without  an  attempt  to  ex- 
cite troubles  in  the  Gard,  and  an  attack 
was  made  on  some  Protestants  in  the 
night  of  the  2d  of  August.  The  princi- 
pal inhabitants  of  Nismes,  enlightened 
by  experience,  concerted  for  preventing 
fresh  disorders.  An  address,  recommend- 
ing peace  and  union,  and  signed  by  per- 
sons of  all  parties,  had  been  distributed 

*  The  subject  was  brought  under  discussion  when 
the  articles  of  the  charter  were  under  revision,  and  the 
e'ehate,  as  repnrled  in  the  Monilcur,  8th  Aug.,  1831),  is 
highly  interesting. 

f  A  victim  of  1815  assures  the  author  that  although 
!  lie  would  joyfully  shout  Vive  Louis  Philippe!  he  could 
not  bring  himself  locry  Vivele  Roi! 


TRIALS  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  RIGHT  OF  WORSHIP. 


437 


as  speedily  as  possible,  after  the  news  of 
the  revolution  in  Paris.*  It  was  hoped 
and  expected  that  the  exhortations  would 
be  attended  to;  but  scenes  of  confusion 
arose,  which  did  not  terminate  until  Sep- 
tember, after  the  strong  measure  of  de- 
claring Nismes  under  martial  law. 

A  conflict  was  feared  on  the  5th  of 
August:  both  parties  seemed  ready  for 
blows,  and  an  irritating  allocution  would 
have  renewed  the  horrors  of  former  days, 
when  the  leading  royalists,  accompanied 
by  the  Protestant  pastors,  proceeded  to 
the  place  de  la  Maison  Carree,  where  M. 
Monier  des  Taillades  addressed  the  mul- 
titude in  a  short  discourse  explaining  the 
necessity  of  union  and  peace.  The  speech 
produced  a  happy  result,  but  its  effect 
ceased  in  a  few  days;  for  the  re-appear- 
ance of  the  tri-coloured  flag  excited  pain- 
ful feelings  among  the  adherents  of  the 
dethroned  monarch.  Nothing,  however, 
occurred  until  the  new  king  was  pro- 
claimed. Strangers,  whose  appearance 
was  suspicious,  then  appeared  in  Nismes, 
and  on  the  following  night  the  most  un- 
provoked attacks  were  made  on  the  libe- 
rals; among  whom  were  included  all  Pro- 
testants, whose  attachment  to  the  new 
dynasty  was  assumed  as  beyond  doubt. 
The  national  guards  of  the  Vaunage  has- 
tened into  the  city,  to  support  the  autho- 
rities and  protect  their  friends:  the  pre- 
fect, mayor,  and  other  magistrates  adopted 
energetic  measures;  and  the  Protestant 
ministers  exerted  themselves  to  conciliate 
and  pacify  the  public.  By  these  means 
the  senseless  attempt  of  a  few  misled  men 
was  quickly  suppressed;  yet  not  without 
bloodshed,  for  the  Catholics  had  two 
killed  and  six  wounded — the  loss  of  the 
Protestants  was  six  killed,  and  twenty- 
eight  wounded.t 

Brilliant  indeed  were  the  hopes  which 
arose  in  perspective  as  the  consequences 
of  the  "Three  days"  of  1830.  Little 
was  it  then  supposed  that  police  regula- 
tions, intended  to  counteract  political  com- 
binations, would  be  brought  into  array 
against  freedom  of  worship.  It  had  been 
so  under  Charles  X  ,  but  the  Romish 
church  was  then  supreme;  and  those  old 
laws  were  considered  as  annulled  by  the 
revolution.    Even  in  1834,  when  a  law 


for  preventing  associations  was  under  dis- 
cussion, an  amendment  was  proposed,  to 
prevent  its  application  to  meetings  for 
worship.  M.  Persil,  keeper  of  the  seals, 
declared  on  that  occasion  that  the  law 
would  not  be  applicable;*  and  in  the  re- 
port upon  the  same  measure  to  the  cham- 
ber of  peers,  the  adoption  was  recom- 
mended, in  express  reliance  upon  that 
i  most  formal  declaration.! 

But  the  rights  of  Protestants  require 
to  be  fully  defined  by  law  before  they  can 
be  assured  of  their  enjoyment:  and  a  new 
enactment  for  the  regulation  of  public 
worship  is  greatly  wanted.  The  law  of 
the  year  X.,  which  is  the  present  autho- 
rity and  rule,  was  conceived  in  a  spirit  of 
despotism.  It  is  therein  clearly  shown 
that  the  government  wished  to  retain  the 
direction  of  spiritual  affairs;  and  when 
circumstances  induced  the  legislators  of 
1802  and  1830  to  render  the  state  inde- 
pendent of  the  church,  they  were  unwil- 
ling to  abandon  their  influence  over  ec- 
clesiastical matters.  So  long  as  the  Pro- 
testants were  satisfied  with  the  listless 
enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  they  encoun- 
tered no  opposition:  but  when  a  desire 
of  extension  followed,  as  the  natural  re- 
sult of  the  political  change;  when  the 
spread  of  the  Scriptures  manifested  the 
existence  of  proselytism,  the  character- 
istic of  earnestness  in  religion,  obstacles 
were  raised,  and  hostile  feelings  dis- 
played, in  quarteis  hitherto  most  friendly. 
Two  recent  trials  will  impart  some  idea 
of  the  present  state  of  religious  liberty. 

M.  Oster,  a  Lutheran  minister,  opened 
a  chapel  at  Metz.  He  had  conformed  to 
all  the  preliminaries  required  by  law; 
and  for  several  weeks,  was  permitted  to 
celebrate  divine  service  without  hin- 
drance. But  after  a  time  the  mayor  in- 
timated that  he  should  not  have  the  per- 
mission of  the  municipal  authorities,  on 
account  of  the  alarm  which  his  publica- 
tions had  created  among  the  Jewish  po- 
pulation of  Metz.  M.  Oster,  relying  on 
the  justice  of  his  cause,  persisted  in  the 
service;  and  was  in  consequence  sen* 
tenced  by  the  police  court,  for  an  infrac- 
tion of  the  municipal  laws.! 

When  the  cause  came  before  the  Court 
of  Cassation,  M.  Dupin,  after  severely 


*  It  was  signed  3d  August. 

f  £v6nemei)S  dp  Nismes,  depuis  le  27  Juillet  jusqu'au 
2  Sept.  1830,  par  E.  B.  D.  Frossard,  pasteur. 

37 


*  Movileur,  22  Mar.,  1834. 
t  Ibid.,  6  April,  1834. 
J  10  Feb.,  1836. 


438 


STATE  AND  PROSPECT  OF  PROTEST  AN  ISM  IN  FRANCE. 


commenting  upon  the  intolerant  and  un- 
justifiable conduct  of  the  mayor  of  Metz, 
regretted  the  necessity  of  opposing  the  ap- 
peal on  technical  grounds.  The  mayor's 
refusal  was  within  his  attributions;  and 
an  administrative  act  could  not  be  re- 
versed by  judicial  authority;  the  appeal 
was  accordingly  rejected.*  Immediately 
after  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  as  pro- 
cureur-general  of  the  court,  M.  Dupin 
proceeded  to  the  legislative  tribune,  and 
called  the  attention  of  the  government  to 
the  injustice.  "  The  motive  for  refusing 
the  permission,"  he  observed,  "is  most 
opposed  to  religious  liberty,  as  we  under- 
stand it;  and  to  toleration,  as  we  ought 
to  comprehend  it.  It  is  alleged  that  one 
religion  displeases  another,  while  the  ob- 
ject of  religious  liberty  is  to  enforce  mu- 1 
tual  forbearance.  The  reason  assigned 
by  the  municipal  authority  is  made  the 
text  of  a  refusal,  consigned  in  an  admi- 
nistrative act.  That  refusal  cannot  there- 
fore be  remedied  by  judicial  power.  The 
supreme  authority  alone  can  restore  right, 
in  place  of  an  unjust  denial;  and  on  these 
grounds  I  recommended  the  case  to  the 
minister  of  public  worship. "t 

The  other  trial  is  known  as  the  proces 
de  Mantargis,  and  arose  out  of  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances.  John  Baptist 
Doine,  a  preacher  of  the  Socirle  evunge- 
lique,  though  not  an  ordained  minister, 
and  Joseph  Lemaire,  a  schoolmaster,  were 
charged  before  the  police  court  of  Mon- 
targis  with  illegally  meeting  for  worship 
in  two  neighbouring  communes.  Their 
sentence  was  a  trifling  fine;  but  the  ani- 
mosity which  maiked  the  proceedings  has 
given  the  trial  a  lasting  importance.!  The 
royal  court  of  Orleans,  by  an  important 
decree,  annulled  the  judgment. §  The 
cause  occupied  three  days;  and  the  court 
was  thronged  with  Protestants,  who  came 
from  a  great  distance,  as  the  entire  ques- 
tion of  religious  liberty  appeared  involved. 
The  joy  manifested  at  the  decision  was 
very  great;  and  a  day  was  set  apart  for  a 
religious  service,  to  celebrate  the  triumph 
of  justice.  The  procureur-general  of 
Orleans  appealed  against  the  favourable 
decree,  and  the  affair  was  elaborately  dis- 
cussed before  the  Court  of  Cassation. |] 

*  20  May,  1B3G. 

f  Monileur^l  May,  l?3(i.      J  10  Oct.,  1837. 
5  9  Jan.  1838. 

|  The  proceedings  in  both  cau^s  have  been  published 
iii  a  compendious  form,  by  Risler :  Ihey  merit  attention, 
and  evidence  great  taleut  and  zeal  in  the  pleadings.  M. 


A  decision,  technically  favourable  to  the 
Protestants,  was  awarded  by  that  court: 
yet  the  motives  assigned  were  adverse, 
and  M.  Dupin's  official  declarations  were 
far  from  friendly  to  religious  liberty.  Ar- 
guing from  the  restraints  imposed  upon 
the  Roman  clergy  by  the  Concordat  of 
1802,  he  contended  that  Protestants  could 
not  claim  greater  freedom:  however,  as 
the  sanction  of  government  was  implied 
in  the  present  instance,  his  conclusions 
were  for  confirming  the  decree  of  Or- 
leans. 

The  Protestants  must  now  be  con- 
vinced that,  if  their  religious  feelings  are 
such  as  will  induce  them  to  desire  an  ex- 
tension of  their  numbers,  they  must  ex- 
pect opposition  from  the  authorities.  Yet 
there  is  no  cause  for  discouragement. 
The  mere  exercise  of  independent  reflec- 
tion upon  religion  is  a  step  towards  Pro- 
testantism; and  public  attention  has  been 
so  much  excited  within  the  last  few  years, 
that  the  opinions  of  the  multitude  must  of 
necessity  be  affected.  The  church  of 
Rome  admits  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures; and  the  recent  spread  of  that  sacred 
volume  cannot  fail  of  ultimately  creating 
a  distaste  for  tenets  at  variance  with  its 
precepts — for  improbable  legends;  and 
miracles,  such  as  that  of  Migne,  near 
Poictiers,  revolting  to  common  sense. 

The  increased  means  of  instruction  in 
the  present  day  will  eventually  lead  to  a 
great  change  in  the  Romish  religion. 
That  part  of  it  which  is  founded  in  truth 
must  remain  unchangeable,  in  common 
with  the  abstract  principles  of  morality, 
taught  even  by  the  heathen  philosophers  ; 
but  the  Papal  superstructure,  and  the 
thousand  devices  engrafted  on  the  ecclesi- 
astical edifice,  with  the  design  of  strength- 
ening human  influence,  and  gratifying 
ambition  and  avarice — all  these  must  and 
will  be  swept  away.  And  when  the  pro- 
gress of  intelligence  shall  have  effected 
this  great  change,  there  will  remain  no 
cause  for  dispute;  because  that  is  not 
genuine  Protestanism  which  desires  any 
thing  more  than  the  truth.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  rival  creeds  may  be 
thus  defined:  one  faith  is  induced  by  rea- 
soning, the  other  is  imposed  by  authority. 
In  the  Catholic  Church,  man  seems  made 


Nntchet  advocated  the  cause  of  M.  Oster.  MM.  Lulte- 
roth  and  Lafonlaine  defended  the  Mnntargis  cause  at 
Orleans;  M.  Jules  Delaborde  pleaded  at  the  Court  of 
Cassation.  The  arret  is  dated  12  April,  1838. 


STATE  AND  PROSPECTS  OF  PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE.  439 


for  the  splendour  of  religion,  while  the 
Protestant  religion  appears  contrived  for 
the  happiness  and  advancement  of  man. 

The  numbers  of  French  Protestants  at 
the  present  time  cannot  be  correctly  esti- 
mated. That  they  are  increasing  is  be- 
yond doubt ;  and  that  they  will  continue 
to  increase  may  be  reasonably  expected. 
Their  organized  ministry  may  be  classed 
as  follows  :* 

1.  The  Lutheran  church,  or  Confes- 
sion of  Augsburg,  has  6  inspections,  37 
consistories,  and  260  pastors  or  minis- 
ters. 

2.  The  Calvinisf,  or  Reformed  church, 
has  89  consistories,  and  about  400  minis- 
ters. 

3.  The  Societe  Evangelique  employs 
three  distinct  classes  of  agents— viz. :  16 
ministers;  eleven  itinerant  preachers,  not 
ordained  ;  and  nine  colporteurs,  or  dis- 
tributors of  Bibles  and  religious  books. 
The  latter,  by  their  conversations  with 
the  rural  population,  prepare  the  way  for 
itinerant  preachers ;  and  their  efforts  have 
been  sufficiently  successful  to  give  rise  to 
some  virulent  attacks  in  the  episcopal 
mandements.  This  society  has  also  ten 
schools.  The  expenses  are  entirely  de- 
frayed by  voluntary  contributions ;  and 
it  frequently  occurs,  that  when  a  congre- 
gation becomes  sufficiently  numerous,  it 
is  engrafted  on  the  nearest  consistory,  and 
thenceforth  receives  a  grant  from  the  public 
treasury. 

4.  The  Wesleyan  Methodists  have,  for 
some  years,  been  labouring  as  valuable 
auxiliaries.  That  body  made  an  attempt 
to  establish  public  worship  in  1791,  when 
Dr.  Coke,  and  two  other  ministers,  visited 
Paris  for  that  purpose  ;  but  the  endeavour 
completely  failed.  M.  Mahy,  ordained  by 
Dr.  Coke,  persevered  for  some  time  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Caen,  where  he  had  to 
contend  with  much  jealous  opposition  from 
the  Consistory:  he  withdrew  to  Guernsey, 
and  afterwards  to  Manchester,  where  he 
died  in  1812.t 

Pierre  du  Pontavice,  a  noble  of  Brittany, 
after  self-banisment  to  escape  the  terrors 
of  the  revolution,  returned  to  France  in 
1802,  and  entered  upon  the  pastoral  of- 

*  The  Chapels  opened  for  the  use  of  the  Enalish  and 
Americana,  of  various  denominations,  are  distinct  from 
our  subject :  still  thi-y  have  all  in  succession  contributed 
lo  the  formation  of  societies  for  advancing  religious  in- 
terests i n  France. 

t  The  Wesleyan  Mission  in  France,  by  W.Toase,  pp. 
H-21. 


fice.  He  translated  many  theological 
works  into  French,  and  was  usefully  en- 
gaged as  a  preacher  in  various  parts  of 
Normandy  until  his  death  in  1810* 

The  successful  results  of  preaching  on 
board  the  prison  ships  in  the  Medway 
encouraged  the  society  to  renew  their 
effort  at  the  peace  of  1814.  Their  con- 
gregations are  now  considerable,  and  the 
number  of  their  French  preachers  is  four- 
teen. 

5.  The  Church  of  England  also  contri- 
butes to  the  important  work  of  extending 
the  light  of  the  Reformation.  The  Soci- 
ety for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge 
has  in  Paris  a  foreign  district  committee 
under  the  direction  of  Bishop  Luscombe. 
None  but  members  of  the  established, 
church  can  take  any  part  in  the  direction 
of  its  proceedings;  the  object  of  which  is 
"to  collect  and  transmit  information  re- 
specting the  best  of  means  of  promoting 
Christian  Knowledge  in  its  district — to 
establish,  enlarge,  or  superintend  schools 
— to  supply  settlers  and  natives  with  the 
books  circulated  by  the  Society — to  pro- 
mote translations,  when  necessary,  into 
the  language  of  the  country — and  lastly, 
to  make  collections  in  aid  of  the  Society's 
funds."f  In  pursuance  of  these  designs 
the  bishop  has  for  some  time  been  en- 
gaged in  superintending  a  new  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  and  Liturgy ;  in  which 
he  has  had  the  assistance  of  several  learn- 
ed persons,  whose  knowledge  of  the  an- 
cient languages  insures  a  faithful  version 
of  the  original  idea  in  the  purest  style  of 
modern  French.  This  important  under- 
taking has,  for  some  cause,  been  recently 
laid  aside ;  yet  a  large  portion  being  com- 
pleted, the  friends  of  revealed  truth  may 
still  hope  to  see  it  resumed. 

6.  The  Eglise  Catholique  Francaise 
must  be  mentioned  as  a  co-operating 
means  for  promoting  the  reformation. 
The  Abbe  Chatel  founded  this  church  in 
1831  ;  and  although  his  tenets  do  not  at 
all  resemble  Protestantism,  they  are  calcu- 
lated to  induce  investigation — a  tendency 
necessarily  obnoxious  to  a  body  which 
denies  the  right  of  private  judgment. 

With  respect  to  collegiate  education, 
there  is  a  faculty  of  Protestant  theology  at 


*  Toase,  p.  22. 

t  From  the  Society's  annual  report.  The  depot  of  its 
books  is  at  No.  »,  Hue  d'Aguesseau,  Faubourg  St.  Ho 

note. 


440 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 


Montauban  ;  another  at  Strasbourg;  and 
a  missionary  college  established  in  Paris. 
Application  has  been  made  to  the  cham- 
bers, during  the  present  session  (1838,) 
for  a  Protestant  faculty  in  the  capital :  the 
result  was  not  favourable ;  but  its  neces- 
sity is  generally  admitted,  as  well  as  that 
of  a  change  in  the  legislation  for  public 
worship,  which  is  found  to  be  as  galling 
to  the  Catholics  as  to  the  Protestants. 

The  subject  of  this  volume  has  led  the 
reader  through  many  scenes  of  violence. 
Even  when  controversy  has  assumed  its 
mildest  forms,  it  has  been  rarely  exempt 
from  acrimony.  The  vanity  and  pride  of 
resistance  have  been  frequently  found  in 
company  with  the  martyr's  firmness ;  and 
reprisals,  recriminations,  and  angry  feel- 
ing have  in  turn  tarnished  the  character 
of  both  parties.  Yet  the  conflict  of  three 
centuries  has  produced  much  benefit  to 
society  by  teaching  the  necessity  of  mu- 
tual forbearance.    At  the  outset  it  was  a 


struggle  of  a  numerical  strength ;  in  the 
following  age  controversy  had  become 
systematized,  and  the  writers  and  orators 
who  withstood  the  encroachments  of  Louis 
XIV.  have  left  abundant  stories  for  en- 
lightening their  successors.  The  eigh- 
teenth century  found  an  unexpected  aux- 
iliary for  religious  freedom  in  the  antipa- 
thy to  Romanism  manifested  by  the  philo- 
sophical school.  Religious  persecution 
was  then  reduced  to  its  most  pitiful  cha- 
racter; and  an  ungenerous  warfare  was 
waged  against  widows  and  orphans  la- 
bouring under  the  stigma  of  concubinage 
and  illegitimacy.  To  this  cause  princi- 
pally may  be  attributed  the  vivid  jealousy 
of  the  French  against  ecclesiastical  inter- 
ference in  the  etat  civil;  it  perpetuates  an 
exclusion  severely  felt  by  the  clergy;  and 
which,  excepting  the  general  confiscation 
of  church  property,  is  perhaps  the  most 
severe  blow  inflicted  on  that  body  by  the 
Revolution. 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. — On  the  Pauliciuns. 

The  notice  of  this  sect  is  taken  from 
Gibbon,  ch.  54;  and  that  authority  would 
suffice  for  the  introductory  outline;  but 
the  modern  origin  of  Protestantism  is  a 
favourite  theme  with  Romish  writers,  and 
the  episode  demands  in  consequence 
further  details;  especially  for  the  con- 
venience of  those  readers  who  have  not 
the  facilities  of  consulting  a  work  to  be 
found  only  in  extensive  libraries. 

The  opinions  of  the  Manicheans  have 
been  almost  universally  condemned;  and 
their  tendency  may  have  deserved  such 
general  opprobrium.  However,  without 
discussing  the  merit  of  Beausobre's  his- 
tory, it  must  be  conceded  that  we  have 
scarcely  any  other  accounts  of  their 
tenets  than  are  furnished  in  the  accusing 
statements  of  their  enemies:  no  epistles 
of  their  leaders  have  been  preserved,  nor 
any  pastoral  exhortations  concerning  con- 
duct or  doctrine — at  least  none  are  cited  by 
those  who  most  violently  censure  them. 
Bossuet  {Hist,  des  Variation*)  appears  to 
think  it  sufficient  to  establish  the  charge 
of  Manieheism  as  ample  cause  for  burning 
some  unfortunate  individuals  condemned 
at  Orleans  in  the  eleventh  century.  "  On 
sait  que  les  lois  romaines  condamnaient 
a  mort  les  Manicheens:  h  saint  roi 
Robert  lesjngea  digues  du  feu."  Li  v.  11. 
{.  20. 

Petrus  Siculus,  who  flourished  about 
870,  composed  an  opuscule,  in  which  the 
Manicheans  are  represented  in  a  most 
unfavourable  light;  yet  evidence  is  want- 
ing to  convict  them  of  the  flagrant  heresy 
with  which  he  charges  them.  His  work, 
entitled  His/nria  de  Munich  itis,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Maxima  Pibliotheca  Pat  rum, 
torn.  xvi.  pars.  2.  It  relates  six  principal 
paradoxes  of  the  heresy;  and  of  these 


incriminated  points  of  doctrine  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  the  third  is  a  leading  tenet 
of  Protestantism. 

"Quod  e  sacris  mysteriis  divinam  ac 
tremendam  corporis  et  sanguinis  domini 
nostri  Jesu  Christi  conversionem  negent, 
aliaque  de  hoc  mysteria  doceant." 

There  is  nothing  to  explain  what  is 
comprised  in  the  other  tilings;  but  at  all 
events  the  statement  proves. that  transub- 
stantiation  was  disputed  at  an  early  period. 
The  sixth  paradox  is  applicable  to  some 
important  denominations  of  Christians  in 
the  present  day,  as  it  consists  in  the  re- 
jection of  an  ecclesiastical  hierarchy. 
After  some  account  of  the  origin  and  pro- 
gress of  the  sect,  Petrus  Siculus  relates, 
p.  759: 

"  Fuit  imperante  Constantino,  Heraclii 
nepote,  non  procul  a  Samosatis,  Armenia; 
indigena  quidam  Constantinus  nomine, 
vicum  incolens  Mananalim,  quen  ad  hunc 
usque   diem    habitant   Manichaei.  Hie 
Diaconum  quendam  captivum  qui  e  Syria, 
ut  constat,   in   patriam  revertebatur,  et 
Mananalim  forte  proeteribat,  tecto  excepit, 
aluitque  dies  aliquot  domi  suae.  Diaconus 
ergo,  ut  banc  quasi  gratiam  hospiti  suo 
jrependeret,  codices  duos  quos  e  Syria 
jsecum  tulerat,  Evangelium  scilicet,  Pau- 
jlique  epistolas,  dono  dedit  Constantino." 

Whatever  therefore  may  have  been  the 
views  of  Constantine,  who  assumed  the 
name  of  Sylvanus,  the  source  from 
whence  he  derived  them  is  the  present 
supreme  canon  of  Protestantism.  His 
followers  were  condemned  by  the  church, 
and  their  memory  is  blackened;  but  they 
disavowed  the  errors  laid  to  their  charge 
under  the  name  of  Manieheism. 

The  Greek  MS.  of  Petrus  Siculus  is  in 
the  Vatican;  the  Latin  translation  is  by  the 
Jesuit  Matthew  Raderus;  and  it  is  almost 
to  be  regretted  that  the  learned  father  has 


442 


APPENDIX. 


left  it  in  doubt  whether  Diaconus  is  a 
proper  name,  or  an  official  designation. 


No.  II. — On  the  Vaudois. 

The  sufferings  of  this  interesting  peo- 
ple would  fill  volumes;  and  indeed  there 
have  been  several  works  on  the  subject. 
Our  space  will  not  permit  the  mention  of 
every  opinion;  but,  independently  of  his- 
tories professedly  treating  thereon,  much 
information  will  be  found  in  Vaissette, 
Hist,  cle  Languedoc,  L'Enfant,  Hist,  de 
la  Guerre  des  Hussites  et  du  Concile  de 
Bale. 

The  MS.  alluded  to  in  the  text  is  enti- 
tled La  noble  Liicon;  it  is  said  to  be  in 
the  Cambridge  library,  and  that  there  is 
a  copy  at  Geneva.  Voltaire  (Essai  sur 
les  Maeurs,  ch.  82)  makes  the  following 
observation:  "  Nothing  is  better  known 
to  the  curious  in  such  inquiries  than  the 
lines  upon  the  Vaudois  of  the  year  1100: 

Que  non  voglia  maudir  ne  jura  ne  mcntir, 
N'occir,  ne  avoutrar,  ne  prenre  de  altrui, 
Ne  s'avengear  deli  suo  ennemi, 
Los  dison  qu'es  Vaudes  et  los  feson  morir." 

Maimbourg  thus  introduces  Valdo  in 
his  genealogy  of  Calvin's  heresy: — "As 
this  pretended  apostle  in  reading  the 
Scriptures  found  no  mention  of  the  words 
mass,  pope,  purgatory,  &c,  he  took  it 
into  his  head  that  they  were  all  false,  and 
mere  human  inventions." — Hist,  du 
Calvinvsme,  liv.  L 

The  followers  of  Valdo  were  perse- 
cuted at  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century; 
the  third  council  of  Lateran,  by  which 
they  were  condemned,  being  held  in 
1 179.  On  which  Fleury  observes,  "  We 
must  not  confound  these  heretics  with  the 
Cathares  or  Albigenses,  who  are  much 
more  ancient." — Hist.  Eccles.,  liv.  73. 
This  opinion  coincides  with  that  of  Vol- 
taire, who  states,  "  Pierre  Valdo,  a  mer- 
chant of  Lyons,  who  passes  for  founder 
of  the  sect  of  Vaudois,  was  not  its  author. 
He  only  collected  and  encouraged  his 
brethren.  He  followed  the  doctrines  of 
Berenger,  of  Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin, 
and  several  others." — Essai  sur  les 
Moeurs,  ch.  128. 

Bossuet  makes  a  distinction  between 
the  Albigenses  and  Vaudois.    The  former 


he  calls  Manicheans,  and  shows  their 
descent  from  the  Paulicians:  the  latter  he 
represents  as  Donatists;  probably  on  ac- 
count of  their  fastidiousness  respecting 
the  personal  character  of  their  clergy. — 
Hist,  des  Variations,  liv.  11. 

Pinchinat  gives  a  list  of  the  erroneous 
doctrines  held  by  both  sects.  Yet  he 
exhibits  a  great  similarity  between  them 
on  many  points.  They  refused  to  take 
an  oath,  disapproved  of  singing  in  their 
worship,  and  allowed  any  one  to  take 
upon  himself  the  priestly  office. — Dic- 
tionnaire  de  VIdolatre,  des  Secies  Here- 
sies,  &c,  par  Bartholomew  Pinchinat. 
Paris,  1736. 

./Eneas  Sylvius,  afterwards  Pope  Pius 
II.,  observes  that  the  doctrines  of  Wick- 
liff  and  Huss  are  merely  a  renewal  of  the 
opinions  of  the  Vaudois.  Impiam  Val- 
densium  sectam  atque  insaniam  amplexi 
sunt. — Hist.  Bohem,  c.  35,  quoted  by 
L'Enfant,  who  also  gives  the  following 
extract  from  the  Dominican  Reinier:  he 
reported  concerning  them,  "  They  are 
more  dangerous  than  the  other  sects,  be- 
cause they  excite  no  horror  by  their 
blasphemies.  They  live  justly  in  the 
sight  of  men,  and  believe  nothing  respect- 
ing the  Divinity  but  what  is  right.  Only 
they  blaspheme  against  the  Romish 
church  and  clergy,  which  attracts  the 
people." 


No.  III. —  On  the  Etymology  of  the  term 
"  Huguenot" 

This  epithet  has  been  the  subject  of 
much  discussion:  to  this  day  it  is  con- 
sidered by  many  a  term  of  reproach;  and 
several  persons  of  erudition  have  objected 
to  its  figuring  in  the  title  of  this  work. 
But  with  due  deference  to  their  opinions, 
I  am  not  convinced  that  it  is  improperly 
adopted.  The  terms  puritan,  methodist, 
and  quaker  were  originally  given  in  a 
reproachful  sense;  but  custom  has  sanc- 
tioned their  currency,  and  they  are  now 
used  unhesitatingly  by  those  who  would 
cautiously  avoid  all  tendency  to  abuse. 

The  French  Protestants  are  mentioned 
under  a  variety  of  names:  heretics,  pre- 
tendres,  reformes,  Calvinists,  Huguenots, 
and  sometimes,  though  seldom,  Protest- 
ants; for  the  fact  of  protesting  against  the 


APPENDIX. 


443 


infallible  church  is  galling  to  orthodox 
Romanists.  Each  of  these  designations 
carries  with  it  a  sufficient  explanation  of 
its  meaning,  with  the  exception  of  Hugue- 
not, which  is  in  downright  obscurity  with 
respect  to  its  etymology, no  less  than  to  the 
period  when  it  was  first  applied. 

Monlluc's  Commentaries  show  that  he 
possessed  extensive  information  upon  the 
affairs  of  his  time.  He  took  a  very  active 
part  in  the  religious  wars;  and  was  in  a 
position  to  know  the  origin  of  the  word, 
as  his  brother,  the  Bishop  of  Valence,  was 
for  some  time  a  decided  partisan  of  the 
Reformation:  but  in  his  fifth  book  the 
marshal  says,  "  They  were  so  called  I 
know  not  why."  Nor  do  we  learn  any 
thing  more  positive  from  Tavannes  or 
Pasquier,  who  were  very  minute  in  their 
inquiries  on  all  points  connected  with  the 
events  of  the  sixteenth  century.  They 
relate  notions  which  were  at  the  same 
time  prevalent  and  contradictory;  and  in 
examining  subsequent  writers  we  find  the 
hypotheses  on  the  etymology  increase  in 
number,  in  proportion  as  the  period  of  its 
introduction  becomes  remote. 

Menage  (Diclionnaire  Eti/mologique) 
has  collected  a  number  of  opinions  on  the 
derivation,  of  which  the  following  are  the 
principal:  — 

1.  Hugon's  Tower,  at  Tours,  where 
the  Protestants  assembled  secretly  to 
worship.  This  is  mentioned  by  D'Au- 
bigne  and  Pasquier;  and  the  latter  in  cor- 
roboration states  that  they  were  also  called 
Tourangeaux:  from  which  may  be  in- 
ferred that  they  were  numerous  in  that 
town  before  they  received  a  general 
designation.  Matthieu  considers  this  the 
true  derivation. 

2.  The  commencement  of  their  petition 
to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain:  Hue  nos 
veniuius,  serenissinie  princeps,  &c. 

3.  Hem  quenaus,  which  in  the  Swiss 
patois  signifies  seditious  fellows. 

4.  Heghenen  or  hu^uenen,  a  Flemish 
word,  which  means  Puritans,  or  Cathari. 
Caseneuve  supports  this  opinion;  and  it 
will  be  remembered  that  the  Albigenses 
were  called  Cathares  for  the  same  reason. 

5.  Verdier,  in  his  Prosopographie, 
observes,  "  Les  Huguenots  ont  ete  ainsi 
appelesde  Jean  Hus,  duquel  ils  ont  suivi 
la  doctrine;  comme  qui  diroit  les  guenons 
cle  //us."  Guenon  is  a  young  ape.  In 
support  of  this  theory  is  the  entire  bearing 


of  a  work  printed  at  Lyons  in  1573, 
entitled  Genea/ogie  et  la  fin  des  Huguc- 
naux,e.t  descouverte  dtt  Calvinism e,  &c, 
par  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  archidiacre  et 
comte  de  l'eglise  de  Lyon.  In  page  9 
we  find  the  following  passage:  "  Le 
Francois  heretique  a  pris  ce  nom  pour 
s'estre  plus  tost  transformed  en  singe  et 
guenon  qu'en  autre  beste,  suyvant  un 
certain  naturel  d'aucuns  Francois,  qui  se 
rendent  assez  souvent  imitateurs  des 
nations  estrangeres,  is  meurs,  gestes,  et 
habillemens:  qui  est  le  propre  du  singe, 
comme  nous  dirons." 

6.  Coquille  {Dialogues  sur  les  causes 
des  misires  de  la  France)  derives  it  from 
Hugh  Capet,  whose  prosperity  the  Pro- 
testants supported  in  the  persons  of  the 
Bourbon  princes,  against  the  Guises,  who 
boasted  their  descent  from  the  Carlovin- 
gian  kings.  But  it  is  by  no  means  clear 
that  the  Guises  contemplated  their  ambi- 
tious project  prior  to  the  reign  of  Henry 
HI.,  when  the  race  of  Valois  appeared 
likely  to  become  extinct;  while  there  is 
proof  that  the  word  Huguenot  was  in  use 
long  before. 

7.  One  Hugues,  a  sacramentarian,  is 
also  said  to  have  given  rise  to  the  epithet. 
Respecting  this  and  the  preceding  deriva- 
tion, it  may  be  noted  that  Huguenot  is  a 
diminutive  of  Hugh  or  Hugues,  as  Jeannot 
for  John,  Pierot  for  Peter,  &c. 

8.  The  etymology  most  generally  re- 
ceived is  that  which  ascribes  its  origin  to 
the  word  Eignot,  derived  from  the  Ger- 
man Eidegenossen,  q.  e.  federati.  A 
party  thus  designated  existed  at  Geneva; 
and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  French 
Protestants  would  adopt  a  term  so  appli- 
cable to  themselves.  This  opinion  is 
supported  by  Mezeray,  Maimbourg,  Vol- 
taire, and  Diodati,  professor  of  theology 
at  Geneva. 

9.  Huguenote  is  the  name  given  to  a 
common  iron  or  earthenware  pot  for 
cooking;  and  the  application  of  the  term 
may  have  arisen  from  the  number  of  early 
Huguenots  who  perished  in  the  flames. 
Especially  when  it  is  considered  that 
sehlir  le  fagot  was  an  expression  used  to 
denote  an  inclination  for  the  reform,  and 
is  ftequently  found  in  writings  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  On  the  other  hand,  La 
Furetiere,  in  his  dictionary,  reverses  the 
consequence,  and  says  the  utensil  was  so 
called  because  the  Huguenots  used  them 


444 


APPENDIX. 


to  dress  meat  secretly  on  fast  days,  and 
during  Lent. 

10.  Benoit  states  that  some  have  attri- 
buted the  etymology  to  a  bad  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  word  Gnostic.  Hist,  de 
VEdit  de  Nantes,  vol.  i.  p.  23. 


No.  IV.— The  MSS.  de  la  Eeynie. 

Gabrial-Nicholas  de  La  Reynie,  lieu- 
tenant-general of  police  at  the  period 
of  the  revocation,  has  left  a  mass  of  papers 
sufficiently  interesting  to  deserve  a  sepa- 
rate notice. 

This  collection,  at  present  in  the  Royal 
library,  is  invaluable  to  the  historian,  as  it 
corroborates  in  a  great  measure  the  con- 
temporary statements  published  by  the 
refugees,  which  it  has  been  the  fashion  in 
France  to  condemn  as  libels.  The  docu- 
ments are  bound  up  in  six  volumes.  They 
are  chiefly  originals  ;  but  such  as  are 
copies  accompany  original  pieces,  to 
which  they  refer.  Among  them  are  let- 
ters addressed  to  the  lieutenant-general 
of  police ;  but  the  most  interesting  portions 
are  the  reports  of  police  agents,  employed 
to  watch  the  Huguenots  and  suspected 
converts.  The  mere  outline  which  can 
be  given  here  will  impart  but  an  imper- 
fect idea  of  the  collection,  as  it  is  by  no 
means  well  classed.  It  would  seem  that 
the  bundles  of  papers  were  placed  in  the 
binder's  hands,  just  as  they  were  tied 
together  for  preservation,  when  M.  de  la 
Reynie's  functions  ceased. 

Vols.  I.  to  IV.  contain — 

1.  Proces-verbaux  of  books  seized  at 
the  houses  of  booksellers  and  binders. 

2.  Reports  concerning  Protestants  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  Paris. 

3.  Lettres  de  cachet  for  Protestants. 

4.  Reports  on  the  condition  and  move- 
ments of  the  elders  of  Charenton. 

5.  Divers  informations  sent  to  the  king. 

6.  List  of  fugitives,  and  of  persons 
known  to  contemplate  emigration. 

7.  Informations  on  the  means  used  for 
escaping. 

8.  Lists  of  conversions,  and  of  converts 
relieved  by  the  king. 

9-  Names  of  persons  usually  relieved 
by  the  elders  of  Charenton. 

10.  Lists  of  marchands  de  vin,  Protest- 
ants. 

11.  Persons  imprisoned  on  account  of 


religion  in  the  Bastille,  the  Chatelet,  and 
the  For-l'Eveque. 

The  reports  of  the  police  agents  are 
very  numerous  in  vol.  III. :  the  following 
selections  are  copied,  literally: 

"Dimanche,  1  Avril  1685.  Les  P.  R. 
ont  dit  aujourd'huy,  en  revenant  de  Cha- 
renton, que  1'  ambassadeur  d'Angleterre 
estoit  aujourd'huy  au  presche,  et  que  Ton 
ne  fait  plus  d'exercice  chez  luy,  parce  que 
le  Roy  son  maistre  est  catolique. 

"26  Avril  1685.  Les  ambassadeurs 
des  etats  Protestants  ou  Calvinists  nalloi- 
ent  autrefois  a  Charenton  que  tres  rare- 
ment,  parcequil  y  a  exercisse  dans  leurs 
hostels ;  et  depuis  peu  ils  y  vont  tous,  du 
moins  tous  les  dimanches  et  Ton  voit  que 
c'est  pour  se  faire  veoir  au  peuple  et  le 
fortiffier. 

"  12th  Juin  1685.  Deux  personnes  fu- 
rent  expres  le  jour  de  la  Pentecoste  a  Cha- 
renton pour  observer  la  fern  me  et  les  en- 
fans  de  Lejay,  pretend  us  relaps,  mais 
l'assemblee  de  ce  jour  fut  si  nombreuse 
qu'ils  ne  purent  demeler  ces  personnes 
d'avec  les  autres  et  naiant  pu  les  joindre; 
ils  s'attacherent  a  observer  les  commu- 
nians,  mais  il  y  avoit  trois  tables,  deux 
dans  le  temple  et  une  sous  les  tentes  dans 
la  cour,  et  comme  ils  ne  purent  observer 
qu'une  seule  table  ou  cette  femme  ny  ses 
enfans  ne  parurent  point,  il  ny  a  nulle 
certitude  s'ils  ont  communie  parcequ'ils 
l'ont  pu  faire  a  l'une  les  deux  autres 
tables;  mais  pour  agir  a  lavenir  avec  plus 
de  certitude  Herve  s'attachera  cette  se- 
maine  a  la  bien  connoistre,  et  dimanche 
prochain  il  se  trouvera  proche  sa  porte 
pour  la  veoir  sortir  et  la  suivra  jusques 
a  Charenton:  Ion  asseur  quelle  va  par 
batteau.  II  se  mettra  dansle  mesme  bat- 
teau  et  ne  la  quittera  point  de  vue  qu'elle 
ne  sorte  du  temple,  ce  moien  paroist  in- 
fallible pour  scavoir  au  vray  ce  quelle 
fera  pendant  ce  jour. 

"25th  Juin  1685.  II  y  a  une  femme 
de  consideration  chez  madame  l'ambassa- 
drice  d'Angleterre  quy  attend  le  depart  de 
madame  1'ambassadrice  pour  passer  avec 
elle  en  Angleterre,  je  nen  scait  pas  encore 
le  nom. 

"  30  Juin  1685.  L'on  a  enfin  decou- 
vert  que  Burnet  est  a  Paris:  il  se  fait 
nommer  M.  de  Bornet,  et  il  est  connu  par 
les  P.  R.  pour  un  docteur  en  theologie,  et 
ils  1'estiment  beaucoup  plus  habil  que  M. 
Claude.    II  loge  chez  le  ministre  Alix, rue 


APPENDIX. 


445 


neufve  St.-Eustache.  II  va  presque  tous 
les  jours  chez  Rozemond,  rue  des  Mar- 
rets.  Les  P.  R.  ont  dit  aujourd'huy  en 
confidence  que  ces  deux  hommes  travail- 
lent  ensemble  a  des  ouvrages  admirables, 
et  que  la  veufve  de  Varenne  en  doibt  faire 
le  debit.  Burnet  va  souvent  chez  cette 
veufve." 

Vol.  L  contains  this  specimen  of  tyranny: 

De  par  le  Roy. 
"  II  est  ordonne  a  Laguerre,  valet  de 
pied  de  sa  Majeste,  de  se  transporter  in- 
cessamment  dans  le  maison  du  sieur 
Claude,  ci-devant  ministre  de  la  R.  P.  R. 
a  Charenton,  et  de  lui  faire  commande- 
ment  de  la  part  de  S.  M.  de  sortir  de  la 
ville  de  Paris  dans  vingt-quatre  heures  au 
plus  tard,  pour  se  retirer  incessamment 
hors  du  royaume.  A  1'effet  de  quoi,  le  dit 
Laguerre  1'accompagnera  jusque  sur  la 
frontiere  par  laquelle  il  desirera  sortir. 
Fontainebleau,  xxi  Octobre  1685. 

"Louis. 

"  Colbert." 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  illustri- 
ous Colbert,  to  mention  that  he  died  in 
1683;  and  consequently  is  free  from  the 
reproach  of  sactioning  the  Edict  of  Revo- 
cation, and  its  corollary  decrees.  They 
were  apparently  countersigned  by  his 
eldest  son,  better  known  as  Marquis  de 
Seignelay,  who  was  Secretaire  d'Etat  de 
la  Maison  du  Roi,  and  Minister  of  the 
Marine.  The  practice  of  usins  the  family 
name,  instead  of  the  titular  honour,  was 
common  among  the  old  families.  The 
duke  de  Bouillon  signed  Henri  de  la  Tour 
— the  duke  de  Soubise,  Benjamin  de 
Rohan — and  the  statesman  Villeroy,  de 
Neufville. 

The  following  is  relative  to  the  demoli- 
tion of  the  temple  at  Charenton,  com- 
menced on  the  very  day  the  edict  of  re- 
vocation was  registered  by  the  parlia- 
ment : — 

"  Je  viens  d'ariver.  Monsieur,  jay  lesse 
une  partie  de  mes  officiers  dans  le  temple 
pour  y  coucher.  Les  autres  sont  dans  les 
plus  prochins  cabarets  du  temple  pour  se 
reposer  pendant  la  nuict,  et  demain  au- 
ront  soin  des  auenues  du  temple  et  pra- 
incipalement  des  ported  pour  empescher 
l'incommodite  des  eurieux.  Jay  fait  ar- 
retter  la  fille  et  lay  fait  remettre  entre  les 
mains  du  commissaire  Lamare  qui  la 
38 


menee  aux  nouvelles  catholiques.  Je 
ferai  encore  un  tour  demain  et  receuray 
les  ordres  que  vous  aurez  la  bonte  de  me 
donner.  Je  croy  que  les  menuisiers  au- 
ront  acheve  leurs  ouvrage  sur  les  neuf 
heures  du  matin.  Je  suis,  monsieur,  avec 
beaucoup  de  respec,  vostre  tres  humble 
et  tres  obeissant  serviteur, 

"  De  Francini  Grandmaison. 
"  Ce  Lundi  au  soir,  22  Oct.  1685." 

Some  idea  of  the  extensive  ramifica- 
tions of  the  police  may  be  formed  from 
these  extracts : — 

"  16  Jan.  1686.  En  mon  quartier  il  ne 
reste  que  le  sieur  Destreville,  qui  est  un 
garcon  demeurant  rue  des  Mauvais-Gar- 
cons  chez  Corneille,  vinaigrier,  a  la  2e 
chambre,  lequel  ne  veut  ny  signer  ny 
faire  abjuration.  Jean-Louis  Alexandre, 
rue  du  Mouton,  n'a  signe  ny  ne  veut 
faire  abjuration,  n'a  point  de  domestique. 

"Les  deux  garcons  du  sieur  Ausvere 
et  leur  servante  nont  voulu  signer  ni  faire 
abjuration,  se  sont  absentez.  jayscelle 
dans  leur  maison,  Rue  de  la  Poterye. 

"  Rue  de  la  Verrerie  d  1'hostel  de 
Bourbon,  maison  garnye, sont  logez  Mon- 
sieur le  Marquis  d'Inoncourt,  madame  sa 
femme,  leur  fils  et  quatre  filles  et  leur  fille 
de  chambre  tous  de  la  R.  P.  R.  avec 
un  laquais  de  meme  religion  et  3  laquais 
Almands  Lutheriens.  Madame  d'Inon- 
court scayt  que  la  declaration  du  roy 
porte  15  jours  pour  congedier  les  domes- 
tiques.  Elle  refuse  de  congedier  les  trois 
Lutheriens. 

"  Le  sieur  Desguilly  cy-devant  capitaine 
de  cavalerie  au  regiment  de  Comminge, 
loge  a  la  teste  d'or,  Rue  de  la  tixerand- 
erie.  II  est  de  la  R.  P.  R.  son  lacquais 
est  catholique.  Monseigneur  de  Louvois 
l'a  fait  mander  pour  lui  venir  parler. 
(Vol.  ii.) 

"21  Jan.  1686.  L'  on  m'a  donm- 
advis  aujourd'huy,  que  dans  le  cabaret 
du  Riche,  laboureur,  qui  est  a  I'entree  de 
la  rue  des  fosses,  M.  le  Prince.  II  s'y  as- 
semble presque  tous  les  soirs  des  mar- 
chands  et  artisans  de  la  religion  et  de 
nouveaux  catholiques,  ou  ils  se  trouve 
quelquefois  jusques  k  dixhuit  ou  vingtet, 
qu'ils  y  tiennent  des  discours  scandaleux. 
(Vol.  ii.) 

"28  Oct.  1686.  Le  ministre  Gilbert 
de  la  Rochelle  ne  s'est  point  loge  en  au- 
berge  dans  la  crainte  d'etre  docouvert. 


446 


APPENDIX. 


L'on  m'a  asseure  qu'il  se  retire  chez  la 
nommee  Bot,  revenderesse,  qui  est  une 
nouvelle  catholique  de  ses  amis  qui  de- 
meure  Rue  de  la  Corne  au  Faubg  St.  Ger- 
main. II  fut  hier  au  presche  chez  M.  l'am- 
bassadeur  de  Danemarc,  et  Ton  dit  qu'il  y 
doibt  entrer  pour  y  demeurer  et  prescher  en 
Francois.  Cette  nommee  Bot  est  une  fem- 
me  qui  a  desja  parut  suspecte  en  d'autres 
occasions."    (Vol.  iii.) 

Extract  of  a  deposition  made  3  Dec. 
1686. 

"Quele  nomme  Desbaux,  potier  d'es- 
tain,  rue  des  Fosses  St.  Germain,  est 
l'agent  de  tous  les  mecroians  de  Paris,  et 
que  sa  fern  me  va  de  maison  en  maison 
porter  des  livres  et  des  lettres.  Que  chez 
le  nomme  Lebeuf  a.  la  Place  Maubert  on 
s'assemble  quelquefois.  Que  la  femme  de 
Bezard,  cydevant  ancien  de  Charenton, 
est  une  seditieuse  qu'il  faudrait  mettre  en 
Heu  de  surete."    (Vol.  i.) 

Report  of  Oliver  Cellier. 
"Ce  26  Jan.  1687.  Jai  este  ce  matin 
Chez  l'envoie  de  Brandebourg  dans  le  lieu 
ou  ils  font  leur  assemblee:  je  m'i  suis 
trouve  le  premier,  et  ai  exactement  observe 
tous  les  usages  qui  i  ont  paru.  J'ai  vei  5 
personnes  qui  ont  chante  en  Francois. 
J'en  ai  suivi  un,  lequel  a  fort  observe  ma 
contenence.  Je  l'ai  suivi  jusques  dans 
la  rue  de  Lavandieres.  Je  l'ai  veu  entrer 
dans  une  porte  entre  deux  portes  carrees 
vis-a-vis  M.  Boulo,  cirrurgien. 

"  L'homme  que  j'ay  observe  a  bien 
quarante  ans;  il  a  le  visage  un  peu  cane, 
les  hieux  et  la  fasse  un  peu  enflammez. 
II  a  une  assez  grande  espee  a  garde  d'assie 
tres  luisant.  Le  juste  corps  girs  un  peu 
brun."    (Vol.  iv.) 

The  fifth  volume  contains  memoirs, 
correspondence,  and  accounts  of  books 
furnished  to  new  converts,  amounting  to 
ihe  enormous  sum  of  536,640  livres. 
There  were  evidently  suspicions  of  pecu- 
lation, as  the  inquiries  appear  directed  to- 
wards detection ;  and  the  report  made 
upon  the  accounts  of  one  Clement  states, 
that  he  produces  no  proof,  nor  entries  in 
books  or  journals,  either  to  justify  his  ex- 
penditure, or  to  show  what  the  booksellers 
have  delivered  to  him.  It  is  also  stated 
that  the  documents  furnished  by  him  had 
been  altered.  The  reporter's  opinion  may 
be  inferred  from  this  observation:  "Par 


ce  moyen  la  despense  effective  de  4  a 
500  mille  livres,  peut  estre  enflee  et  portee 
a  6,  7,  8, 9  et  un  milion,  ainsi  qu'il  aura  plu 
au  sieur  Clement." 

It  is  stated  by  Rulhiere  that  Pellison  did 
not  leave  his  accounts  in  perfect  order; 
and  as  he  was  concerned  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  these  books,  it  is  probable  that  this 
transaction  gave  rise  to  the  imputation. 

Vol.  VI.  contains  the  papers  seized  on 
the  persons  of  fugitives,  and  in  the  houses 
of  suspected  relapse  ;  with  a  number  of 
abjurations,  many  of  which  are  signed  in 
blank,  having  neither  the  date,  the  name 
of  the  ecclesiastic  receiving,  nor  of  the  re- 
quisite witnesses  attesting  the  declaration. 


No.  V. — Extract  from  the  Dublin  Uni- 
versity Magazine  for  August,  1837, 
p.  210. 

"  The  very  names  of  the  most  respecta- 
ble and  honoured  families  in  Ireland  re- 
mind us  of  the  channels  through  which 
knowledge  of  the  cruelties  and  frauds  of 
Romanism  in  France  must  have  reached 
the  hearts  of  Irish  Protestants.  Men  who 
were  sufferers  for  their  faith,  flying  from 
the  most  ruthless  persecution,  were  re- 
ceived with  open  arms  in  Ireland.  If 
their  religion  and  their  distresses  recom- 
mended them,  their  industry  and  know- 
ledge established  their  claims  to  public 
favour.  The  effect  of  their  representa- 
tions can  hardly  be  exaggerated :  their 
presence  was  a  strong  testimony  to  the 
proof  of  their  statements.  The  monarch 
who  had  broken  faith  with,  and  outraged 
humanity  in  his  persecution  of  them,  was 
the  patron  of  a  pretender  to  the  British 
throne,  whom  four-fifths  of  the  people  of 
Ireland  regarded  as  their  lawful  sovereign. 
The  short  reign  of  James  II.  had  suffici- 
ently awakened  Protestant  alarm ;  but 
when  crowds  of  sufferers,  flying  for  their 
lives,  sought  a  refuge  in  Ireland,  showing 
by  their  industry  and  arts  what  Romanism 
would  sacrifice  rather  than  tolerate  free- 
dom of  opinion,  and  by  their  recitals  ex- 
hibiting the  crimes  by  which  an  intolerant 
church  would  uphold  its  despotism,  it  is 
difficult  to  imagine  the  excesses  to  which 
men,  remembering  the  cruelties  of  James, 
threatened  with  aggravated  oppression, 
and  surrounded  by  multitudes  thirsting 
for  their  lands,  might  not  have  been  stimu- 
lated." 


APPENDIX. 


447 


The  Editor  then  refers  to  Dr.  Kenney's 
most  valuable  work,  entitled  Facts  and 
Documents  illustrative  of  the  History  of 
the  Period  immediate/;/  preceding  the 
•Accession  of  William  III.,  from  which 
he  gives  two  extracts:  the  latter  is  bor- 
rowed by  Dr.  Kenney  from  a  work  of  Mr. 
Bion,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  who  was 
influenced  by  the  cruelties  of  the  church 
and  government,  and  the  faithful  en- 
durance of  Protestants,  to  renounce  the 
creed  of  Rome,  and  who  sought  an  asylum 
in  England. 

"In  the  year  1703,  several  Protestants 
out  of  Languedoc  and  the  Cevennes  were 
put  on  board  our  galleys.  They  were 
narrowly  watched  and  observed,  and  I 
was  exceedingly  surprised  on  Sunday 
morning,  after  saying  mass  on  the  ban- 
caffe,  [a  table  so  placed  that  all  in  the 
galley  may  see  the  priest  when  he  ele- 
vates the  host]  to  hear  the  comite  [an 
officer  similar  to  a  boatswain  of  a  ship] 
say  that  he  was  going  to  give  the  Hu- 
guenots the  bastinado,  because  they  did 
not  kneel  or  show  respect  to  the  myste- 
ries of  the  mass ;  and  that  he  was  pro- 
ceeding to  acquaint  the  captain  therewith. 
The  very  name  of  bastinado  terrified  me; 
and,  though  I  had  never  seen  this  dread- 
ful execution,  I  begged  the  comite  to  for- 
bear till  the  next  Sunday,  and  said  that  in 
the  meantime  I  would  endeavour  to  con- 
vince them  of  what  I  then  thought  their 
duty  and  my  own.  Accordingly,  I  tried 
all  the  methods  I  could  possibly  think  of 
for  that  purpose :  sometimes  making  use 
of  fair  means,  giving  them  victuals,  and 
doing  them  good  offices:  sometimes  using 
threats,  and  representing  the  torments 
that  were  designed  for  them ;  and  often 
urging  the  king's  command,  and  quoting 
the  passage  of  St.  Paul,  that  he  who  re- 
sists the  higher  power  resists  God.  I 
had  not  at  that  time  a  design  to  oblige 
them  to  do  any  thing  against  their  con- 
sciences; and  I  confess  that  what  I  did 
proceeded  from  a  motive  of  pity  and  ten- 
derness. This  was  the  cause  of  my  zeal, 
which  would  have  been  more  fatal  to 
them,  had  not  God  endued  them  with  suf- 
ficient resolution  and  virtue  to  bear  up 
against  my  arguments,  and  the  terrible 
execution  which  they  had  in  view.  I 
could  not  but  admire  the  modesty  of  their 
answers,  and  the  greatness  of  their  cou- 
rage ;  "  The  king,"  said  they,  "  is  indeed 


the  master  of  our  bodies,  but  not  of  our 
consciences." 

"At  last,  the  dreadful  day  being  come, 
the  comite  narrowly  observed  them,  to 
see  the  fruit  of  my  labours:  there  were 
only  two  out  of  twenty  that  bowed  the 
knee  to  Baal;  the  rest  generously  refused 
it,  and  were,  accordingly,  by  the  captain's 
command,  served  in  the  manner  follow- 
ing. In  order  to  the  execution,  every 
man's  chains  were  taken  off,  and  they 
were  put  successively  into  the  hands  of 
four  Turks,  who  stripped  them  stark 
naked,  and  stretched  them  upon  the  cour- 
sier  (a  great  gun  near  the  stern  of  the 
galley,  which  carried  a  six-and-thirly 
pound  ball:)  there  they  are  so  held  tha-t 
they  cannot  so  much  as  stir,  during  which 
time  there  is  a  horrid  silence  throughout 
the  whole  galley;  and  it  is  altogether  so 
cruel  a  scene  that  the  most  profligate, 
obdurate  wretches  cannot  bear  to  dwell 
upon  the  sight,  but  are  often  obliged  to 
turn  away  their  eyes.  The  victim,  being 
thus  prepared,  the  Turk  chosen  to  be  the 
executioner,  with  a  long  cudgel  or  knotty 
rope's  end,  unmercifully  beats  the  poor 
wretch,  and  that  the  more  willingly,  be- 
cause he  thinks  it  acceptable  to  his  pro- 
phet Mahomet.  But  the  most  barbarous 
of  all  is,  that  after  the  skin  is  flayed  off 
from  their  bodies,  the  only  balsam  applied 
to  their  wounds  is  a  mixture  of  vinegar 
and  salt:  after  this  they  are  thrown  into 
the  hospital  already  described.  I  went 
thither  after  the  execution,  and  could  not 
refrain  from  tears  at  the  sight  of  so  much 
barbarity:  they  perceived  it,  and,  though 
scarcely  able  to  speak  through  weakness 
and  pain,  they  thanked  me  for  the  com- 
passion I  expressed,  and  for  the  kindness 
I  had  always  shown  to  them.  I  went 
with  a  design  to  administer  some  comfort 
to  them,  and  was  glad  to  find  them  less 
moved  than  I  was  myself.  It  was  truly 
wonderful  to  see  with  what  patience  and 
Christian  constancy  they  bore  their  tor- 
ments; in  the  midst  of  their  pains  never 
expressing  any  thing  like  rage,  but  calling 
upon  Almighty  God,  and  imploring  his 
assistance.  I  visited  them  day  by  day, 
and  as  often  as  I  did,  my  conscience  up- 
braided me  for  persisting  so  long  in  a  re- 
ligion, whose  capital  errors  I  had  before 
perceived,  but,  above  all,  which  inspired 
so  much  cruelty,  a  temper  directly  oppo- 
site to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  At 


448 


APPENDIX. 


last  their  wounds,  like  so  many  mouths 
preaching  to  me,  made  me  sensible  of 
my  error,  and  experimentally  taught  me 
the  excellence  of  the  Protestant  religion. 

"  But  it  is  time  to  conclude  and  draw 
a  curtain  over  this  horrid  scene,  which 
presents  none  but  ghastly  sights,  and 
transactions  full  of  barbarity;  but  which 
all  show  how  false  it  is,  what  they  now 
pretend  in  France  for  detaining  the  Pro- 
testants in  the  galleys;  viz.,  that  they  do 
not  suffer  there  on  a  religious  account, 
but  are  condemned  for  rebellion  and  dis- 
obedience. The  punishments  inflicted 
on  them  when  they  refuse  to  adore  the 
host — the  rewards  and  advantages  offered 
on  their  compliance  in  that  particular,  are 
a  sufficient  argument  against  the  above 
pretence,  there  being  no  such  offers  made 
to  those  condemned  for  crimes.  It  shows 
the  world  also  the  most  incredible  barba- 
rity practised  against  the  French  Pro- 
testants; and  at  the  same  time  sets  forth, 
in  a  manner  the  most  honourable,  their 
virtue;  their  constancy,  and  zeal  for  their 
holy  religion." 


No.  VI. —  Notice  of  Paul  Rub aut. 

Some  remarks  upon  this  work,  in  an 
estimable  periodical  (Ze  Semeur,  5th 
June,)  indicate  an  omission  of  importance, 
and  the  author  readily  acknowledges, 
with  Pharaoh's  butler,  "I  do  remember 
my  fault  this  day."  Never  did  pastor 
deserve  a  grateful  record  of  his  worth 
more  than  Paul  Rabaut;  and  from  the 
present  very  limited  sketch  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  vicissitudes  of  this  minister's  life 
are  entitled  to  the  professed  biographer's 
attention. 

A  brief  notice  of  this  indefatigable 
preacher  was  published  in  1808;  first,  as 
appendix  to  Reflexions  Pkilusopldqur.s 
et  Politiques  sur  la  Tolerance  Reli- 
gieuse,  &c.  It  was  afterwards  printed 
separately,  under  the  title  of  Notice.  Bio- 
graphique  sur  Paul  Rabaut,  pasleur  pen- 
dant plus  de  einquante  ans  u  Nimes,  par 
S.  P.  de  N.  (Scipion  Pons  of  Nismes.) 

Paul  Rabaut  was  born  at  Bedarieux 
(Herault)  9th  January,  1718,  of  Protest- 
ant parents;  and  although  the  pastoral 
calling  was  then,  with  few  exceptions,  a 


certain  path  to  the  gibbet  or  the  wheel 
he  was  determined  to  enter  upon  the  sa- 
cred, though  perilous  function.  Where 
he  resided  it  would  be  difficult  to  say 
with  precision,  for  concealment  and  fre- 
quent removals  were  indispensable  to  his 
existence,  but  he  officiated  at  Nismes  and 
its  vicinity  during  half  a  century,  in  the 
greater  part  of  which  period  a  price  was 
set  upon  his  head. 

His  ministry  was  numerously  followed 
— his  hearers  sometimes  exceeding  ten 
thousand  persons.  His  eloquence  was 
favoured  by  a  peculiarity  of  voice,  de- 
scribed by  one  who  knew  him  personally, 
as  retentissante  et  argentee,  quoique 
digue,  a  quality  which  enabled  him  to 
overcome  the  disadvantage  of  preaching 
in  the  open  air.  His  fluency  in  prayer 
was  very  great;  and  the  unaffected  piety 
of  his  conduct,  in  conformity  with  the 
doctrines  he  preached,  obtained  for  him 
the  esteem  of  many  enlightened  members 
of  the  Romish  church,  and  particularly 
that  of  M.  Becdelievre,  Bishop  of  Nismes, 
a  character  similar  to  Fenelon  in  mild- 
ness and  charity.  That  excellent  prelate 
made  several  efforts,  remarkable  for  their 
tolerant  tendency;  but  private  influence 
could  not  withstand  the  pitiless  com- 
mands of  a  bigoted  government. 

Rabaut  differed  from  the  Huguenots  of 
the  preceding  century  by  his  decided  dis- 
approval of  resistance  to  civil  authority. 
He  considered  a  readiness  for  martyrdom 
the  surest  means  for  promoting  the  cause 
of  Christ's  church;  and  among  various 
instances  of  his  fixed  principles  on  this 
point,  one  of  the  deepest  interest  occurred 
when  M.  Desubas  was  conducted  to  exe- 
cution. That  young  preacher's  case  in- 
spired much  interest  throughout  Langue- 
doc;  and  the  wanton  conduct  of  the  troops, 
when  he  was  arrested,  had  kindled  such 
a  spirit  of  animosity,  that  a  body  of  young 
men,  armed  with  guns,  swords,  scythes, 
and  forks,  devoted  themselves  to  effect 
his  deliverance  from  the  escort,  when  re- 
moved from  Nismes  to  Montpellier.  The 
authorities  being  informed  of  the  project, 
increased  the  military  force,  and  gave  or- 
ders to  kill  Desubus,  rather  than  suffer 
his  escape. 

Rabaut  also  heard  of  the  design,  and 
proceeded  to  the  assemblage,  where  his 
eloquence  was  at  first  ineffectual  towards 
appeasing  their  effervescence.    After  ad- 


APPENDIX. 


449 


dressing-  them  in  the  name  of  the  unfor- 
tunate captive,  he  concluded: — "  Should 
God  destine  me  to  such  an  end,  I  implore 
you  beforehand,  and  I  claim  it  of  your 
affection,  to  suffer  me  to  die  peaceably, 
that  I  may  not  become  a  cause  of  tears 
to  your  kindred  and  friends,  or  to  your 
country,  torn  by  the  troubles  which  would 
folio  w  such  a  revolt:  and  it  is  only  on 
these  conditions  that  I  will  continue  my 
pastoral  functions  among  you."  This 
elocution  induced  the  multitude  to  dis- 
perse, and  the  pious  minister,  more  anx- 
ious to  enforce  Christian  submission  than 
to  save  the  life  of  his  beloved  friend  and 
brother,  then  proceeded  to  other  groups, 
where  he  was  equally  successful. 

Rabaut's  outlawed  condition  exposed 
him  to  many  vicissitudes  and  wonderful 
escapes.  On  one  occasion  he  was  fol- 
lowed to  the  house  of  a  baker:  the  place 
was  forthwith  invested,  and  the  impend- 
ing danger  was  averted  by  the  pastor's 
hastily  putting  on  the  baker's  dress,  co- 
vered with  flour,  in  which  disguise  he 
passed  the  sentinel  at  the  door,  holding  in 
his  hand  an  empty  bottle,  under  pretence 
of  procuring  wine,  and  having  placed  a 
rose  in  his  mouth,  to  assist  in  concealing 
his  features. 

On  another  occasion  he  was  traced  to 
an  humble  dwelling,  where  he  was  pre- 
served from  arrest  by  the  generous  effort 
of  a  woman,  who  had  given  birth  to  a 
child  only  a  few  days  previously.  Re- 
gardless of  her  own  condition,  she  sent 
away  her  nurse,  held  the  infant  on  her 
knees,  and  when  her  room  was  searched 
by  the  soldiers,  Rabaut  was  concealed  in 
the  bed,  his  head  being  covered  with  a 
cap  belonging  to  his  unexpected  pro- 
tector. 

But  although  Rabaut  made  every  pos- 
sible exertion  for  escaping  the  perils 
which  beset  him,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
face  danger  when  the  good  of  his  bre- 
thren required  it.  For  at  a  period  when 
the  prisons  and  galleys  were  crowded 
with  Protestants,  and  a  renewal  of  former 
horrors  was  generally  apprehended,  Ra- 
baut ventured  alone  to  present  a  petition 
to  the  Marquis  de  Paulmy,  governor  of 
the  province,  whom  he  accosted  on  the 
road,  surrounded  by  his  guard  of  honour. 
The  marquis  conversed  for  some  time 
with  the  intrepid  minister,  and  generously 
allowed  him  to  retire  free.    At  that  time 


his  arrest  would  have  been  followed  by 
certain  execution — nothing  being  required 
for  his  condemnation  beyond  the  proof  of 
identity;  and  yet  under  such  circum- 
stances he  had  ventured  to  declare  his 
name. 

As  intimidation  was  found  to  be  inef- 
fectual, corruption  was  used;  and  Rabaut 
was  offered  a  considerable  sum  by  the 
government,  on  condition  of  his  leaving 
France.  He  constantly  refused,  and  his 
perseverance  was  ultimately  rewarded  by 
the  removal  of  legal  disabilities.  He  had 
the  happiness  to  see  liberty  of  conscience 
and  the  reign  of  worship  proclaimed  by 
law.  He  assisted  at  the  dedication  of 
a  Protestant  temple  at  Nismes,  and 
preached,  under  the  protection  of  the 
magistrates,  those  doctrines  he  had  faith- 
fully taught,  while  hunted  by  soldiers  as 
a  beast  of  prey. 

Nothing  is  more  common  with  the  op- 
ponents of  religious  liberty  than  the  at- 
tempt to  identify  Protestants  with  Jaco- 
bins; but  Paul  Rabaut,  at  that  time  the 
most  eminent  among  them,  and  who  had 
been  during  many  years  their  guide  and 
representative,  was  arrested  by  order  of 
the  convention.  His  advanced  age  and 
infirmities  were  disregarded  by  his  ene- 
mies. Too  feeble  to  walk  to  the  prison, 
and  no  carriage  being  at  hand,  he  was 
carried  there  on  an  ass.  The  fall  of 
Robespierre  restored  him  to  liberty;  and 
he  soon  after  closed  his  mortal  career  in 
his  own  house  at  Nismes.  As  his  last 
hour  approached,  he  exhorted  the  friends 
assembled  round  his  bed  to  persevere  with 
constancy  in  their  religious  tenets,  and  to 
practise  fidelity  to  the.  authorities,  not- 
withstanding the  cruel  injuries  he  had  re- 
ceived from  the  convention.  Having  bid 
them  farewell,  he  requested  that  the  nunc 
dimittis  might  be  sung,  and  died  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year,  on  the  4th  Vende- 
miare  of  the  year  III.  (5lh  September, 
1794.) 

He  was  interred  in  the  cellar  of  his 
habitation.  A  good  price  was  offered  by 
some  Catholics  for  the  house,  to  the  wi- 
dow of  his  son,  Rabaut  Pomier;  but,  as 
it  was  feared  that  some  insult  might  be 
offered  to  Rabaut's  remains,  the  property 
was  assigned,  for  a  very  inferior  sum,  to 
the  Protestant  Orphan  Institution  of  Nis- 
mes, to  which  it  still  belongs.  A  stone 
in  the  cellar  marks  the  spot  where  repose 


450 


APPENDIX. 


the  ashes  of  this  venerable  and  courageous 
confessor  of  the  truth. 

His  son,  Jean  Paul  Rabaut  St.  Etienne, 
eminent  as  a  scholar  and  minister,  and 1 
celebrated  for  his  conduct  in  the  con- 
vention, was  horn  at  Nismes  in  April, 
1743.  Being  member  of  a  commission 
charged  to  prevent  the  outbreak  of  an  ex- 
pected plot,  his  denunciation  of  Hebert 
drew  upon  himself  and  his  colleagues  the 
animosity  of  the  Jacobins,  already  in- 
censed against  him  for  opposing  the  con- 
demnation of  Louis  XVI.  The  Marquis 
d'Arbaud  Jouques  (p.  31,)  in  reproaching 
the  Protestants  of  the  Gard  with  their 
regicide  principles,  makes  an  exception 
in  favour  of  Rabaut  St.  Eiienne,  "qui 
rtjeta  avec  horreur  ce  crime  execrable.. 

Rabaut  was  involved  in  the  cataslrophe 
of  May,  1793,  and  was  arrested  2d  of 
June;  but  he  escaped,  and  remained  con- 
cealed during  six  months.  Several  ver- 
sions respecting  his  discovery  and  arrest 
being  current,  I  am  indebted  to  the  recol- 
lections of  Madame  Rabaut  Pomier  for 
the  following  details: — 

Rabaut  St.  Etienne,  and  Rabaut  Po- 
mier, his  brother,  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
Fauboug  Poisonniere,  at  the  house  of  one 
Paizac,  to  whom  Rabaut  St.  Etienne  had 
rendered  great  services.  He  was  not  a 
Catholic  noble,  as  some  have  stated,  nor 
a  carpenter,  as  others  have  asserted. 
His  farther  was  a  huissier,  and  his  wife  a 
bonnet-maker.  Paizac  had  constructed  a 
hiding-place  in  his  house,  wherein  the 
brothers  Rabaut  were  concealed.  Every 
thing  was  complete,  with  the  exception  of 
the  entrance,  which  resembled  the  mouth 
of  an  oven.  For  that  purpose  Paizac  ap- 
plied to  a  carpenter  whom  he  had  long 
known,  and  in  whom  he  placed  confi- 
dence: the  man  denounced  him.  Rabaut 
St.  Etienne  was  seized,  and,  being  already 
outlawed,  was  at  once  conducted  to  exe- 
cution, Paizac  and  his  wife  were  guillo- 
tined the  same  day,  5th  Dec,  1793. 
Their  crime  consisted  in  the  refuge  given 
to  Rabaut. 

Rabaut  Pomier  remained  in  prison 
nearly  a  year,  after  which  he  was  libe- 
rated. He  was  a  highly  respected  pastor, 
and  president  of  the  consistory  of  Paris. 

Rabaut  Dupuis,  another  son  of  Paul 
Rabaut,  followed  the  legal  profession,  and 
was  one  of  the  council  of  Five  Hundred. 


No.  VII. — Recent  act  of  intolerance. 

The  following  disgraceful  circumstance 
has  been  related  in  the  Paris  journals,  ex- 
tracted from  the  Phare  de  la  Pochette. 
It  will  be  found  at  length  in  the  Propaga- 
teur  of  30th  June,  1838. 

A  Protestant  lady,  named  Fleury,  died 
at  the  village  of  Pont-l'Abbe  (Charente- 
Inferieure)  and  was  interred  on  the  2d  of 
June  by  the  Protestant  pastor  of  Maren- 
nes.  As  cemeteries  are  communal  pro- 
perty, and  under  the  control  of  the  mayor, 
independent  of  the  clergy,  the  deceased 
was  buried  in  the  only  burial-ground, 
which  however  the  priests,  according  to 
their  custom,  consider  a  domain  of  the 
church.  The  vicar  had  protested  against 
the  sepulture;  and  in  the  night  of  the  7th 
he  had  the  corpse  disinterred.  He  then 
wrote  the  following  record  of  his  own  dis- 
grace:— 

"A  Moss.  Cambon,  Pasteur  d  Murennes. 

"Monsieur,  le  bel  ceuvre  que  celui 
dont  vous  etes  venu  vous  illustrer  a  Pont- 
l'Abbe,  la  veille  du  saint  jour  de  la  Pente- 
cote.  Vous  avez  grand  sujet  de  vous  en 
glorifier,  la  memoire  en  restera  longtemps 
dans  les  cceurs.  Le  corps  de  Mme.  Fle- 
ury vient  enfin  e'etre  exhume  du  lieu  ou, 
contre  mon  droit  et  rnon  opposition,  vous 
1'aviez  faitdeposer.  Cette  operation  s'est 
terminee  cette  nuit  entre  minuit  et  une 
heure. 

"Courage,  Monsieur?  encore  quelques 
actes  de  cette  nature,  et  vous  rendrez  de 
plus  en  plus  recommendable  votre  mini- 
stere,  deji  si  accredite  par  la  solidite  de 
vos  doctrines.  Le  repos  dont  vous  assu- 
rez  le  corps  de  vos  fideles  apres  leur  mort 
est  une  garantie  du  repos  dont  vous  pou- 
vez  assurer  leur  ame. 

"  Recevez,  Monsieur,  l'assurance  de 
toute  la  consideration  que  vous  avez  su 
m'inspirer. 

"  Labbro,  Desservant  de  Pont-VMbe. 
"  Pont-l'Abbe,  le  8  Juin  1838." 

This  strange  letter  obtained  a  reply 
from  the  Protestant  pastor,  the  mildness 
of  which  presented  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  unchristian  boastings  of  the  priest. 
He  congratulated  himself  that  he  was  not 
minister  of  a  religion  which  pursues  men 
even  in  their  grave,  and  would  deprive 


APPENDIX. 


their  mortal  remains  of  the  rest  they  deny 


to  their  souls ;  and  concluded  by  exhorting 
the  vicar  to  inquire  seriously,  and  as  in 
the  presence  of  his  Maker,  whether  his 
conduct  and  sentiments  were  Christian, 
or  if  he  had  not  rather  stifled  the  voice  of 
charity  and  the  feelings  of  humanity. 


No.  VIII. — Jlbrege  de  I'Histoire  de  Nis- 
mes, de  Menard,  continue  jusqu,  a  nos 
jours,  par  P.  L.  Baragnon  pere,  avocat 
a  la  cour  royale  de  Nismes,  Vols.  I. 
to  III. 


pal  body,  then  accused  of  counter-revo- 


lutionary principles,  and  for  that  reason 
ex  parte.  However,  the  mayor's  state- 
ment contains  an  important  admission. 

"  Ce  n'etait  point  ane  querelle  de  reli- 
gion ;  les  dogmes,  le  culte  n'y  entraient 
pour  rien ;  mais  c'etait  l'inquietude  des 
catholiques  d'avoir  vu  d'abord  la  force 
armee  entre  les  mains  d'un  petit  nombre 
des  citoyens,  dont  plus  de  la  moitie  etai- 
ent  protestans;  c'etait  le  mecontentement 
des  protestans  de  n'a  voir  pas  eu  dans  l'elec- 
tion  desoffkiers  municipaux  la  part  qu'ils 
pouvaient  y  pretendre."  Cornpte  rendu, 
quoted  by  Baragnon,  vol.  iii.  p.  445. 

We  may  here  fairly  inquire  how  it  hap- 
pened that  the  intrigues  began  before  the 
The  author  was  unable  to  procure  a  municipal  elections ;  and,  consequently, 
copy  of  the  above  work  until  after  his  before  the  protestants  could  entertain  dis- 
own task  was  finished.  The  third  vo-  content  at  exclusion  !  The  elections  took 
lume  concludes  with  an  account  of  the  place  in  February,  1790;  but  Froment 


P  agar  re  in  1790.  However,  with  all 
possible  defference  for  the  advantages  en 


proceeded  to  Turin  in  January,  and  he 
declares  in  one  of  his  publications,  that 


joyed  by  M.  Baragnon  as  an  inhabitant  .the  nobility  of  Languedoc  had  held  a  de 


of  Nismes,  his  arguments  have  not  in- 
duced any  alteration  in  the  volume  now 
offered  to  the  public. 

From  the  sixteenth  century  M.  Barag- 
non's  history  is  almost,  without  intermis- 


liberation  at  Toulouse,  in  November, 
1789,  for  the  purpose  of  planning  mea- 
sures to  restore  the  old  regime.  Lauze 
de  Peret,  2"  livraison,  p.  198. 

In  the  autumn  of  1789  some  violent 


sion,  an  .Bete  d' Accusation  against  the  |  pamphlets  were  issued  against  the  Protes- 
Protestants;  yet  his  account  of  the  Cami-  tants.  Pierre  Rojn/nn  aux  Catholiques  de 


sards  has  not  necessitated  more  than  a 
marginal  note,  wherein  his  testimony  to 
the  severe  measures  adopted  has  been 
adduced. 

At  a  later  period,  where  there  is  an  al- 
lusion to  the  audacity  of  the  Protestants 
in  holding  assemblies  (1743  to  1745,)  it 
would  certainly  have  tended  to  establish 


Nimes  bears  no  date,  but  (  harles  Sincere 
a  Pierre  Rom  din,  which  responds  to  the 
appeal,  and  is  apparently  from  the  same 
pen,  is  dated  22d  Nov.,  1789.  These 
libels  contain  a  declaration  of  mortal 
hatred  against  the  Protestants:  a  P.  S.  to 
the  latter  declares  that  the  free  exercise 
of  the  reformed  religion  would  cause  the 


his  character  for  impartiality,  had  he  not,  ruin  of  the  monarchy;  and  suggests  a 
withheld   Menard's    testimony  to   their 'subscription  for  publishing  a  new  edition 


loyalty.  During  a  consistory  held  at  Le 
dignan,  news  was  received  of  the  king's 
illness;  on  which  the  ministers  instantly 
suspended  their  discussion,  to  offer  a 
prayer  for  his  recovery.  (Menard,  vol. 
vi.  p.  603.) 

It  will  n  >t  therefore  excite  surprise  that 


of  Caveyrac's  tfpologie,  which  is  called 
"  cet  ouvrage  immortel." 

Respecting  Froment,  we  learn  from  M. 
Baragnon  that  his  quarrel  with  the  friends 
of  the  revolution  was  altogether  personal 
in  its  origin  ;  that  he  was  never  the  real 
chief  of  the  Catholic  party;  and  that  the 


M.  Barapmn  blames  the  Protestants  for  i accounts  of  his  services  have  been  greatly 
the  trou!  les  of  1790.  He  admits  that  in  i  exaggerated  by  his  wounded  vanity.  His 
the  publications  of  the  Catholic  party  there ;  correspondence  with  the  Count  d'Artois, 
are  exaggerations,  as  well  as  in  those  and  his  zeal  in  the  Catholic  cause,  are 
written  by  Protestants:  but  his  avowed  ; however  admitted,  pp.  446 — 8. 
preference  for  the  statement  made  by  M.  In  the  terrihle  episode  of  the  Bagarre, 
de  Marguerittes,  mayor  of  Nismes,  has  .the  question  is,  who  was  the  aggressor1? 
caused  him  to  overlook  the  circumstance  and  M.  Baragnon  unhesitatingly  charges 
of  its  being  a  justification  of  the  munici-'the  Protestant  party. 


452 


APPENDIX. 


"  L'assemblee  nationale,  indisposee  con- 
tre  les  catholiques  par  la  petition  du  20 
Avril,  savait  que  l'interet  des  religion- 
naries  les  liait  etroitement  a  la  cause  de 
la  revolution,  et  lest  protegeait  ouverte- 
ment:  l'assemblee  electorale  etait  entitle- 
ment a.  leur  devotion  Toutes  les 

contrees  protestantes  etaient  en  armes,  et 
prevenues  de  longue  main ;  c'est  sous  ces 
auspices  que  l'assemblee  electorale  devait 
se  reunir  le  4  Juin." — P.  477 — 8. 

This  paragraph  decides  the  author's 
point  of  view  :  the  version  adopted  in  this 
volume  will  in  consequence  wound  his  his- 
torical susceptibilities.  We  differ  widely 
in  our  conclusions;  and  public  opinion  is 
the  tribunal  which  must  decide  between 
us. 

The  writings  of  M.  Lauze  de  Peret 
have  been  violently  assailed  by  what  is 
termed  the  royalist  ■parti)  in  France ;  yet 
the  author  is  not  aware  that  any  detailed 
refutation  of  his  statements  has  been  at- 
tempted. He  is  moreover  so  very  minute 
in  dates,  names,  and  places,  that,  if  his  as- 
sertions are  unfounded,  it  would  be  a 
very  easy  task  to  controvert  him.  Se- 
veral highly  respectable  inhabitants  of 
Nismes,  Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant, 
have  borne  testimony  to  his  veracity,  by 
correspondence  and  in  conversation  ;  and 
the  best  possible  reply  to  M.  Baragnon's 
account  of  the  Bagarre  is  a  passage  from 
M.  Lauze  de  Peret,  published  in  1818. 
Both  these  writers  were  advocates  of 
Nismes,  and  equally  near  the  best  sources 
of  information. 

"En  1788,  en  1789,  et  au  commence- 
ment de  1790,  jusqu'au  moment  ou  Ton 
discu  ta  la  constitution  civile  du  clerge, 
Popinion  fut  u-nanime  dans  presque  toutes 
les  classes;  la  revolution,  e'est-a-dire  une 
reforme  qui  n'etait  pas  encore  revolution- 
naire,  fut  recue  avec  un  enthousiasme 
aussi  general  qu'en  aucun  autre  lieu  de 
la'France.  Mais  dans  cette  meme  annee 
1790,  des  hommes  qui  ne  voulaient  au- 
cune  reforme  fonderent  sur  1'opposition 
des  cultes  1'esperance  d'une  opposition  po- 
litique, d'une  division  qui  troublat  les 
esprits,  qui  fit  preferer  passionnement  les 
interets  particuleirs  a  l'interet  public  dont 
la  raison  s'occupe  seule,  et  qui  enfin, 
malgre  les  voeux  naturels  du  plus  grand 
nombre  des  Fran^ais,  fit  travailler  les 
Francais  eux-memes  a  1'entier  retablisse- 


'  ment  de  ce  que  l'autorite  du  siecle  venait 
j  d'abolir.  C'est  ainsi  que  l'on  parvint  a  se 
i  separer  les  uns  des  antres  les  catholiques 
\  et  les  religionnaries."    1 re  livraison,  p.  96. 

The  official  report  presented  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  by  M.  Alquier  comprises 
•  the  depositions  of  numerous  witnesses, 
1  who  establish  the  charge  of  fanatical  con- 
duct and  threats  on  the  part  of  the  Catho- 
lics, in  the  month  of  April ;  but  those 
Statements  M.  Baragnon  does  not  conde- 
scend to  notice. 

The  Bagarre  occurred  in  June.  The 
destruction  of  the  capucin  convent  has 
been  the  subject  of  controversy.  The 
death  of  M.  Massip  was  the  pretext  of 
violence,  according  to  the  statement  of 
one  party  he  was  killed  by  a  shot,  fired  or 
or  supposed  to  be  fired  from  the  convent — 
their  opponents  declare  it  was  a  malicious 
J  colouring,  intended  to  justify  the  assault. 
!  One  fact  is  beyond  doubt :  M.  Massip  was 
killed  in  front  of  the  convent,  and  M.  Ba- 
ragnon offers  the  following  truly  ingeni- 
ous solution  of  a  charge,  rendered  more 
'  intricate  by  the  depositions  of  the  monks 
1  themselves,  and   especially  by  that  of 
their  gardener,  who  stated  that  the  shots 
appeared  to  him  to  be  fired  from  the  con- 
vent :  — 

"  S'il  nous  est  permis  de  donner  notre 
opinion,  d'expliquer  la  mort  de  M.  Massip, 
et  de  faire  concorder  le  recit  de  M.  Mar- 
guerittes  avec  la  deposition  des  religieux, 
nous  dirons  que  des  malveillans,  postes 
autour  du  Luxembourg  ou  dans  Tangle 
de  la  rue  Notre-Dame,  tirerent  sur  les 
rassemblement  place  a  l'esplanade  plu- 
sieurs  coups  de  feu  qui  n'atteignirent  per- 
sonne,  et  n'avaient  d'autre  but  que  d'ex- 
citer  un  mouvement;  que  ces  coups  de 
feu  mirent  l'epouvante  dans  la  troupe,  et 
que,  dans  le  desordre  qui  en  fut  la  suite, 
lu  maladressc  (Pun  legionnaire  donna  la 
mort  a  M.  Massip." — P.  501. 

A  fourth  volume,  bringing  the  history 
of  Nismes  down  to  1830,  has  been  for 
some  time  announced,  and  the  author  re- 
grets that  the  delay  in  its  appearance  has 
prevented  his  availing  himself  of  M.  Ba- 
ragnon's superior  advantages  and  skilful 
reasonings  for  correcting  any  erroneous 
nolions  which  he  may  have  formed,  not- 
withstanding the  most  scrupulous  atten- 
tion in  consulting  individuals,  residents  of 
Nismes  in  1815. 


THE  END. 


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COMMANDER  OF  THE  EXPEDITION,  ETC. 

A  New  Edition,  in  Five  Medium  Octavo  Volumes,  neat  Extra  Cloth,  particularly  done  up  with 
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illustrated  with  Maps,  and  about  Three  Hundred  Splendid  Engravings  on  Wooi», 
Descriptive  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  Savage  Life; 


Arms, 
Implements 
and 
Utensils ; 
Portraits, 
Landscapes 
and 
Scenery; 
Remote 

and 
hitherto 
Undiscovered 
Localities; 


Strange 
and 
Savage  races; 
especially 
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4 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


United  States  Exploring  Expedition. — Continued. 


That  the  extent  and  variety  of  the  illustrations  may  be  pro- 
perly understood,  the  publishers  submit  a  list  of  them. 

MAPS. 

1.  Map  of  the  World,  showing  the  Track  of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Expe- 

dition. 

2.  Low  Archipelago,  or  Paumotu  Group. 

3.  Australia  and  New  South  Wales. 

4.  Viti  Group,  or  Fejee  Islands. 

5.  Hawaiian  Group,  or  Sandwich  Islands. 

6.  Map  of  the  Craters  of  Hawaii. 

7.  The  Oregon  Territory,  with  a  Chart  of  the  Columbia  River. 

8.  Groups  in  the  Western  Part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

9.  Upper  California. 

10.  Sooloo  Sea  and  Archipelago. 

11.  Map  Illustrative  of  the  Currents  and  Whaling  Grounds. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  ON  WOOD. 
VOLUME  I. 


Madeira  Sledge. 
Curral,  Madeira- 
Peasant's  House. 
Wine-Carriers. 
Wine-Press. 
Madeira  Boat. 
Porto  Praya. 
Watering  Place, 

Praya. 
Coffee-Carriers. 
Music. 
Mina,  Negro. 
Tattooings. 
Ashantee. 
Tattooings. 
Mundjola. 
Tattooings. 
Benguelan. 
Congo  Negro. 
Kasangi. 
Tattooing. 
Makuan. 


Takwani. 
Caffre  Proper. 
Tattooing. 
Nyambana. 
Mudjana. 

Corcovado,  Rio  Janeiro. 
Slaves  Sleeping. 
Porto  Palace. 
Estancia. 
Guacho. 
Parhelion. 
Mirage. 
Mirage. 
Patagonians. 
Fuegian  Paddles. 
Orange  Harbour. 
Native  Fuegian. 
Fuegians  and  Canoe. 
Fuegian  Hut. 
Music. 
Music. 
Native  Hut. 


Height  of  Waves. 
Porpoise  and  Schooner 

separating. 
Cape  Horn. 
Relief  at  Noir  Island. 
Music. 

Taking  Grass  to  Market. 
Cordilleras,  Chili. 
Peasant's  House. 
Market  Place,  St.  Jago. 
Viga  of  the  Concon. 
Ox-Cart. 

Stirrups,  Spurs,  &c. 
Hearse. 

Pizarro's  Autograph 
Amancaes,  Peru. 
Gateway,  Lima. 
House,  Lima. 
Cooking  at  Casa  Cancha. 
Plan  of  Pasco. 
Temple,  Pachacamac. 
Ground  Plan  of  Pacha- 


TOLUME  II. 


Swinging,  Tahiti. 
Paofai. 

Common    Tahitian  Ca- 
noe. 

Native  House,  Tahiti. 
Tahitian  Girl  with  the 

Hau. 
Male  Costume. 
Music. 

Trading  Canoe. 
Fishery,  Tahiti. 
Eimeo. 

Beating  Tapa. 
Harbour  of  Pago-Pago. 
Music. 

Navigator  Clubs,  &c. 
Apolima. 

Parhelia. 
Tonga  Fence. 
Tonga  Gateway. 
King  George's  House. 
Mat-Screen. 


Fans,  Baskets,  &c. 
Ohwa  Tree. 
Music. 
Music. 

Papalangi  Ship. 
Devil  Man. 
Samoan  Girl. 
Tattooing. 
Samoan  Canoe. 
Music. 

Samoan  House. 
Samoan  Pet  Pigeon. 
Acrostichum  Grande. 
Native  Hut,  N.  S.  W. 
Native  of  Australia. 
Music. 
Music. 


Native  throwing  the 
Boomereng. 

Flight  of  the  Boome- 
reng. 

Native  Weapons  and 

Shield. 
M'Gill. 

New  Holland  Boy. 
Settler's    Cottage,  N. 

S.  W. 
Daisy  Bank. 
Macquare  Island. 
Land  and  Field-Ice. 
Peacock  Bay. 
Iceberg. 
Diagram. 

Vincennes  in  a  Storm. 


VOLUME  III. 


Music. 

Rotuma  Chief. 
Native  of  Tonga. 
Native  of  Erromago. 
Canoe-House. 


Tui  Levuka. 
Music. 

Tanoa's  Canoe. 
Ava  Bowls,  &c. 
Feejee  Girl. 


camac. 
Church  at  Banos. 
Fountain,  Lima. 
Low  Coral  Island. 
Section  of  Coral  Island. 
Canoe. 

Head  of  Native. 
Natives. 
Native  Hut. 
Tattooing. 
Double  Canoe. 
One-Handed  Chief. 
Native   of  Paumotu 

Group. 
Coral  Blocks. 
High  Coral  Island. 
Costume. 
Dean's  Island. 
Trading  Canoe. 
Diagram  of  a  Base-Line 

by  Sound. 
Diagram  of  Survey. 

Aurora  Australis. 
Tabular  Iceberg. 
Inclined  Iceberg. 
Iceberg. 
Ice-Island. 
Porpoise  in  a  Gale. 
Auckland  Isles. 
Aurora  Australis. 
Iceberg. 

New  Zealand  Pa. 
New  Zealand  Carving. 
Pomare's  House. 
Woman  and  Child,  N.  Z. 
New  Zealand  Girl. 
New  Zealand  Ihu  and 
Weapons. 


Mbure-House. 
Feejee  Oracle. 
Cannibal  Cooking-Pots. 
Mbure-House. 
Vendovi. 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


United  States  Exploring  Expedition.— Continued. 


Thokanauto.  Henrietta's  House 

Wailevu,  or  Peale's  Ri- Front  of  House. 

Dillon's  Rock. 
Music. 

Asaua  Woman. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  ON  WOOD. 
VOLUME  III.— Continued. 

Somu. 
Chief's  House. 


ver. 

Drinking  Vessels. 
Head-dress  of  Chiefs. 
Feejee  Clown. 
Music. 

Waicama,  Feejee. 
Feejee  Baskets,  &c. 
Feejee  Woman. 
Muthuata,  Feejee. 

Stone  Quoits,  &c. 
Poe-Eating. 
Cook's  Monument. 
Calabashes. 
Pendulum  Peak. 
Keaweehu. 
Lava  Jet. 
Lava  Flow. 
Sand-Hills. 
Pandanus  Tree. 

Union  Island  Canoe. 
Bowditch  Islander. 
Drill. 

Trading  Scene,  Apia. 
Matetau. 

Bowditch  Islanders. 
Ellice's  Islander. 


Feejee  Arms. 
Henry's  Island. 
Diagram,  Malolo. 
Wild  Feejee  Man. 
Feejee  Drum. 
Upper  Town,  Somu- 


Monument. 
Feejee  Drummer. 
Woman  Braiding. 
Maloma. 
Airou. 
Toka. 
Ula. 

Mode  of  Building  Hou- 
ses. 


VOLUME  IF. 

Blowing  Cone.  Indian  Dice. 


Cattle-Pen. 
Wailuku  Falls. 
Edible  Fern. 
Native  House. 
Fish-Hooks. 
Chikeeles  Fishery. 
Fort  Vancouver. 
Rocking  Cradle. 


Mission  House. 
Fishing  Huts. 
Dalles. 

Child's  Hends. 
Fort  Wal'.awalla. 
Indian  Costume,  (Male).  Mat  Hut. 
Indian    Costume,.   (Fe-  Tatouche  Chief. 


Feejee  Canoe. 
Feejee  Pottery. 
Cooking-Jars. 
Mode  of  Drinking. 
Mode  of  Sitting. 
Mode  of  Sitting. 
Likus. 

Feejee  Wigs,  &c. 
Mode  of  Carrying  Bur- 
dens. 
Street,  Honolulu. 

Indian  Lodge.. 
Mounds. 
Fish-Hooks. 
Mount  Rainier.. 
Mount  Rainier. 
Indian  Baskets. 


male). 


Falls  of  the  Willamette.  Music. 

VOLUME  V. 


Makin  Islander. 
Kingsmill  Arms. 
Inhabitant  of  Makin. 
Kingsmill  Idol. 
Ramsey. 
George. 

Carved  Planks.. 
Costume,  Ellice's  Group.  Masks,  Northwest 


Drummond's  Islander. 
Drummond's  Island 

Warriors. 
Kingsmill  Canoe. 
Woman,  Drummond's 

Island. 
Girl,  Peru  Island. 


dians 
Pipes,  Northwest 

dians. 
Hats,  Northwest  Coast 
Fish-weir. 
Pounding  Acorns. 
Indians  Gambling. 


Pack-saddles,  Sec. 
Indian  Burial  Place. 
Callapuya  Indian. 
Umpqua  Indian  Girl. 
Sacramento  Indian. 
Shaste  Hut. 
Vincennes  on  Bar. 
In-  Japanese. 

Banca,  Manilla. 
In-  Rice  Stacks, Luzon. 
Native  of  Luzon. 
Manilla  Costume. 
Manilla  Banca. 
Negrito  Boy. 


De  Fuca's  Pillar. 


Sword,  Manilla, 
Hatchet,  Manilla. 
Environs,  Manilla.. 
Saraboa,  Manilla. 
Caldera  Fort. 
Sooloo  Canoe. 
Houses,  Soia>g_. 
Riding,  Sooloo. 
Sooloo  Arms. 
Gentoo  Monument. 
Hottentots. 
Refraction. 

Longwood,  St.  Helena. 
Cape  of  Good  Hopci 


This  valuable  work  has  been  received  with  the  utmost  favour  by  the  press,  both 
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lishers take  pleasure  in  submitting  the  following: 


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destined  to  stand  among  the  most  enduring  mo- 
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but  every  department  of  history,  are  immense  ; 
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munity— no  matter  what  may  be  his  taste  or  his 
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of  the  Times. 


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rusal of  this  work — containing  the  history  of  an 
Expedition,  honourable  in  its  conception  and 
execution  to  the  intelligence  and  munificence  of 
our  government,  and  prolific  in  its  results  of  nau- 
tical and  scientifical  information  of  the  most  vari- 
ed, interesting  and  valuable  kind.  What  library, 
nrivate  or  public  in  our  country,  would  be  com- 
plete without  it." — Charleston  Courier. 

"  The  cost  of  this  edition  is  only  ten  doll  ars, 
or  two  dollars  a  volume,  a  low  price,  consider- 
ing the  magnitude,  execution,  and  value  of  the 
work.  It  is  worthy  of  a  place  in  every  library 
in  the  land,  and  its  pagps  should  be  familiar  to 
all.  In  Europe,  as  well  as  in  this  country,  it  has 
attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention." — Hartford 
Daily  Courant. 

"  This  work  is  got  up  in  the  usual  splendid 
styie  of  these  gentlemen,  and  is  most  creditable 
to  them.  The  paper,  type  and  engravings,  are 
all  of  the  best,  of  the  latter,  particularly,  we  have 
never  seen  an  illustrated  work,  English  or  Ame- 
rican, in  which  the  engravings  are  so  universally 
first  rate.  No  family  should  be  without  this 
work.  Another  large  edition  is  published  at 
$25.'' — Lady's  Book. 

"  We  have  still  to  notice  what  we  consider  as  the 
most  valuable  portion  of  the  work,  and  which  of 
itself  is  an  ample  return  for  all  the  expense  in- 
curred by  the  nation  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
undertaking;  we  allude  to  the  chapter  on  currents 
and  whaling  grounds.  We  cannot  too  highly  re- 
commend the  subject  embraced  in  this  chapter 
to  the  attention  of  the  mercantile  public,  and 
more  especially  to  that  portion  of  it  engaged  in 
the  whale  trade.  We  cannot  conclude  without 
giving  oar  meed  of  praise  to  the  manner  in  which 
these  volumes  have  been  got  up,  both  as  regards 
their  typography,  and  the  numerous  illustrations 
with  which  they  are  adorned;  these  are  truly  ex- 
cellent, and  may  be  cited  as  the  best  proof  of  the 
advanced  state  of  the  arts  in  the  United  States. 
The  narrative  itself  is  told  in  a  clear  and  engag- 
ing manner,  and  is  exceedingly  rich  in  almost 
every  topic  that  can  gratify  public  curiosity," — 
Hunt's  Merdiants'  Magazine. 

"  The  contents  of  this  work  are  of  the  deepest 
and  most  general  interest.  Aside  from  the  gene- 
ral desire  to  become  acquainted  with  the  actual 
condition  of  the  earth  which  we  inhabit,  the  nar- 
rative is  closely  connected  with  the  pursuits  of 
all  in  any  way  interested  in  commerce,  in  the 
various  missionary  undertakings  by  which  the 
present  age  is  distinguished,  or  in  any  pursuit  of 
a  wide  and  liberal  scope.  As  a  history  of  per- 
sonal adventsi;-e,  it  has  all  the  attraction  of  ro- 
mance;  while  it  derives  a  far  higher  value  from 
the  addition  it  has  made  to  our  knowledge  of 
lands  and  seas,  and  men  and  things  in  regions  of 
the  earth  which  have  hitherto  been  covered  in 
obscurity.  It  is  a  book  which  every  one  should 
have,  and  with  the  contents  of  which  every  one 
should  be  familiar." — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Eng. 

ft  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark  that  Lieu- 
tenant Wilkes'  narrative  is  one  of  absorbing  in- 
terest. The  specimens  which  have  been  hereto- 
fore submitted  to  the  public,  prove  that  it  pos- 
sesses almost  the  fascination  of  romance.  To 
say  nothing  of  the  numerous  scientific  problems 


Expedition. —  Continued. 

elucidated  in  its  pages,  the  details  of  adventure, 
incidents,  hair-breadth  escapes,  imminent  perils 
and  voyages  to  regions  little  known  and  hardly 
ever  explored,  are  alone  sufficient  to  invest  these 
volumes  with  uncommon  attraction.  In  the  pre- 
sent form  they  can  be  disposed  of  at  a  price 
within  the  means  of  thousands  and  they  will  doubt- 
less meet  with  a  ready  sale." — N.  O.  Bee. 

"  We  have  adverted  to  the  general  character 
of  this  work  in  our  notice  of  some  of  the  preced- 
ing volumes,  and  we  can  truly  say  that  each 
successive  volume  has  only  confirmed  our  very 
high  estimate  of  its  value." — Albany  Argus. 

"  It  is  as  minute  and  as  agreeable  as  any  book 
of  travels  we  have  read,  while  the  character  of 
the  investigations  and  discoveries  lend  a  value 
and  interest  to  the  volume  which  the  narrative 
of  no  private  traveler  could  give." — Utica  Ob- 
servei'. 

"  With  all  these  omissions,  this  edition  is  really 
a  sumptuous  one,  and  will  be  an  ornament  to 
any  library,  while  the  reading  matter  will  be 
found  to  be  eminently  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive."— Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  The  inexhaustible  fund  of  information  scat- 
tered through  its  pages  of  countries  hitherto  but 
little  explored  and  unfrequented,  its  valuable  ac- 
cession to  our  knowledge  of  Natural  History,  in 
the  departments  of  Zoology,  Mineralogy,  Botany 
and  Geology,  together  with  the  carefully  drawn 
sketches  of  the  customs,  religion,  literature,  po- 
pulation, resources,  &c,  of  various  nations  of 
whom  we  have  had  but  slight  information,  should 
claim  for  this  authenticated  and  accurate  narra- 
tive a  place  in  every  public  and  private  library. 
It  is  written  in  a  terse  and  agreeable  style,  clear 
and  perspicuous,  is  beautifully  and  faithfully  exe- 
cuted, doing  credit  to  all,  both  publishers  and 
author,  and  will  constitute  a  rich  and  valuable 
contribution  to  our  stock  of  American  literature. 
The  embellishments  in  this  edition,  to  the  num- 
ber of  300,  are  executed  in  the  best  style  of 
wood  engraving,  faithfully  delineating  numerous 
objects  described  by  the  author,  and  not  only 
ornament  the  book  but  render  it  far  more  ac- 
ceptable and  valuable  than  it  would  be  other- 
wise."— Baptist  Record. 

"  We  congratulate  out  readers  upon  the  issue 
of  this  edition,  which  will  enable  every  body  to 
read  the  work,  and  almost  every  body  to  own  it. 
It  is  sufficient  to  look  over  the  table  of  contents 
to  be  convinced  that  this  work  will  furnish  the 
reader  with  abundant  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion."— Saturday  Evening  Post. 

"  This  great  National  work  is  one  that  every 
American  must  feel  an  exultation  of  pride  in 
perusing — not  only  in  view  of  the  fact  that  so 
much  has  been  accomplished, butthat  it  has  been 
done  by  American  citizens ;  and  so  effectually 
done.  And  it  is  with  great  pride  that  we  per- 
ceive that  the  acts  and  doings  of  the  Expedition 
have  been  "  got  up"  totally  and  completely 
American  in  all  and  every  part.  No  library 
can  he  complete  without  Wilkes'  Narrative." — 
Lancaster  Am.  Republican. 

"  A  great  National  work  of  this  kind  should  be 
in  all  our  libraries,  private  and  public  ;  it  con- 
tains a  vast  deal  of  scientific  and  geographical 
information,  and  must  become  a  work  of  author- 
ity and  reference." — Protestant  Churchman. 

"  But  the  books  undoubtedly  have  a  great  and 
varied  interest,  and  should  be  seen  and  read  by 
as  many  as  possible  of  the  people  of  the  United 


\ 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS.  7 


United  States  Exploring  Expedition. — Continued. 


States.  They  not  only  give  us  descriptions  of  all 
sorts  of  men  and  manners  and  places  encounter- 
ed in  this  vast  traverse  of  the  globe,  but  they  pre- 
sent to  the  country  a  worthy  view  of  a  great  and 
honourable  National  work." — Portland  {Me.) 
Advertiser. 

"  As  it  brings  the  reader  into  contact  with 
various  nations,  portrays  their  habits  and  cus- 
toms, describes  the  appearance  of  many  objects 
of  interest,  refers  to  natural  history,  in  its  several 
departments,  and  depicts  many  thrilling  adven- 
tures, it  cannot  but  be  deeply  interesting.  It  is 
a  work  not  only  to  amuse,  but  to  afford  substan- 
tia] information." — Presbyterian. 

"  It  will  form  a  most  valuable  addition  to  the 
library  of  every  student— containing  a  mass  of 
scientific  information,  and  many  interesting  de- 
tails of  travel  and  voyage." — Philad.  Gazette. 

"  The  Exploring  Expedition  was  an  enterprise 
of  great  importance,  and  a  detail  of  the  results 
accomplished,  is  a  matter  in  which  every  Ameri- 
can must  feel  the  greatest  interest,  both  for  the 
sake  of  valuable  practical  science  and  for  the 
credit  of  the  country,  under  whose  flag  this  ex- 
ploration was  conducted." — Neat's  Saturday  Ga- 
zette. 

"  This  work  is  the  first  great  National  one 
ever  published  by  us,  and  will  be  an  enduring 
monument  of  the  liberality  and  enterprise  of  our 
government,  and  which,  not  less  than  the  im- 
portance of  the  discoveries  to  science  and  civili- 
zation, made  by  the  explorers,  should  cause  it  to 
be  highly  prized  by  our  citizens.  The  first 
volume  of  the  new  edition,  which  is  just  published, 
is  a  splendid  one  ;  it  is  on  good  paper  and  is 
handsomely  bound,  and  by  this  reduction  in  the 
price,  is  placed  within  the  reach  of  many  who 


would  not  he  able  to  purchase  the  first  edition." 
— Utrca  Observer. 

"  As  the  first  scientific  expedition  fitted  out  by 
our  government,  every  American  must  feel  inte- 
rested in  its  results;  and  we  take  pleasure  in 
saying  that  the  author  and  publishers  have  pro- 
duced a  book  worthy  of  the  country." — Banner 
of  the  Cross. 

"  It  is  printed  in  handsome  style,  on  good 
paper,  and  makes  an  elegant  volume.  The 
wood  cut  engravings  are  well  executed,  and  ad- 
mirably illustrate  various  objects  and  scenes  of 
deep  interest  to  the  reader.  The  Narrative  is  a 
worthy  memorial  of  the  noble  enterprise,  exhi- 
biting graphic  descriptions  of  scenery,  laws, 
manners,  customs,  and  the  various  phenomena 
which  came  under  his  observation,  in  a  style  and 
form  which  entitle  it  to  the  cordial  approbation 
of  his  countrymen." — Christian  ObservpK 

"  The  great  extent  of  the  world  traversed — 
the  new  and  unknown  islands  and  countries 
visited — the  length  of  time  spent  and  care  taken 
in  the  examination  of  all  that  was  new,  curious 
and  worthy  of  investigation — the  groat  amount  of 
facts  given — and  the  pleasing  style  of  the  work 
— render  it  by  far  the  most  interesting  publica- 
tion of  the  season.  It  has  additional  attractions 
to  an  American.  It  is  a  national  work,  tlfe  his- 
tory of  the  first,  but  we  hope  not  the  last;  Explo- 
ring Expedition  sent  out  by  the  United  States. — 
Their  work  is  "got  up"  in  beautiful  stvle,  good 
paper,  large  fair  type,  and  is  illustrated  by  ten 
large  maps  and  about  three  hundred  engravings. 
It  is  published  in  five  large  octavo  volumes, 
at  the  very  low  price  of  two  dollars  per  volume." 
— Pittsburgh  Morning  Chronicle. 


L.  &  B.  ALSO  PUBLISH  AND  HAVE  FOR  SALE, 
A  SPLENDID  EDITION  OF 

THE  NARRATIVE 

OF  THE 

EXPLORING  EXPEDITION. 

Price  Twenty-Five  Dollars, 

IN   FIVE  MAGNIFICENT  IMPERIAL  OCTAVO   VOLUMES  - 

WITH  AN  ATLAS  OF  LARGE  AND  EXTENDED  MAPS. 
BEAUTIFULLY  DOJM  E  U  P  IN  EXTRA  CLOTH. 

This  truly  Great  and  National  Work  is  issued  in  a  Style  of  Superior  Magnifi- 
cence and  Beauty,  containing 
Sisty-Four  Ziarge  and  Finished  Inine  Engraving's, 

EMBRACING 

SCENERY.  PORTRAITS,  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  &c,  &c. 

FORTY-SEVEN  EXQUISITE  STEEL  VIGNETTES, 

WORKED  AMONG  THE  LETTER-PRESS;  ABOUT 

Two  Hundred  mid  Fifty  Finely  Executed  Wood-Cut 

Ft  lust  rut  ions, 

FOURTEEN   LARGE  AND  SMALL  MAPS  AND  CHARTS. 

AN D  NEARLY 

Twenty- Six  Hundred  Pages  of  Letterpress. 

It  may  safely  be  pronounced  the  most  splendid  work  ever  issued  in  this 
country,  and  the  satisfaction  which  it  everywhere  occasions,  is  enhanced  from 
the  fact  of  its  being  purely  national.  Great  care  has  been  taken  that  everything 
concerned  in  its  preparation  should  be  wholly  American,  and  the  result  has 
been  such  as  to  elicit  the  highest  tribute  of  praise  from  all  who  have  seen  it, 
both  in  this  couutry  and  in  England.  Avl  A1**  "\0  OO^.  *• 


8  LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


United  Stales  Exploring 

"It  is  quite  equal  to  any  of  the  handsomest! 
publications  of  the  kind  that  have  issued  from 
our  own  press.  Our  eyes,  so  long  spoiled  by  the 
typographical  excellence  of  our  own  printers,  are 
no  longer  «aught  by  mere  excellence  in  printing  ; 
but  when  we  see  a  beautiful  page  in  our  own  lan- 
guage, with  the  imprimatur,  '  Printed  by  C.  Sher- 
man, Philadelphia,  U.  S.  A.,'  we  must  confess  a 
feeling  of  novelty  is  given  to  an  otherwise  fami- 
liar and  ordinary  object.  Not  only  printing  and 
paper  are  first  rate,  but  the  illustrations  are  in 
the  best  possible  taste,  and  in  great  profusion. — 
If  such  beautiful  works  are  wafted  over  the  At- 
lantic by  every  steamer,  (and  such  an  event  is 
not  far  from  a  probability,)  Paternoster  Row  and 
Albemarle  street  must  be  on  the  look-out  for  a 
stout  rivalry." — Douglas  Jerrold's  Magazine, 
{London). 

"  We  should  be  doing  an  injustice  to  the  press 
of  the  United  States,  did  we  not  say  in  conclud- 
ing for  the  present  ourremarks  on  these  volumes, 
which  were  printed  in  Philadelphia,  that  in  paper 
and  typography  they  may  take  rank  with  the  best 
productions  of  the  British  press.  The  numerous 
illustrations,  too,  whether  plates,  vignettes,  wood 
cuts,  or  charts  and  maps,  are  creditable  to  all  the 
artists,  both  draughtsmen  and  engravers,  engaged 
in  their  execution." — London  Times. 

"<We  have  seen  a  volume  of  the  book,  or  Nar- 
rative of  the  Exploring  Expedition.  It  equals  all 
the  most  enthusiastic  admirers  of  the  superlatively 
beautiful  in  the  arts  can  wish;  it  is  a  credit  to  the 
country,  and  honourable  to  all  who  have  been 
engaged  in  the  work." — Southern  Literary  Mes- 
senger. 

"  The  publishers'  part  of  the  work,  as  we  have 
said  in  a  former  notice,  has  been  done  with  emi- 
nent taste  and  skill.  The  paper  and  type  are  of 
surpassing  excellence,  and  the  profusely  nume- 
rous engravings  exhibit  a  condition  of  the  art  in 
this  country  far  superior  to  what  we  had  supposed. 
In  this  first  volume  there  are  no  less  than  eighty- 
six  illustrations,  including  finished  engravings  on 
steel,  etchings  and  wood  cuts  ;  and  among  them 
all  there  is  not  one  of  inferior  character,  either 
in  design  or  execution,  while  many,  presenting 
subjects  of  rare  beauty,  may  bear  comparison 
with  the  finest  works  of  the  graver  produced  in 
any  country." — JV.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  It  certainly  is  one  which  will  hereafter  be 
considered  indispensable  to  the  library,  not  only 
of  every  public  institution  throughout  the  country, 
but  of  every  private  person  of  taste  and  ability  to 
procure  it.  Notthe  least  of  its  recommendations 
is  the  fact,  that  nothing  whatever  has  been  used 
in  its  preparation,  not  strictly  American;  and 


Expedition. — Continued. 

it  thus  forms  one  of  the  most  authentic,  as  well 
as  the  most  elegant  and  magnificent,  productions 
of  American  enterprise  and  American  art." — JV. 
Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  It  comprises  five  large  imperial  octavo  vo- 
lumes, printed  in  clear,  distinct  type,  upon  paper 
of  the  strongest  texture  and  most  perfect  white- 
ness, with  a  broad  and  rich  margin,  and  a  luxury 
of  general  appearance,  usually  found  only  in 
English  books.  It  contains  sixty-four  large  and 
very  elegant  line  engravings,  presenting  the  most 
interesting  scenery,  and  the  most  picturesque  in- 
cidents met  with  during  the  cruise,  with  very  spi- 
rited illustrations  of  the  manners,  customs,  &c, 
&c,  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  wild  and  distant 
regions  which  were  visited.  These  engravings 
are  from  drawings  made  by  the  artists  of  the  Ex- 
pedition, and  are  executed  by  some  of  our  most 
celebrated  engravers.  They  are  among  the  finest 
specimens!  of  the  art  ever  exhibited  in  this  coun- 
try."— Cleveland  Herald. 

"  A  work  altogether  so  beautifully  and  so  per- 
fectly '  got  up'  as  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  the  most 
fastidious.  In  an  artistical  and  mechanical  point 
of  view,  it  is  as  near  perfection  as  can  be,  and  no 
one  can  look  through  this  great  national  work 
without  pride  and  pleasure  in  the  consideration 
of  its  being  purely  American,  from  its  incipient 
state  to  its  entire  completion." — Saturday  Post. 

"  In  style  of  execution,  in  paper,  type,  and  in 
its  engravings — it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  if 
not  altogether  the  most  so,  of  any  American  pub- 
lication."— Boston  Atlas. 

"  We  are  greatly  in  error,  if  this  superb  pro- 
duction of  the  American  press  do  not  prove  as 
creditable  to  the  country  which  projected  so  no- 
ble an  enterprise,  as  the  successful  issue  of  the 
undertaking  was  honourable  to  the  officers  and 
scientific  corps  who  conducted  it.  The  expedi- 
tion and  the  narrative  are  alike  an  honour  to 
America.  The  printing  and  paper  are  of  the  first 
order,  and  as  specimens  of  book-making  we 
really  do  not  know  how  these  volumes  can  be 
excelled.  We  feel  assured  that  it  will  be  no 
breach  of  national  modesty  to  assert  that  no  coun- 
try has  yet  produced  a  book  of  voyages  to  com- 
pare with  it." — N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  This  long  expected  work  has  at  length  made 
its  appearance,  apd  is  beyond  all  question,  the 
most  magnificent  publication  ever  got  up  in  this 
country.  The  paper,  typography,  engravings, 
and  tout  ensemble,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise 
that  can  be  bestowed  on  them.  We  shall,  at  an 
early  day,  take  occasion  to  speak  of  the  contents 
of  these  magnificent  volumes." — N.  Y.  Courier 
and  Enquirer. 


ALSO,  STILL  ON  HAND, 

A  FEW  COPIES  OF  THE 

(IMPERIAL  QUARTO  E D B T B 0 Nf 

Price  Sixty  Hollars, 

But  Two  Hundred  and  Fifty  Copies  of  this  Magnificent  Edi- 
tion were  Printed,  and  of  these,  bat 
ONE   HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FIVE 

HAVE  BEEN  OFFERED  FOR  SALE, 

,1  Few  of  which  still  remain* 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


9 


JUST  PUBLISHED. 

RUSH'S  NEW  VOLUME  ON  ENGLAND. 


MEMORANDA   OF   A  RESIDENCE 

AT  THE  COURT  OF  LONDON, 

COMPRISING  INCIDENTS  OFFICIAL  AND  PERSONAL,  FROM  1819  TO  1825. 
Including  Negotiations  on  the  Oregon  Question  and  other  Unsettled  Relations  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain. 
BY  RICHARD  RUSH. 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States,  from  1817  to  1825. 

IN  ONE  LARGE  AND  BEAUTIFUL  OCTAVO  VOLUME  OF  640  PAGES,  EXTRA  CLOTH. 

0^7=  This  is  an  entirely  new  volume,  and  may  be  considered  as  a  continuation  of  his 
former  work,  which  attracted  so  much  attention  at  the  time  of  its  publication. 

"In  1833,  twelve  years  ago,  the  first  series  of  these  entertaining  and  interesting  memoranda 
appeared;  and  coming  from  such  a  source,  were  so  favourably  received  that  we  have  long  won- 
dered at  the  abstinence  which  prevented  their  being  more  rapidly  followed  out.  Both  for  their 
political  and  social  matter  they  belong  to  a  class  of  reading  which  it  is  very  desirable  to  cultivate. 
In  the  complexion  of  his  mind  the  author  is  so  moderate  and  just  that  his  international  statements 
are  worthy  of  perfect  credit;  while  the  position  he  occupied  gave  him  such  opportunities  of  mixing 
with  the  best  informed  portions  of  society,  that  his  descriptions  and  anecdotes  of  them  are  of  a  most 
agreeable  kind.  Thus  qualified  by  a  sound  understanding,  an  acuteness  of  observation,  and  a 
temper  disposed  to  pour  oil  on  every  troubled  water,  we  have  received  much  gratification  from  the 
perusal  of  these  two  volumes." — London  Literary  Gazette. 

"We  recur  with  much  pleasure  to  this  able  and  interesting  work.  It  sheds  a  flood  of  light  on 
the  early  negotiations  upon  the  Oregon  Question,  and  shows  the  position  assumed  by  Mr.  Monroe, 
when  the  negotiation  was  first  opened,  as  well  as  the  views  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
from  that  day  to  this.  Mr.  Rush  has  here  presented,  at  a  glance,  that  for  which  one  might  other- 
wise be  forced  to  make  extensive  and  laborious  researches." — Daily  Union. 

"  His  relations  to  the  contest,  and  his  perfect  mastery  of  both  sides  of  it,  make  him  much  the 
best  witness  introduced  on  either  part.  Indeed,  properly,  he  is  the  only  witness;  the  others  are 
but  counsel.  To  the  entire  extent  in  which  he  testifies  (down  to  the  close  of  the  discussion  of 
1823-4),  his  statements  are  of  the  highest  authority.  Mr.  Rush  is  the  only  one  who  has  given  us 
more  than  diplomatic  and  ex-officio  pleadings,  who  offers,  besides,  a  deliberate  and  apparently  most 
sincere  personal  narrative  of  the  entire  negotiation,  in  which  he  obviously  endeavours  to  speak  as 
impartially  as  he  does  advisedly,  and  no  doubt  puts  aside  his  own  national  and  party  prejudices  as 
far  as  any  one  can  be  expected  to  do.  So  far  as  he  leans  at  all,  it  is  to  our  side  that  he  leans;  lie 
is  our  witness;  he  is  our  best  informed  and  fairest  witness  ;  and  there  is  none,  therefore,  to  whom 
it  is  so  fit  that  we  should  listen  with  attention  and  respect,  if  we  wish  to  make  up  a  safe  opinion 
of  our  rights." — National  Intelligencer. 

"  Politicians  especially  should  read  this  volume,  for  it  sheds  a  welcome  light  on  the  diplomatic 
history  of  that  question;  and  for  its  good  temper,  pleasant  style  and  varied  information,  is  a  book 
to  be  recommended  to  every  body." — Charleston  Mercury. 

"  It  cannot  fail  to  be  regarded  by  all  persons  at  all  familiar  with  public  men  and  public  events,  as 
among  the  most  interesting  works  of  a  most  interesting  class.  The  formal  records  of  history  are 
far  less  entertaining  than  these  details  of  the  casual  conversation,  the  social  habits  and  the  personal 
characteristics  of  gifted  and  distinguished  men.  It  is  pleasant  to  witness  the  playful  efforts  of  a  great 
mind:  and  no  one  can  regard  with  indifference  the  most  ordinary  details  connected  with  those  who 
have  exerted  a  wide  and  a  permanent  influence  upon  national  affairs.  This  universal  and  strongly 
attractive  feeling  will  insure  to  this  very  interesting  work  of  Mr.  Rush,  a  wide  perusal.  The  work 
is  very  handsomely  printed  in  a  thick  and  elegant  volume  of  over  500  pages;  and  will,  of  course, 
form  part  of  every  library  of  any  pretensions." — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  We  have  said  that  the  work  is  not  of  a  historical  character  strictly — and  it  is  not;  but  there  is 
in  it  a  history  most  important  and  valuable  to  those  who  would  understand  the  relations  of  this 
country  to  England,  and  how  the  Oregon  and  other  questions  of  national  interest  stood  at  the  time 
of  Mr.  Rush's  incumbency  ;  and  even  to  the  general  reader  its  valuable  stores  of  anecdote  and  of 
incidents,  in  which  the  most  brilliant  lights  of  the  English  Court  figured,  will  be  most  acceptable. 
Messrs.  Lea  &  Blanchard  have  issued  the  volume  in  beautiful  style,  as  regards  printing  and  bind- 
ing; and  both  in  appearance  and  value  the  narrative  is  worth  a  place  in  the  library  of  the  most  fas- 
tidious."— U.  S.  Gazette. 


NEARLY  READY. 
STABLE  TALK  A\l>  TABLE  TALK. 

OR;  SPECTACLES  FOR  YOUNG  SPORTSMEN. 
BY  HARRY  HIEOVER. 
In  one  duodecimo  volume. 
This  volume  contains  many  amusing  sporting  Sketches  and  Anecdotes,  embodying  much  useful 
information  and  valuable  hints  in  nearly  all  the  departments  of  English  sport. 


10 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


NOW  READY. 

INGERSOLL'S  LATE  WAR. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

-y  OF  THE  .  ,  . 

SECOND  WAR 

BETWEEN  THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN, 

DECLARED  BY  ACT  OF  CONGRESS,  JUNE  18,  1S12, 

AXD 

CONCLUDED  BY  PEACE,  FEBRUARY  15,  1815. 

BY 

CHARLES   J.  INGERSOLL. 

To  be  Complete  in  Three  Volumes. 
VOL.UME  I.   EMBRACING  THE  EVENTS  OF  1812—1813. 

ONE  VOLUME  OCTAVO  OF  516  PAUES, 

Beautifully  Printed,  and  done  up  in  neat  extra  cloth,  and  sold  separately. 

The  connection  with  the  government  which  Mr.  Ingersoll  has  enjoyed,  owing  to  his 
seat  in  Congress  at  various  times,  has  furnished  him  with  a  fund  of  novel  and  curious  in- 
formation respecting  the  events  of  the  war  and  the  persons  who  figured  in  that  stirring 
period.  Not  only  the  operations  and  events  of  the  time,  both  warlike  and  political,  were 
seen  by  him,  but  also  the  secret  springs  and  movements  which  directed  ihem,  and  which 
could  only  be  known  to  one  situated  as  he  was. 

"  We  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  read  a  more  striking  sketch  than  the  one  just  preceding. — 
It  is  of  a  character  with  the  whole  book,  and  imparts  to  the  style  of  the  writer  a  degree  of  unusual 
Npirit,  making  it  more  like  some  well-told  and  ingenious  story,  than  the  detail  of  mere  matters  of 
fact.  We  have  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Ingersoll's  book  will  be  rapidly  purchased  and  eagerly  read. 
Men  of  all  parties  will  admire  its  frankness,  and  the  numerous  rich  and  long-buried  stores  of  infor- 
mation with  which  it  abounds.  Even  those  who  would  assail,  will  pause  before  views  so  ably,  so 
boldly,  and  so  intelligently  expressed,  and  portraits  so  critical  and  just." — Daily  Union. 

ff  There  is  a  freshness  in  the  volume  which  is  peculiar,  as  the  author — being  in  Congress  during 
the  period  of  the  war — had  opportunities  which  have  rarely  been  offered  to  the  historian.  He  was 
intimately  connected  with  the  leading  men  of  the  administration  then  existing,  and  he  now  relates 
much  that  passed  under  his  notice.  We  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  work  will  be  sought  with  great 
avidity." — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  The  History  of  Mr.  Ingersoll,  we  cannot  doubt,  will  create  no  little  excitement  throughout  the 
country.  The  universally  interesting  nature  of  the  subject,  the  vigour  and  ability  with  which  it  is 
evidently  written,  and  the  manner  in  which  distinguished  men,  living  and  dead,  were  connected 
with  the  great  events  it  narrates,  will  combine  to  give  it  a  very  wide  circulation.  It  will  be  in 
many  respects  the  most  marked  publication  of  the  day.  We  can  see  marks  of  a  vigour  of  mind, 
a  fulness  of  investigation  and  a  striking  originality  of  manner,  which  cannot  fail  to  make  the  book 
exceedingly  attractive  to  a  very  wide  circle  of  readers." — X.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

NEARLY  READY. 

THE  SPORTSMAN'S  LIBRARY. 

BY  JOHN  MILLS, 

Author  of  "  The  Old  English  Gentleman." 
In  one  duodecimo  volume. 
"  It  has  been  my  object  to  render  this  work  one  of  instruction  and  of  reference,  as  to  every  sub- 
ject connected  with  our  national  sports.    In  the  helief  that  the  task  has  been  completed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  design,  I  submit  the  work,  in  all  humility,  to  the  favourable  consideration  of  those 
whom  1  am  proud  to  call  my  fellow  sportsmen." — Author's  Preface. 

PREPARING. 
A  NEW  AND  IMPROVED  AMERICAN  EDITION 

aI  U  '§'   rI    « c  .   »  g      i  lAf    '.i  t  fit  s 

HAWKER   ON  SHOOTING. 

FROM  THE  LAST  LONDON  EDITION. 
WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  Sporting  world  in  this  country  will  be  glad  to  have  at  last  presented  to  them  an  edition  of 
Colonel  Hawker's  Standard  Work  on  Shooting.  It  is  well  known  both  here  and  in  England  as  the 
highest  authority  on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats. 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


Now  Ready, 
EASTS  REPORTS. 


REPORTS  OF  CASES 

ADJUDGED  AND  DETERMINED 

•  l  in  the      vJLXri.  A  -MM. 

oni      COURT  OF  KING'S  BENOH. 

TABLES  OF  THE  NAMES  OF  THE  CASES,  AND  PRINCIPAL  MATTERS. 

BY  EDWARD  HYDE  EAST,  Esq., 

Of  the  Inner  Temple,  Barrister  al  Law. 

EDITED,  WITH  NOTES  AND  REFERENCES, 
Br  G.  M.  WHARTON,  ESQ., 

OP  THE  I'HILADF.LPHIA  BAR. 

In  eight  large  Royal  Octavo  volumes,  bound  in  best  Law  sheep,  raised  bands  and 

double  titles. 

PRICE  TO  SUBSCRIBERS,  ONLY  TWENTY-FIVE  DOLLARS. 

In  this  edition  of  East,  the  sixteen  volumes  of  the  former  edition  have  been 
compressed  into  eight — two  volumes  in  one  throughout — but  nothing  lias  been 
omitted;  the  entire  work  will  be  found  with  the  notes  of  Mr.  Wharton  added 
to  those  of  Mr.  Da}'.  The  great  reduction  of  price  (from  $72,  the  price  of  the 
last  edition,  to  $25,  the  subscription  price  of  this)  together  with  the  improvement 
in  appearance,  will,  it  is  trusted,  procure  for  it  a  ready  sale. 

Twenty-seven  years  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the  last  American 
Edition  of  East's  Reporis  by  Mr.  Day,  and  the  work  has  become  exceedingly 
scarce.  This  is  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  great  value  of  these  Reports, 
arising  from  the  variety  and  importance  of  the  subjects  considered  in  them,  and 
the  fulness  of  the  decisions  on  the  subjects  of  Mercantile  Law,  renders  them  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  the  American  Lawyer.  The  judgments  of  Lord  Kenyon 
and  Lord  Ellenborough,  on  all  practical  and  commercial  points,  are  of  the  highest 
authority,  and  the  volumes  which  contain  them  should  form  part  of  every  well- 
selected  law  library. 

These  considerations  have  induced  the  publishers  to  have  a  new  and  improved 
edition  prepared,  to  supply  this  obvious  deficiency.  The  editor,  G.  M.  Wharton, 
Esq.,  has  added  brief  annotations  on  the  leading  Cases  of  the  Reports,  with  refe- 
rence to  the  more  important  decisions  upon  similar  points  in  the  principal  com- 
mercial states  of  the  Union.  At  the  head  of  each  case  will  be  found  a  reference 
to  the  volume  and  paging  of  that  case  in  the  English  edition;  and  the  original 
Indexes  and  Tables  of  Cases  have  been  arranged  to  refer  to  the  volumes  of  the 
present  edition. 

The  work  may  be  had  of  the  Publishers,  or  of  Little  &  Brown,  Boston;  Gould. 
Banks  &  Co.,  New  York;  Derby  Bradley  &  Co.,  Cincinnati,  O.;  and  the  prin- 
cipal Booksellers  throughout  the  Union. 


WILL  BE  READY  1 1ST  JANUARY. 


A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE 

ON  THE 

LAW  ITELATING  TO  TRUSTEES; 

THEIR  POWERS,  DUTIES,  PRIVILEGES  AND  LIABILITIES; 
By  JAMES  HILL,  Esq.,  f 

OF  THE  INNER  TEMPLE,  Tl  ARRISTER  AT  LAW. 

Edited  by  FRANCIS  J.  THOU  HAT,  ESQ., 

OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  BAR. 

There  is  no  work  at  present  before  the  profession  occupying  the  position  of  this;  and  embracing 
so  widely  and  completely  the  duties  and  responsihilitips  of  Trustees,  and  the  bearing  of  the  Law  of 
Trusts  ;  and  thus,  necessarily,  involving  the  consideration  of  the  whole  Law  of  Real  and  Personal 
Property. 


12 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


MILLIARD  ON  REAL  ESTATE. 

Wow  in  Press,  and  will  be  published  early  in  January, 
THE  AMERICAN  LAW 

n  ?  A  O  -1  00F8  T  iT    rF  r\  H 

REAL  ESTATE, 

A  NEW,  GREATLY  ENLARGED  AND  IMPROVED  EDITION. 
BY  FRANCIS  HILLIARD, 

COUNSELLOR  AT  LAW. 

In  two  large  octavo  volumes, 
Beautifully  printed,  and  bound  in  best  law  sheep. 

This  book  is  designed  as  a  substitute  for  Cruise's  Digest,  occupying  the  same 
position  in  American  Law  which  that  work  has  so  long  covered  in  the  English. 
While  it  contains  all  that  portion  of  the  law  of  England  which  is  applicable  to 
this  country,  it  embodies  all  the  statutes  and  adjudged  cases  of  all  the  states  of 
the  Union,  thus  presenting  a  complete  elementary  treatise  for  the  use  of  students 
and  practitioners  in  this  country.  The  plan  of  the  work  is  such  as  to  render  it 
equally  serviceable  IN  ALL  THE  STATES,  containing  as  it  does  the  various 
modifications  of  the  law  as  laid  down  for  MASSACHUSETTS  and  MISSOURI, 
for  MAINE  and  LOUISIANA  ;  thus  presenting  advantages  which  are  possessed 
by  no  other  treatise  on  the  subject  before  the  public.  In  this  edition  are  inserted 
the  statutes  and  decisions  which  are  subsequent  to  the  former  edition.  These 
are  very  numerous,  and  render  the  work  at  least  one  third  larger  than  in  the 
original  form,  bringing  the  view  of  the  law  on  this  subject,  down  to  the  present 
time,  more  fully  and  completely  than  is  to  be  found  elsewhere.  That  the  author 
has  succeeded  in  his  attempt  to  present  this  difficult  subject  in  a  clear  and  useful 
form  may  be  seen  from  the  following  recommendations  from  distinguished  jurists 
of  different  states,  in  respect  to  the  first  edition. 

This  edition  will  consist  of  two  large  octavo  volumes  of  near  eight  hundred 
pages  each,  printed  on  large  type,  and  with  thick  white  paper,  and  bound  in  the 
best  style. 

Judge  Story  says: 

"  I  think  the  work  a  very  valuable  addition  to  our  present  stock  of  juridical  literature.  It  em- 
braces all  that  part  of  Mr.  Cruise's  Digest,  which  is  most  useful  to  American  lawyers.  But  its 
higher  value  is,  that  it  presents  in  a  concise,  but  clear  and  exact  form,  the  substance  of  American 
Law  on  the  same  subject.  I  know  no  work  that  we  possess,  whose  practical  utility  is  likely  to  be  so 
extensively  felt."  "  The  wonder  is,  that  the  author  has  been  able  to  bring  so  great  a  mass  into  so 
condensed  a  text,  at  once  comprehensive  and  lucid." 

Chancellor  Kent  says  of  the  work  (Commentaries,  Vol.  II.,  p.  635,  note,  5th  edition): — "  It  is  a 
w  ork  of  great  labour  and  intrinsic  value." 

The  American  Jurist  says: — "  We  have  always  found  [in  it]  the  information  we  were  in  search 
of,  and  the  principles  correctly  and  perspicuously  stated."  "  The  task  he  imposed  upon  himself 
was  one  of  great  toil,  and  he  has  resolutely  and  manfully  performed  it,  evincing  a  patience  of  labor 
worthy  of  the  students  and  jurists  of  a  former  age."  ft  The  lawyer  will  here  find,  brought  into  the 
compass  of  two  reasonable  volumes,  a  vast  amount  of  matter,  gathered  from  many  camel-loads  of 
text-books,  reports,  and  statutes,  correctly  stated." — Jurist,  July,  1839. 

Hon.  Rufus  Choate  says: — "  Mr.  Hilliard's  work  has  been  for  three  or  four  years  in  use,  and  I 
think  that  Mr.  Justice  Story  and  Chancellor  Kent  express  the  general  opinion  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bar." 

L.  &  B.  have  at  Press  and  will  Shortly  Publish, 

A  TREATISE  ON  THE 

LAW  OF  CONTRACTS 

•  AND  ON 

PARTIES  TO  ACTIONS,  EX  CONTRACTU. 

BY  C.  G.  ADDISON,  ESQ., 

OF  THE  INNER  TEMPLE,  BARRISTER  AT  LAW. 

With  Notes  and  Additions,  adapted  to  American  Practice. 


A 


STANDARD  LIBRARY 

OF 

WORKS  ON  HISTORY,  BIOGRAPHY,  &c. 

TO  BE  PUBLISHED  BY 

LEA  AND  BLANCHARD. 


It  has  been  suggested  that  the  publishers  might  render  an  acceptable  service  to  literature  by 
•jhe  publication,  in  a  form  for  preservation,  and  at  low  prices,  of  a  series  of  STANDARD  works 
s»n  History,  Biography,  &c. 

Many  valuable  works  of  this  class  are  out  of  print  in  this  country,  and  many  new  and  interest- 
ing ones  have  been  published  in  Great  Britain,  which  should  be  republished  here  and  added  to 
our  many  private  and  public  libraries. 

Though  satisfied  that  valuable  works  of  this  class  should  be  multiplied  by  republication,  L.  & 
B.  have  heretofore  hesitated  to  reproduce  them,  from  the  fact,  that  the  comparison  of  the  prices 
that  must  be  charged  for  such  works  with  the  very  low  prices  asked  for  novels  and  light  litera- 
ture, seemed  a  barrier  to  the  presentation  of  those,  which,  from  their  limited  sales,  must  neces- 
sarily be  charged  higher — they  trust,  however,  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  a  moderate 
edition  of  such  works  will  meet  with  adequate  support. 

Several  of  them  are  now  at  press,  and  others  are  preparing,  which  will  be  published  in  an 
octavo  form,  in  double  columns,  on  good  paper,  and  with  good  readable  type.  Any  work  will 
be  sold  separately  and  at  moderate  prices. 


Among  the  volumes  embraced  in  this  series,  will  be  found  the  following  valuable  works: 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ROME: 

BY  G.  B.  NIEBUHR. 

Complete  ill  Two  Large  Octavo  Volumes,  done  np  In  Extra  Cloth,  or  Five  Parts 
In  paper,  price  $1  00  each  part* 

TRANSLATED  BY 

JULIUS  CHARLES  HARE,  M.  A.         WILLIAM  SMITH,  PH.  D 
CONNOP  THIRLWALL,  M.  A.  LEOJNHARD  SCHM1TZ,  PH.  D. 

WITH  A  MAP. 

The  last  three  parts  of  this  invaluable  book  have  never  before  been  published  in  this  country, 
havingonly  lately  been  printed  in  Germany,  and  translated  in  England.  They  complete  the  history, 
bringing  it  down  to  the  time  of  Constantine. 

"The  world  has  now  in  Niebuhr  an  imperishable  model."— Edinburgh  Review,  Jan.  IP44. 

"  The  History  of  Niebuhr  has  thrown  new  light  on  our  knowledge  of  Konian  affairs,  to  a  degree  of  which 
those  unacquainted  with  it  can  scarcely  form  an  idea."—  Quarterly  Review. 

This  edition  will  comprise  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  volumes,  the  Lectures  of  Professor  Niebuhr,  on  the  latter 
part  of  Roman  History,  so  long  lost  to  the  world.   Concerning  them  the  Eclectic  Review  says : 

"  It  is  an  unexpected  surprise  and  pleasure  to  the  admirers  of  Niebuhr— that  is  to  all  earnest  students  of 
ancient  history— to  recover,  as  if  from  the  grave,  the  lectures  before  us." 

And  the  London  Athenreum: 

"  We  have  dwelt  at  sufficient  length  on  these  volumes  to  show  how  highly  we  appreciate  the  benefits 
which  the  editor  has  conferred  on  historical  literature  by  their  publication." 

M  These  volumes  will  offer  what  has  never  before  been  presented  to  the  public  of  this  country — the  great 
work  of  Niebuhr,  confessedly  the  master  piece  of  historical  inquiry  in  modern  times,  in  a  complete  form,  for 
only  two  of  the  volumes  now  prepared  have  appeared  among  ns.  Next  to  Gibbon's  matchless  book— the 
vastest  monument  of  historic  toil  ever  raised— the  consent  of  all  critics  must  place  these  remarkable  volumes, 
the  learning  of  which  is  crowned  by  a  skill  in  the  philosophy  of  institutions  and  events  such  as  has  never 
before  been  applied  to  the  regular  elucidation  of  the  obscurer  times  of  an  important  body  of  annals."— JVu- 
tional  Intelligencer. 

MILLS'  CRUSADES. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES 
THE  RECOVERY  AND  POSSESSION  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND : 
BY  CHARLES  MILLS. 
In  one  part,  paper,  price  $1.00. 

MILLS'  CHIVALRY. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  CHIVALRY; 

ou 

KNIGHTHOOD  AND  ITS  TIMES: 
BY  CHARLES  MILLS. 
In  one  part,  paper,  price  $1.00. 
Also,  the  two  works,  Crusades  and  Chivalry,  in  one  volume,  extra  cloth. 


FOR 


PUBLISHING  BY  LEA  &  BLANCHARD 


AS  PART  OF 

THE  LIBRABY  OF  STANDARD  LITERATURE. 

PROFESSOR  RANKE'S  HISTORICAL  WORKS. 

HISTORY  OP  THE  POPES, 
THEIR  CHURCH  AND  STATE, 
IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  AND  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURIES : 

BY  LEOPOLD  RANKE. 
TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  LAST  EDITION  OF  THE  GERMAN,  BY  WALTER  K.  KELLY,  ESQ.,  B.  A. 

In  two  parts,  paper,  at  $1.00  each,  or  one  larfre  volume  extra  cloth. 

I  his  edition  has  translations  of  the  Notes  and  Appendices. 

"  A  book  extraordinary  for  its  learning  and  impartiality,  and  for  its  just  and  liberal  views  of 
the  times  it  describes.  The  best  compliment  that  can  be  paid  to  Mr.  Ranke,  is,  that  each  side 
h.is  accused  him  of  partiality  to  its  opponent ;  the  German  Protestants  complaining  that  his 
work  is  written  in  too  Catholic  a  spirit ; — the  Catholics  declaring,  that  generally  impartial  as  he 
is,  it  is  clear  lo  perceive  the  Protestant  tendency  of  the  history." — London  Times. 

THE  TURKISH  AND  SPANISH  EMPIRES, 

IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  AND  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH. 
BY  PROFESSOR  LEOPOLD  RANKE. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  LAST  EDITION  OF  THE  GERMAN, 

BY  WALTER  K.  KELLY,  ESQ. 
Complete  in  one  part,  paper,  price  75  cents. 
This  work  was  published  by  the  author  in  connexion  with  the  "  History  of  the  Popes,"  under  the  name 
of  "  Sovereigns  and  Nations  of  Southern  Europe  ifi  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries."    It  may  be 
used  separately,  or  bound  up  with  that  work,  for  which  purpose  two  titles  will  be  found  in  it. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY: 

BY  PROFESSOR  LEOPOLD  RANKE. 
Parts  First  and  Second  nine  ready.    Price  Twenty-Five  cents  each. 
TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  SECOND  EDITION  BY  SARAH  AUSTIN. 

To  be  completed  in  about  Five  Parts,  each  Part  containing  one  volume  of  the  London  edition. 

"  Few  modern  writers  possess  such  qualifications  for  doing  justice  to  so  great  a  subject  as  Leopold  Ranke. 
Indefatigable  in  exertions,  he  revels  in  the  toil  of  examining  archives  and  state  papers ;  honest  in  purpose, 
he  shapes  his  theories  from  evidence;  not  like  D'Aubigne,  whose  romance  of  the  Reformation  selects  evi- 
dence to  support  preconceived  theory.  Ranke  never  forgets  the  statesman  in  the  theologian,  or  the  historian 
in  the  partisan.*' — Jjthevtrum. 

This  book  will  conclude  the  series  of  Professor  Ranke'a  Valuable  historical  works. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS: 

A  NEW  EDITION,  CONTINUED  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

BY  W.  S.  BROWNING. 
The  object  of  this  work  is  to  give  a  clear  detail  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  toubles 
generally  called  the  Religious  wars  of  France.  Those  events  are  interwoven  with  our  own  his- 
tory, and  are  frequently  referred  to  in  the  present  time.  Among  the  many  works  which  relate  to 
the  Huguenots,  there  is  scarcely  one  that  comprises  the  whole  in  a  connected  narrative ;  and  not 
one,  in  the  English  language  at  least,  which  is  exclusively  historical,  and  divested  of  all  theological 
discussion.  In  the  present  edition,  the  progress  of  events  is  traced  to  the  present  time,  comprehend- 
ing the  fullest  account  as  yet  given  of  the  tragical  proceedings  at  Nismes,  on  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons  in  1815.   

MEMOIRS  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  KING  GEORGE  THE  THIRD : 

BY  HORACE  WALPOLE, 

YOUNGEST  SON  OF  SIR  ROBERT  WALPOLE,  EARL  OF  ORFORD 
Now  first  published  from  the  original  DISS* 
EDITED,  WITH    NOTES,  BY  SIR  DENIS  LK  MARCHANT,  BART. 

II  These  Memoirs  comprise  the  first  twelve  years  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third,  and  close  the  his- 
torical works  of  Horace  Walpnle.  '  Of  their  merits.'  to  use  the  words  of  Lord  Holland,'  it  would  he  impro- 
per to  enlarge  upon  in  this  place.  That  they  contain  much  curious  and  orlgifTal  information,  will  not  be 
disputed-1  In  common  with  the  memoirs  of  George  the  Second,  they  treat  of  a  part  of  our  annals  most  im- 
perfectly known  to  us,  with  the  derided  advantage  of  the  period  being  one  marked  with  events  of  a  deeper 
i  merest,  and  more  congenial  in  their  character  and  bearings  with  those  which  have  since  engaged  and  still 
occupy  our  attention. " — Preface  of  the  Editor 

],.  &  B.  have  still  on  hand  a  few  copies  of  Walpole's  Early  Letters,  in  four  large  octavo  volumes,  and 
a'so  of  bis  Suppressed  Letters  lo  3ir  Horace  Mann,  in  two  octavo  volumes.  These  volumes  will  possess 
peculiar  interest  to  the  American  reader  from  their  containing  numerous  notices  of  the  early  discontent* 
in  this  country,  resulting  in  the  Revolution. 


STANDARD  LIBRARY  CONTINUED. 


WALPOLE'S  NEW  LETTERS. 

THE  LETTERS  OF  HORACE  WALPOLE,  EARL  OF  ORFORD,  TO 
SIR  HORACE  MANN,  His  Britannic  Majesty's  Resident  at  the  Court  of 
Florence,  from  1700  to  1785.  Now  first  published  from  the  original  MSS. 
In  four  parts,  paper,  at  One  Dollar  each,  or  two  handsome  octavo  volumes,  cloth. 

It  was  believed  that  the  immediate  descendants  of  some  of  Walpole's  curious  anecdotes  and  racy  gossip 
might  be  pained  by  their  early  publication,  and  thus  the  wit  of  the  dead  has  beeu  restrained  until  the  living 
should  no  longer  be  wounded  by  its  piquancy. 


HISTORICAL  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  OWN  TIMES,  by  Sir  N.  William 
Wraxall.    In  two  parts,  paper,  or  one  volume  extra  cloth. 

This  is  the  work  for  which,  in  consequence  of  his  portraiture  of  Catherine  II., 
the  author  was  imprisoned  and  fined. 

"  Wraxall  is  one  of  tiie  most  amuBing  hoarders  of  Anecdotes  of  public  men  since  the  days  of  the  memo- 
rable Boswell.  These  memoirs  are  distinguished  for  their  refinement  as  well  as  the  abundance  of  original 
anecdotes  which  they  cuntain  of  all  the  personages  of  the  day  most  remarkable  for  profound  talent,  for  wit, 
or  for  beauty." — Blackwood's  Magaiine. 

POSTHUMOUS  MEMOIRS  OF  HIS  OWN  TIMES,  by  Sir  N.  William 
Wraxall.  Ia  two  parts,  paper,  at  seventy-five  cents  each,  or  one  volume  extra 
cloth. 

The  author  assigns  a  good  reason  for  making  these  Memoirs  "  Posthumous."  Taught  by  the  experience  of 
Iiis  former  series  of  Memoirs,  that  those  in  power  dislike  their  Becret  intrigued  (o  be  laid  open,  he  took  the 
only  plan  to  avoid  the  effects  of  their  inevitable  anger,  and  not  only  prevented  the  appearance  of  these 
interesting  and  amusing  Memoirs  during  his  life,  but  took  care  that  they  should  nut  appear  till  after  the 
decease  of  George  IV,  then  Prince  Regent.  The  matters  which  made  the  work  dangerous  to  the  author, 
render  ii  peculiarly  attractive  U>  the  reader. 


L.  &  B.  HAVE  JUST  PUBLISHED 

THE  SEVENTH  VOLUME  OF  MISS  STRICKLAND'S  QUEENS  OF  ENGLAND,  containing 
the  completion  of  Hie  Lite  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  Life  of  Anne  of  Denmark,  done  up  to 
match  the  six  volumes  already  published  in  green  cloth  or  lemon-coloured  paper. 

THE  KITCHEN  AND  FItUIT  GARDENER,  to  match  the  Complete  Florist,  price  25  Cents. 

EELIGIO  MEDICI;  ITS  SEQUEL,  CHRISTIAN  MORALS,  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  Kt.M.D., 
with  resemblant  passages  from  Cowper's  Task,  and  a  verbal  Index.  Edited  by  John  Peurce  ;  in 
one  volume,  12mo.,  a  neat  edition. 

THE  EIGHTH  VOLUME  OF  MISS  STRICKLAND'S  LIVES  OF  THE  QUEENS  OF  ENG- 
LAND; containing  Henrietta  Maria,  and  Catherine  of  Bragaiiza.  To  match  the  volumes 
already  published. 

EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  CATTLE  DOCTOR:  containing  the  Diseases  of  Oxen,  Sheep,  and 
Swine,  and  the  Anatomy  and  Physiology  of  Neat  Cattle.  By  Francis  Clater ;  revised  by  William 
Youatt.  Edited,  with  numerous  additions,  by  J.  S.  Skinner.  With  numerous  Cuts ;  in  one  12mo. 
volume. 

EVERY  MAN  IIIS  OWN  FARRIER ;  containing  the  Causes.  Symptoms,  and  Methods  of  Cure 
of  the  Diseases  of  Horses,  hy  Francis  Clater  am!  John  Clater.  From  the  28th  London  edition. 
By  J.  S.  Skinner;  in  one  ]2mo.  volume. 

THE  DOG  AND  THE  SPORTSMAN;  embracing  the  Uses,  Breeding,  Training,  Diseases,  &c, 
&c,  of  Dogs.  An  account  of  the  Different  Kinds  of  Game,  with  their  Habits  ;  also,  Hints  to 
Shooters,  with  various  useful  Recipes ;  by  J.  S.  Skinner.  In  one  neat  12mo.  volume,  w/th  En- 
gravings. 

REMARKS  ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MENTAL  EXCITEMENT,  AND  MENTAL  CULTI- 
VATION UPON  HEALTH  ;  by  A.  Brig  ham,  M.D.   Third  edition  ;  one  volume,  lduio. 


HUMAN  HEALTH. 

HUMAN  HEALTH;  or  the  Influence  of  Atmosphere  and  Locality,  Change  of  Air  and  Climate, 
Seasons,  Food,  Clothing,  Bathing,  Mineral  Springs,  Exercise,  Sleep,  Corporeal  arid  Mental  Pur- 
suits, &c.  &c,  on  Healthy  Man,  constituting  Elements  of  Hygiene.  By  Robley*Duuglison, 
M.D.,  &c.  &.c. 

***  Persona  in  the  pursuit  of  Health,  as  well  as  thoBe  who  desire  to  retain  it,  would  do  well  to  examine 
this  work.  The  Author  states  the  work  has  been  prepared  "  to  enable  the  general  reader  to  understand  the 
nature  of  the  actions  of  various  influences  on  human  health,  and  assist  him  in  adopting  such  means  as  may 
tend  to  its  preservation  :  hence  the  author  has  avoided  introducing  technicalities,  except  whore  they  appeared 
to  him  indispensable." 


i 


16 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


JUST  ISSUED. 

SiBORNE'S  WATERLOO  CAMPAIGNS. 

WITH  MAPS  AND  PLANS. 


HISTORY 

OF ''TUB 

WAR  IN  FRANCE  AND  BELGIUM 

IN  1815; 

CONTAINING  MINUTE  DETAILS  OF  THE 

BATTLES   OF   QUATRE-BRAS,  LIGNY, 
WAVRE,  AND  WATERLOO. 

BY 

CAPTAIN  W.  SIBORNE. 
In  one  Large  Octavo  Volume,  extra  cloth. 

WITH  MAPS  AND  PLANS  OF  THE  BATTLES,  &c,  viz : 

1.  Part  of  Belgium,  indicating  the  distribution  of  the  armies  on  commencing  hostilities. 

2.  Field  of  Quatre-Bras,  at  3  o'clock,  P.  M. 

3.  Field  of  Quatre-Bras,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M. 

4.  Field  of  Ligny,  at  a  quarter  past  2  o'clock,  P.  M. 

5.  Field  of  Ligny,  at  half  past  8  o'clock,  P.  M. 

C.  Field  of  Waterloo,  at  a  quarter  past  11  o'clock,  A.M. 

7.  Field  of  Waterloo,  at  a  quarter  before  8  o'clock,  P.M. 

8.  Field  of  Waterloo,  at  five  minutes  past  8  o'clock,  P.M. 

9.  Field  of  Wavre,  at  4  o'clock,  P.M.,  18th  June. 

10.  Field  of  Wavre,  at  4  o'clock,  A.  M.,  19th  June. 

11.  Part  of  France,  on  which  is  shown  the  advance  of  the  Allied  Armies  into  the  Kingdom. 

"  When  the  work  was  first  announced  for  publication  we  conceived  great  expectations  from  a 
history  compiled  by  one  whose  access  to  every  source  of  information  was  favoured  both  by  interest 
in  the  highest  quarters,  and  the  circumstance  of  an  official  appointment  on  the  stafT.  We  looked 
for  a  work  which  should  at  once  and  forever  set  at  rest  the  disputed  questions  of  the  campaign. 
We  were  not  disappointed." — Dublin  University  Magazine. 

"To  Captain  Siborne  belongs  the  merit  of  having  taken  infinite  pains  to  make  himself  master  of 
his  subject,  and  of  stating  his  views  both  of  events  and  of  their  consequences  in  a  straightforward, 
manly,  and  soldier-like  manner;  his  account  of  cavalry  charges,  especially  in  the  affair  of  Quatre- 
Bras,  the  advance  of  columns,  of  cannonading,  and  the  desultory  sports  of  skirmishers,  sweep  you 
onwards  as  if  the  scene  described  were  actually  passing  under  your  eyes.  We  now  take  our  leave 
ol'Captain  Siborne  and  his  excellent  work,  thanking  him,  not  only  for  the  amusement  which  we 
have  derived  from  his  performance,  but  for  the  opportunity  with  which  the  appearance  of  a  genuine 
English  history  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo  supplies  us  of  refuting  some  of  the  errors  regarding  it  into 
which  other  historians  had  fallen." — FrazeVs  Magazine. 

"  In  order  to  render  the  work  complete,  it  is  supplied  with  a  great  number  of  maps,  repre- 
senting the  field  of  battle  at  various  hours  of  the  day,  so  that  the  reader  may  have  a  constant  refer- 
ence, by  which  to  understand  the  new  positions  of  the  several  commands,  and  the  amount  gained 
by  the  different  armies.  A  part  of  the  description  of  the  battle  is  deeply  interesting,  from  the  exact- 
ness of  the  information,  the  close  particulars  of  the  sufferings,  escapes,  and  courage  of  parties  and 
individuals.  The  publishers  deserve  the  thanks  of  general  readers  for  such  an  addition  to  the  means 
of  correct  knowledge,  and  the  value  of  the  library  shelves,  for  we  suppose  no  library  will  be  with- 
out such  an  important  work." — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  The  author  by  a  most  rigid  investigation,  and  careful  comparison  of  the  testimony  of  nearly  all 
the  surviving  eye  witnesses  of  those  events,  has  produced  a  book  that  may  be  considered  of  as  much 
authority  as  anything  that  can  be  expected  on  this  subject.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,'that  it  is 
full  of  the  most  exciting  and  thrilling  details — and  in  reading  it,  one  seems  to  be  standing  within 
hearing  of  the  shouts  of  the  conqueror,  and  the  groans  of  the  dying.  It  has  passed  quickly  through 
two  editions  in  England,  and  we  predict  for  it  an  extensive  circulation  in  this  country." — Albany 
Atlas.  *  _  i 

Nearly  Ready. 
A  STJjW  WORK  OH  COURTS  MARTIAL. 


A  TREATISE  ON  AMERICAN  MILITARY  LAW, 

PRACTICE  OF  COURTS  MARTIAL. 

WITH  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THEIR  IMPROVEMENT. 
BY  JOHN  O'BRIEN,  Lieut.  U.  S.  Artillery. 
In  one  octavo  volume. 


\ 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS.  17 

NOW  READY. 
In  four  Beautiful  Octavo  Volumes,  with  a  Portrait. 

GRAHAME'S  UNITED  STATES. 

THE  , HISTORY 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES 

OF 

NORTH  AMERICA. 

FROM  THE  PLANTING  OF  THE  BRITISH  COLONIES  TO  THEIR  REVOLT, 
AND  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

By  JAMES   GRAHAME,  Esq. 

EDITED  BT 

President  Q.UINCY,  of  Harvard  College. 
WITH  A  PREFACE  AND  MEMOIR  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 
Ill  four  beautifully  Printed  Octavo  Volumes, 

NEAT  EXTRA  CLOTH, 

With  a  Fine  Portrait  on  Steel. 
PRICE  EICrHT  DOLLARS. 

James  Grahame,  for  some  years  an  advocate  at  the  Scottish  bar, devoted  his  life  to  the  elu- 
cidation of  American  History.  A  Republican  in  principles  and  religion,  he  entered  into  the 
annals  of  the  early  seekers  of  liberty  in  this  country,  with  an  interest  and  partiality  which 
have  generally  been  thought  impossible  for  a  British  subject.  He  was,  it  is  believed,  the  first 
person  in  either  country  who  engaged  systematically  in  the  task  of  combining  in  one  gene- 
ral work,  all  the  elements  which  belong  to  a  complete  history  of  the  United  States,  from  their 
first  settlement,  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In  1824,  after  some  years  spent  in 
gathering  materials,  he  commenced  writinghis  history.  In  1827,  two  volumes  of  it  were  issued, 
bringing  it  to  the  Revolution  of  1688  ;  and  in  1836  the  whole  was  published  in  four  volumes,  in 
a  style  at  once  costly  and  elegant.  To  this  favourite  subject  he  devoted  himself  with  an  ardour 
rarely  equaled  in  the  annals  of  literature.  In  order  to  procure  materials  before  unused,  he  re- 
sided for  some  time  in  France  and  Germany,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  availing  himself  of  the 
treasures  illustrative  of  his  theme,  possessed  by  these  countries,  beyond  the  resources  of 
public  and  private  libraries  of  England,  which  he  had  previously  exhausted.  It  can  be  rea- 
dily understood  that  a  history  like  his,  embracing  republican  views  and  opinions,  and  intensely 
American  in  feeling,  met  with  little  sympathy  from  the  members  of  an  established  church 
and  a  constitutional  monarchy.  It  was  accordingly  received  by  the  literary  arbiters  of  Eng- 
land with  silence  and  coldness  j  and  as  no  means  were  taken  to  make  it  known  in  this  coun- 
try, it  was  equally  disregarded.  Nothing  daunted,  though  disappointed,  he  applied  himself 
to  the  revision  and  improvement  of  it,  making  many  additions  and  alterations,  from  1836  to 
1842,  when  he  finally  fell  a  victim  to  a  disease  long  impending  over  him,  and  brought  on 
by  the  ardour  and  devotion  with  which  he  gave  himself  up  to  his  favourite  pursuit.  For 
some  time  before  his  death,  his  greatest  desire  was  to  have  his  work  reproduced  in  this  coun- 
try, with  the  hope  that  the  measure  of  justice  denied  him  at  home  might  be  accorded  him  by 
those  to  whom  he  had  sacrificed  his  life  and  energies.  With  this  view,  after  his  death,  his 
son  transmitted  to  Harvard  College  the  MSS.  and  papers  of  Mr.  Grahame,  including  the  whole 
/materials  for  a  new  and  improved  edition;  with  a  stipulation,  that,  if  published,  it  should 
be  in  a  form  similar  to  the  English  edition.  In  pursuance  with  this  request,  President  Quincy 
has  kindly  undertaken  to  edit  this  publication,  assisted  by  the  late  Judge  Story,  Mr.  Sparks, 
and  other  eminent  men;  he  has  added  a  most  interesting  memoir,  containing  extracts  from 
his  letters,  journals  and  notes.  A  fine  portrait  on  steel  has  been  prepared,  and  the  whole 
edition  has  been  printed  in  a  style  to  compare  with  the  English  copy. 

It  is  hoped  that  a  work  presenting  such  claims  to  the  favour  of  all  American  citizens, 
will  meet  with  ready  encouragement. 


SCIENTIFIC  PORTIONS  OF  THE  EXPLORING  EXPEDITION. 

L.  &  B.  WILL  SOON  HAVE  READY, 
The  volume  of  Mr.  Haj.e,  embracing  the  PHILOLOGICAL  AND  ETHNOGRAPHI- 
CAL portions,  in  1  vol.  4to.    To  be  succeeded  by  Mr.  Dana's  Volumes  on  Corals,  in 
one  volume  quarto,  and  a  folio  volume  of  plates. 


18 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


A  NEW  COOK  BOOK. 


JUST  PUBLISHED 


MODERiN  COOKERY, 

IN  ALL  ITS  BRANCHES, 
REDUCED  TO  A  SYSTEM  OF  EASY  PRACTICE: 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  PRIVATE  FAMILIES. 
IN  A  SERIES  OF  RECEIPTS,  WHICH  HAVE  BEEN  STRICTLY  TESTED,  AND  ARE  GIVEN 
WITH  THE  MOST  MINUTE  EXACTNESS, 

By  ELIZA  ACTON. 

ILLUSTRATED  WITH    NUMEROUS  WOOD  CUTS. 

TO  WHICH  ARE  ADDED. 

DIRECTIONS  FOR  CARVING,  GARNISHING,  AND  SETTING  OUT  THE  TABLE: 

WITH  A  TABLE  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES 
THE  WHOLE  REVISED  AND  PREPARED  FOR  AMERICAN  HOUSEKEEPERS. 
BY    MRS.    S.    J.  HALE, 

EDITOR  OF  "THE  LADY'S  BOOK,"  ETC.  ETC. 

FROM  THE  SECOND  LONDON  EDITION. 


This  work  will  be  found 
to  present  one  of  the  best 
systems,  if  not  the  very- 
best,  of  modern  cookery. 
With  the  exception  of  one 


or  two  receipts,  which  are 
particularly  mentioned, 
the  whole  have  been  per- 
sonally tried  by  the  Au- 
thor, and  are  given  as  the 


results  of  her  own  experience.  One  of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  work,  and  one  which  will  prove  o. 
great  convenience  to  those  using  it,  is  the  summary  of  the  quantities  of  each  ingredient,  and  the  times  requisite 
for  preparing  them,  appended  to  every  receipt,  thus  saving  the  trouble  of  searching  through  the  text.  The 
numerous  wood  cuts  with  which  it  is  embellished,  representing  utensils,  new  fashions  for  moulds  and  pastry, 
&c,  as  well  as  the  ordinary  directions  for  preparing  meats,  will  be  found  greatly  to  elucidate  the.  receipts.  The 
name  of  the  editor,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Hale,  is  a  sufficient  guaranty  that  the  work  has  been  well  altered  and  adapted 
for  American  use.  It  is  printed  on  fine  paper,  with  clear  type,  and  is  well  bound  in  fancy  cloth,  forming  a  very 
neat  duodecimo  volume  of  over  four  hundred  large  pages,  containing  about  Eleven  Hundred  Receipts. 

It  has  been  most  favourably  received  by  the  press  both  in  this  country  and  in  England,  where  it  has  passed 
through  Three  Editions  in  the  course  of  a  few  months. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

Miss  Eliza  Acton  may  congratulate  herself  on  having 
composed  a  work  of  great  ulilily,  anil  one  that  is  speedily 
finding  its  way  to  every  "dresser"  in  ihe  kingdom.  Her 
Cookery  book  is  unquestionably  the  most  valuable  com- 
pendium of  Hie  an  that  has  yet  been  published.  Ii  strongly 
inculcates  economical  principles,  and  points  out  how  good 
things  may  be  concoci  ed  wii  hum  that  reckless  exiravagdnce 
which  good  cooks  have  been  worn  to  imagine  the  best  evi- 
dence they  cau  give  of  sk  ill  in  their  profession. 

London  Morning  Post. 

The  work  before  us  strikes  us  as  equal,  if  not  superior,  to 
any  of  its  predecessors.  Kitchener,  in  spite  of  its  merits, 
which  are  not  few  or  far  between,  is  somewhat  passe";  Mrs. 
Kundle  scarcely  retains  her  elevated  position:  she  was  always 


too  recherchge ;  and  an  opening  still  existed  for  a  scient ific 
work  on  the  "culinary  art,"  which  was  in  all  respects  "up 
to  the  day."  Such  a  work,  we  think,  is  Miss  Acton's;  and 
accordingly  we  recommend  it  to  the  favourable  notice  of  our 
readers.—  Medical  Examiner. 

The  arrangement  adopted  by  Miss  Acton  is  excellent. 
She  has  trusted  nothing  toothers.  She  has  proved  all  she 
has  written  by  personal  inspection  and  experiment.  The 
novel  feature  of  her  book,  which  will  greatly  facilitate  the 
labours  of  the  kitchen,  is  the  summary  appended  to  each 
recipe  of  the  materials  which  it  contains,  with  the  exact  pro- 
portion of  every  ingredient  and  '.he  precise  time  required  to 
dress  the  whole.—  London  Alias. 


LEA  <fe  BLANCH  A  RD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


19 


Jlctorts  Modern  Cookery — Continued. 


"  Aware  of  our  own  incompetency  to  pro- 
nounce upon  the  claims  of  this  volume  to  the 
confidence  of  those  most  interested  in  its  con- 
tents, we  submitted  it  to  more  than  one  professor 
of  the  art  of  cookery.  The  report  made  to  us  is 
more  than  favourable.  We  are  assured  that  Miss 
Acton's  instructions  may  be  safely  followed;  her 
receipts  are  distinguished  for  excellence.  The 
dishes  prepared  according  to  Miss  Acton's  direc- 
tions— all  of  which,  she  tells  us,  have  been  tested 
and  approved — will  give  satisfaction  by  their  de- 
licacy, and  will  be  found  economical  in  price  as 
well  as  delicious  in  flavour.  With  such  attesta- 
tions to  its  superior  worth,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  volume  will  be  purchased  and  consulted  by 
the  domestic  authorities  of  every  family  in  which 
good  cookery,  combined  with  rigid  economy,  is 
an  object  of  interest." — Globe. 

"  This  very  complete  manual  of  domestic  cook- 
ery will  be  found  of  high  value  to  all  classes.  It 
contains  a  very  large  amount  of  useful  informa- 
tion adapted  to  the  kitchens  of  persons  in  all 
grades  of  life.  We  have,  after  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  Miss  Acton's  work,  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that,  as  far  as  our  knowledge  of  cookery- 
books  extends,  hers  is  the  most  perfect  compen- 
dium, or  rather  cyclopaedia,  of  the  art  of  modern 
cookery  ever  yet  offered  to  the  public." — Weekly 
Dispatch. 

"This  is  an  excellently  arranged  work,  and 
one  that  cannot  fail  to  be  valuable  to  all  persons 
desirous  of  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of 
kitchen  economy.  It  contains  many  hundred  re- 
cipes relating  to  every  branch  of  domestic  cook- 
ery and  confectionary,  and  all  written  in  so  clear 
and  plain  a  manner  that  the  most  inexperienced 
person  can  follow  the  instructions  that  are  given. 
The  quantity  of  any  article  necessary  for  any  of 
these  recipes,  as  well  as  the  time  required  for 
their  preparation,  is  so  exactly  laid  down,  that 
the  mistress  of  a  family  can  tell  at  once  both  the 
trouble  and  expense  that  any  dish  will  occasion. 
This  is  a  great  improvement  upon  any  other  work 
of  the  kind  we  remember  to  have  seen.  The 
authoress  dedicates  her  book  to  the  young  house- 
keepers of  England,  and  we  think  she  has  ren- 
dered them  most  essential  service  by  its  publica- 
tion. Many  of  the  recipes  are  both  new  and 
elegant,  while  they  can  be  prepared  at  compara- 
tively trifling  expense." — Britannia. 


"  We  find  many  recipes  in  it,  which  to  our 
taste  are  excellent.  Miss  A.  teaches  the  cookery 
of  an  oyster  like  a  native,  and  her  chapters  on 
soups  are  savoury  in  their  very  reading.  The 
great  advantage  of  this  work,  is  that  it  teaches 
economical  cookery,  as  well  as  the  most  sumptu- 
ous— from  the  soup  maigre  of  France  to  the 
magnificent  roast  fillet  of  beef." — Philadelphia 
Gazette. 

"It  can  hardly  happen  in  the  nature  of  things, 
but  that  this  will  prove  to  be  a  popular  book. — 
The  reason  is,  that  all  sorts  of  people  like  good 
living  ;  and  this  work  falls  in  most  admirably  with 
the  universal  appetite.  We  perceive  that  it  is 
full  of  receipts  fur  making  all  manner  of  good 
things,  and  every  house-wife  will  of  course  want 
it,  as  an  important,  not  to  say  indispensable,  do- 
mestic auxiliary." — Albany  Citizen. 

"  This  work  is  immensely  popular  in  England 
— and  will  be  here.  In  the  first  place  there  is  so 
much  of  it  that  the  busiest  housekeeper  could  not 
cook  through  in  a  lifetime.  In  the  next,  and  this 
is  a  most  excellent  characteristic,  it  is  adapted 
for  small  families, as  well  as  large;  and  ail  styles 
and  descriptions  of  culinary  art  get  their  share. 
It  is  a  true  eclectic  in  cookery.  What  delicacies 
the  unhappy  English  do  not  get — Indian  corn, 
buckwheat,  terrapins,  canvass  backs,  &c,  &c, 
have  been  supplied  by  the  American  editor." — 
Saturday  Post. 

"  This  handsome  volume,  of  some  400  pages, 
must  be  a  perfect  treasure  to  every  housekeeper. 
It  contains  recipes,  clearly  written,  founded  on 
experiment,  and  easily  followed — for  preparing 
and  cooking  every  dish  that  the  ingenuity  of  man 
hath  yet  devised,  and  has  been  scrupulously  and 
admirably  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  tastes, 
of  the  great  body  of  persons  into  whose  hands  it 
will  be  likely  to  fall.  It  has  already  passed 
through  two  editions  in  England,  where  it  is  pro- 
nounced by  the  best  judges  to  be  by  far  the  best 
work  ever  prepared  upon  this  suhject.  The  di- 
rections in  all  cases,  are  given  with  great  minute- 
ness ;  they  are  illustrated,  when  this  is  necessary, 
by  wood-cuts,  and  to  each  recipe  is  appended  a 
summary  of  the  materials  which  it  contains,  with 
the  exact  proportion  of  each  ingredient,  and  the 
precise  time  required  to  dress  the  whole." — N. 
Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


TH©msorr  ear  Tim  sicse  noom. 

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In  one  royal  12?no.  volume,  extra  cloth,  with  cuts. 
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fessional skill." — Literary  Gazette. 


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By  B.  FRANCIS  CONBIE,  M.B. 

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EARLIEST  PERIOD. 
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IN  ONE  VOL.  OCTAVO. 
The  last  London  Volume  will  suon  be  published,  when  this  work  will  be  completed. 

A  POPULAR  TREATISE  ON 

VEGETABLE  PHYSIOLOGY; 

Published  under  the  auspices  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Popular  Instruction ; 

WITH  NUMEROUS  WOOD  CUTS, 

BY    W.    B     (JAKPli  IN  1'ER. 
In  One  Volume,  12mo. 

THE  MILLWRIGHT  AND  MILLER'S  GUIDE. 

BY  OLIVER  EVANS. 
The  Tenth  Edition,  with  Additions  and  Corrections  ;  by  the  Professor  of  Mechanics  in  the  Franklin 
Institute  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  a  Description  of  an  Improved  Merchant  Flour  Mill. 

WITH  ENGRAVINGS. 

BY  C.  &  O.  EVANS,  Engineers. 
This  is  a  practical  work,  and  has  had  a  very  extended  sale. 


24 


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MURRAY'S  ENCYCLOP/EDIA  OF  GEOGRAPHY. 


THE  ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  GEOGRAPHY. 

COMPRISING 

A  COMPLETE  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  EARTH,  PHYSICAL,  STATISTICAL,  CIVIL, 

AND  POLITICAL.  , 

EXHIBITING 

ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  HEAVENLY  BODIES,  ITS  PHYSICAL  STRUCTURE,  THE 
NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  EACH  COUNTRY,  AND  THE  INDUSTRY,  COM- 
MERCE, POLITICAL  INSTITUTIONS,  AND  CIVIL  AND  SOCIAL 
STATE  OF  ALL  NATIONS. 

BY  HUGH  MURRAY,  F.R.S.E.,  &c. 

Assisted  in  Botany,  by  Professor  HOOKER— Zoology,  &c,  by  W.  W.  SWAINSON— Astronomv, 
&c,  by  Professor  WALLACE— Geology,  &c,  by  Professor  JAMESON. 

REVISED,  WITH  ADDITIONS, 

BY  THOMAS  G.  BRADFORD. 
THE  WHOLE  BROUGHT  UP,  BY  A  SUPPLEMENT,  TO  1843. 
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NINETEEN  HUNDRED  LARGE  IMPERIAL  PAGES, 

AND  IS  ILLUSTRATED  BY 

EIGHTY-TWO  SMALL  MAPS, 

and  a  coloured  Map  of  the  United  States  after  Tanner's, 

TOGETHER  WITH  ABOUT 

Eleven  Hundred  Wood  Guts, 

executed  in  the  best  style, 

and  represent- 
ing every  va- 
riety of  object, 
curious  either 
in  Nature  or 
Art.  Remark- 
able Build- 
ings ;  Views 
of  Cities  ; 
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brated  in  His- v|_ 
tory,  or  inte--te 
resting  from 
Natural  Phe- 
nomena ;  the 
Appearance 


and  Customs  of 
the  various  Na- 
tions; Objects  in 
Natural  History, 
Birds,  Beasts, 
Fishes,  Shells, 
Minerals,  Insects, 
Flowers,  Plants, 
Utensils,  Objects 
of  Commerce ;  in 


Cascade  of  Vinagre. 

short,  everything 
which  engages 
the  curiosity  or 
industry  of  man 
enters  into  the 
_  scope  of  this  En- 
^  cyclopaedia,  and 
is  here  seen,  de- 
scribed and  fi- 
gured. 


The  manner  in  which  these  multifarious  subjects  have  been  treated  by  the 
Editor  and  his  able  coadjutors  has  afforded  universal  satisfaction  ;  and  the  style 
in  which  it  is  presented  to  the  American  public,  though  at  so  trifling  a  price, 
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LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


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BLES ;  PREPARING  SALADS;  CLARIFY- 
ING; MAKING  OF  PASTRY,  PUD- 
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With  Descriptions  of  those  Plants  and  Trees  most  worthy  of  Culture  in  each  Department. 
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S6 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


YOUATT  AMD  SKMNES'S  STANDARD  WORK  ON  TEE  HORSE. 


THE  HOUSE. 

BY  WILLIAM  YOUATT. 

A  NEW  EDITION,  WITH  NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

TOGETHER  WITH  H 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OE  THE  HORSE; 

A  DISSERTATION  ON 

THE  AMERICAN  TROTTING  HORSE; 

HOW  TRMNED  AND  JOCKEYED. 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  REMARKABLE  PERFORMANCES; 

V  '  i'  .    i  i ,  AND     .'         '/'.'{  ' 

AN  ESSAY  ON  THE  ASS  AND  THE  MULE, 

BY  J.  S.  SKINNER, 

Assistant  Post  Master  General,  and  Editor  ol'the  Turf  Register.      J  U  llAX 
This  edition  of  Youatt'e  well  known  and  standard  work  on  the  Management,  Diseases,  and 
Treatment  of  the  Horse,  has  already  obtained  such  a  wide  circulation  throughout  the  country,  that 
the  Publishers  need  say  nothing  to  attract  to  it  the  attention  and  confidence  of  all  who  keep  Horses 
or  are  interested  in  their  improvement. 

"In  introducing  this  very  neat  edition  of  Youatt's  well  known  book,  on  "The  Horse,"  to  our 
readers,  it  is  not  necessary,  even  if  we  had  time,  to  say  anything  to  convince  them  of  its  worth;  it 
has  been  highly  spoken  of,  by  those  most  capable  of  appreciating  its  merits,  and  its  appearance 
under  the  patronage  of  the  "  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,"  with  Lord  Brougham 
at  its  head,  affords  a  full  guaranty  for  its  high  character.  The  book  is  a  very  valuable  one,  and  we 
endorse  the  recommendation  of  the  editor,  that  every  man  who  owns  the  '  hair  of  a  horse,'  should 
have  it  at  his  elbow,  to  be  consulted  like  a  family  physician,  '  for  mitigating  the  disorders,  and  pro- 
longing the  life  of  the  most  interesting  and  useful  of  all  domestic  animals.'  " — Farmer's  Cabinet. 

"This  celebrated  work  has  been  completely  revised,  and  much  of  it  almost  entirely  re-written 
by  its  able  author,  who,  from  being  a  practical  veterinary  surgeon,  and  withal  a  great  lover  and 
excellent  judge  of  the  animal,  is  particularly  well  qualified  to  write  the  history  of  the  noblest  of 
quadrupeds.  Messrs.  Lea  &  Blanchard  of  Philadelphia  have  republished  the  above  work,  omitting 
a  few  of  the  first  pages,  and  have  supplied  their  place  with  matter  quite  as  valuable,  and  perhaps 
more  interesting  to  the  reader  in  this  country:  it  being  nearly  100  pages  of  a  general  history  of  the 
horse,  a  dissertation  on  the  American  trotting  horse,  how  trained  and  jockeyed,  an  account  of  his 
remarkable  performances,  and  an  essay  on  the  Ass  and  Mule,  by  J.  S.  Skinner,  Esq.,  Assistant  Post- 
master General,  and  late  editor  of  the  Turf  Register  and  American  Farmer.  Mr.  Skinner  is  one 
of  our  most  pleasing  writers,  and  has  been  familiar  with  the  subject  of  the  horse  from  childhood, 
and  we  need  not  add  that  he  has  acquitted  himself  well  of  the  task.  He  also  takes  up  the  import- 
ant subject,  to  the  American  breeder,  of  the  Ass,  and  the  Mule.  This  he  treats  at  length  and  con 
amore.  The  Philadelphia  edition  of  the  Horse  is  a  handsome  octavo,  with  numerous  wood  cuts." — 
American  Agriculturist. 

"  One  of  the  most  useful  books  which  the  impulse  given  to  agricultural  knowledge  within  a  few 
years,  has  produced,  is  the  work  on  'The  Horse,'  by  Youatt.  Since  its  publication  in  1831,  its 
sale  has  been  great  and  constant,  and  its  circulation  considerable  even  in  the  United  States.  A  new 
edition  was  lately  published  in  London,  and  this  we  are  happy  to  say,  has  been  re-published  by  Lea 
&  Blanchard,  in  a  beautiful  style,  and  at  a  cheap  rate.  But  the  principal  additional  value  of  this 
new  American  edition,  is  a  thorough  revision  to  adapt  it  the  more  exactly  to  the  circumstances  of 
this  country,  and  a  most  valuable  introduction,  by  J.  S.  Skinner,  well  known  for  his  labours  in  the 
cause  of  agriculture,  and  editor  of  the  Turf  Register.  The  introduction  shows  Mr.  Skinner  to  be 
a  thorough  master  of  his  suhject,  and  the  mass  of  information  he  has  brought  together  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  horse,  the  improvement,  character,  and  performances  of  that  noble  animal,  is  such  as 
could  have  been  collected  only  by  one  who  understood  and  appreciated  the  subject  of  which  lie 
was  treating.  He  has  also  added  a  valuable  essay  on  the  Ass  and  the  Mule.  The  improvement  of 
animals,  or  the  science  of  crosses,  we  consider  as  but  in  comparative  infancy;  and  we  hail  with 
pleasure  a  work  like  the  'Introduction,'  calculated  still  farther  to  advance  this  great  interest.  We 
thank  Mr.  Skinner  for  this  volume,  and  the  labour  he  has  bestowed  upon  it;  it  will  prove  a  most 
acceptable  present,  we  cannot  doubt,  to  the  public,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  one  who 
keeps  a  horse." — Albany  Cultivator. 


L.  &  B.  WILL  PUBLISH,- 

THE  DOG. 

BY  WILLIAM  YOUATT.  •» 
IN  ONE  VOLUME.    WITH  NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


%  LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS.  27 


CLATER  AND  SKINNER'S  CATTLE  DOCTOR. 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  CATTLE  DOCTOR: 

CONTAINING  THE  CAUSES,  SYMPTOMS  AND  TREATMENT  OF 
ALL  DISEASES  INCIDENT  TO  OXEN,  SHEEP  AND  SWINE; 

AND  A  SKETCH  OF  THE 

ANATOMY  AND  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  NEAT  CATTLE. 

By  FRANCIS  CLATER. 

EDITED,  REVISED  AND  ALMOST  RE-WRITTEN,  BY 

WILLIAM  YOU  ATT,  Author  of  «  The  Horse." 
WITH  NUMEROUS  ADDITIONS, 

EMBRACING 'Sn  ESSAY  ON  THE  USE  OF  OXEN  AND  THE  IMPROVEMENT  IN  THE  BREED  OF  SHEEP. 

By  J.  S.  SKINNER. 

WITH  NUMEROUS  CUTS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 
v.  In  one  l2mo.  volume,  cloth. 
"  As  its  title  would  import,  it  is  a  most  valuable  work,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  Ame- 
rican Farmer;  and  we  feel  proud  in  saying,  that  the  value  of  the  work  has  been  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  contributions  of  Mr.  Skinner.  Clater  and  Youatt  are  names  treasured  by  the  farming  com- 
munities of  Europe  as  household-gods  ;  nor  does  that  of  Skinner  deserve  to  be  less  esteemed  ia 
America." — American  Farmer. 


SKINNER'S  DOG  AND  SPORTSMAN, 

THE  DOG  AND  THE  SPORTSMAN. 

EMBRACING  THE  USES,  BREEDING,  TRAINING,  DISEASES,  &c.,  &c  OF  DOGS, 

AND  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  GAME,  WITH 
THEIR  HABITS. 

ALSO,  HINTS  TO  SHOOTERS, 

WITH  VARIOUS   USEFUL  RECIPES,  &c,  &  c . 
By  J.  S.  SKINNER. 
With  Plates. 
In  one  very  neat  12mo  volume,  extra  cloth. 
"  This  is  an  excellent  book.    It  shows  how  serviceable  the  dog  may  be  made,  and  how  to  make 
him  serviceable.    The  excellent  advice  upon  the  treatment  of  the  half-reasoning  animal,  (soma 
dogs  do  reason,)  should  be  read  by  every  one  who  aspires  to  own  a  dog,  that  is  serviceable  in  the 
field.''— U.  S.  Gazette. 

CLATER'S  FARRIER. 

EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  FARRIER; 

CONTAINING  THE  CAUSES,  SYMPTOMS,  AND  MOST  AP- 
PROVED METHODS  OF  CURE  OF  THE 
DISEASES  OF  HORSES. 

By  FRANCIS  CLATER, 

Author  of  "  Every  Man  his  own  Cattle  Doctor." 
And  his  Son  JOHN  CLATER. 
FIRST  AMERICAN  FROM  THE  TWEN  I  Y-EIGHTH  LONDON  EDITION. 

WITH  NOTES  AND  ADDITIONS, 

BY  J.  S.  SKINNER. 

In  one  12mo.  volume,  cloth. 


2S 


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THE  WORKS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

(BOZ,). 

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55"  Or,  the  whole  in  one  large  octavo  volume,  extra  cloth.    Wiih  a  Portrait. 


30 


LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


WHITE'S  UNIVERSAL  HISTORY. 

LATELY  PUBLISHED, 
ELEMENTS  OF  UNIVERSAL  HISTORY,  ON  A  NEW  AND  SYSTE- 
MATIC PLAN;  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  treaty  of  Vienna;  to  which  is 
added,  a  summary  of  the  leading  events  since  that  period,  for  the  use  of 
Schools  and  Private  Students.  By  H.  White,  B.  A.,  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge. With  additions  and  questions,  by  John  S.  Hart,  A.  M.,  Principal  of 
the  Philadelphia  High  School,  and  Professor  of  Moral  and  Mental  Science, 
etc.  etc.    In  one  volume,  large  duodecimo,  neatly  hound  with  Maroon  Backs. 

This  work  has  already  passed  through  several  editions,  and  has  been  introduced  into  many  of  the 
higher  Schools  and  Academies  throughout  the  country.  From  among  numerous  recommenda- 
tions which  they  have  received,  the  publishers  annex  the  following  from  the  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools  for  New  York. 

Secretary's  Office,  )  State  of  New  York. 

Department  of  Common  Schools.     J  Albany,  Oct.  \Ath,  1845. 

Messrs.  Lea  &  Blanchard: 

Gentlemen: — I  have  examined  the  copy  of  "  White's  Universal  History,"  which  you  were  so 
obliging  as  to  send  me,  and  cheerfully  and  fully  concur  in  the  commendations  of  its  value,  as  a 
comprehensive  and  enlightened  survey  of  the  Ancient  and  Modern  World  which  many  of  the  most 
competent  judges  have,  as  I  perceive,  already  bestowed  upon  it.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  admira- 
bly adapted  to  the  purposes  of  our  public  schools;  and  I  unhesitatingly  approve  of  its  introduction 
into  those  seminaries  of  elementary  instruction.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

SAMUEL  S.  RANDALL,  Deputy  Superintendent  Common  Schools. 

This  work  is  admirably  calculated  for  District  and  other  Libraries:  an  edition  for  that  purpose 
without  questions  has  been  prepared  done  up  in  strong  cloth. 

MOW  READY. 

CHEMISTRY  FOR  STUDENTS. 

ELEMENTARY  CHEMISTRY,  THEORETICAL  AND  PRACTICAL. 

BY  GEORGE  FOWNES,  Ph.  D., 
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With  Numerous  Illustrations.   Edited,  with  Additions, 

BY  ROBERT  BRIDGES,  M.  D., 
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Pharmacy,  &c,  &c. 
In  one  large  duodecimo  volume,  sheep  or  extra  cloth. 
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ter of  the  work  is  such  as  should  recommend  it  to  all  colleges  in  want  of  a  text-book  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  larger  and  more  advanced  systems,  such  as  Graham's  and  others.    The  great  advan- 
tage which  it  possesses  over  all  the  other  elementary  works  on  the  same  subject  now  before  the 
public,  is  the  perfect  manner  in  which  it  is  brought  up  to  the  day  on  every  point,  embracing  all 
the  latest  investigations  and  discoveries  of  importance,  in  a  concise  and  simple  manner,  adapted  to 
the  time  and  comprehension  of  students  commencing  the  science.    It  forms  a  royal  12mo.  volume 
of  460  large  pages,  on  small  type,  embellished  with  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  wood  engravings, 
which  will  be  found  peculiarly  instructive  us  to  the  practical  operations  of  the  laboratory,  and  the 
new  and  improved  methods  of  experimenting. 

It  has  already  been  adopted  as  a  Text-book  by  Professor  Silliman  of  Yale  College,  and  by  other 
Colleges  in  different  parts  of  the  country.    The  Publishers  have  also  numerous  commendations. 


GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY. 

GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY,  with  instructions  for  the  qualitative  analy- 
sis of  Minerals.  By  Joshua  Trimmer,  F.  G.  S.  With  two  hundred  and 
twelve  wood  cuts,  a  handsome  octavo  volume,  bound  in  embossed  cloth. 

This  is  a  systematic  introduction  to  Mineralogy,  and  Geology,  admirably  calculated  to  instruct 
the  student  in  those  sciences.  The  organic  remains  of  the  various  formations  are  well  illustrated 
by  numerous  figures,  which  are  drawn  with  great  accuracy. 

M  A  G  N  E  T Tc  TELEG RAPH. 

JUST  PUBLISHED, 

THE  AMERICAN  ELECTRO-MAGNETIC  TELEGRAPH,  with  the  Re- 
ports of  Congress,  and  a  description  of  all  Telegraphs  known  employing 
Electricity  or  Galvanism.  Illustrated  by  eighty-one  Wood  engravings.  By 
Alfred  Vail,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  Telegraph  at  Washington. 
One  small  volume,  sewed. 


WORKS  FOR  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 


LEA  AND  BLANC  HARD 

PUBLISH  AND  HAVE  FOR  SALE  THE   FOLLOWING  VALUABLE  AND  USEFUL 
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ARNOTT'S  PHYSICS. 

ELEMENTS  OF  PHYSICS;  OR,  NA1  URAL  PHILOSOPHY, 

GENERAL    AND  MEDICAL. 

Written  for  universal  use  in  plain,  or  non-technical  language,  by  Nijxl  Arjjott,  M.D.  A 
new  edition,  by  Isaac  Hays,  M.D.  Complete  in  one  octavo  volume,  with  nearly  two  hundred 
wood-cuts. 

This  standard  work  has  bern  long  and  favourably  known  aa  ono  of  the  bent  popular  expositions  of  the  interesting 
science  it  treats  of.  It  is  extensively  used  in  many  of  the  first  seminaries. 

BUTLER'S  ANCIENT  ATLAS. 
AN  ATLAS  OF  ANCIENT  GEOGRAPHY, 

By  Samuel  Butler,  D.D.,  late  Lord  Bishop  of  Litchfield  ;  containing  Twenty-one  Coloured 
Maps,  and  a  complete  Accentuated  Index.    In  one  octavo  volume,  half  bound. 

BUTLER'S  ANCIENT  GEOGRAPHY. 

Geographia  Classica,  or  the  application  of  Ancient  Geography  to  the  Classics,  by  Samuel 
Butler,  D.D.,  F.R.S.  Revised  by  his  Son.  Fifth  American,  from  the  last  London  edition  ; 
with  Questions  on  the  Maps,  by  John  Frost.  In  one  octavo  volume,  half  bound,  to  match 
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WHITE'S  UNIVERSAL  HISTORY. 

Elements  of  Universal  History,  on  a  new  and  systematic  plan  ;  from  the  earliest  times  to  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna;  to  which  is  added  a  summary  of  the  leading  events  since  that  period.  For 
the  use  of  Schools  and  private  Students,  by  H.  White,  B.A..  Trinity  College,  Cambridge; 
with  Additions  and  Questions,  by  John  S.  Hart,  A.M.,  Principal  of  the  Philadelphia  High 
School,  &c,  in  one  volume,  large  12mo.,  neatly  half  bound. 

This  work  is  arranged  on  a  new  plan,  which  is  believed  to  combine  the  advantages  of  those  formerly  in  use.  It  ia 
divided  into  three  parts,  corresponding  with  Ancient,  Middle,  and  Modern  History  ;  which  parts  are  again  subdivided 
into  centuries,  so  that  the  various  events  are  presented  in  the  order  of  time,  while  it  is  so  arranged  that  the  annals  of 
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and  sketches  of  literature,  antiquities,  and  manners,  at  the  great  chronological  epochs. 

The  additions  of  ihe  American  editor  havo  been  principally  confined  to  the  chapters  on  the  history  of  this  country. 
The  series  of  questions  by  him  will  be  found  of  use  to  those  who  prefer  that  system  of  instruction.  For  those  who 
do  not,  the  publishers  have  had  an  edition  prepared  without  the  questions. 

HERSCHELL'S  ASTRONOMY. 

A  Treatise  on  Astronomy,  by  Sir  John  F.  W.  Herschell,  F.R.S.,  &c. ,  with  numerous 
plates  and  wood-cuts.  A  new  edition,  with  a  Preface  and  a  series  of  Questions,  by  S.  C. 
Walker.  In  one  volume,  12mo. 

BREWSTER'S  OPTICS. 

Elements  of  Optics,  by  Sir  David  Brewster;  with  Notes  and  Additions,  by  A.  D.  Bache. 
LL.D.,  Superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey,  &c.  In  one  volume,  12mo.,  with  numerous 
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New  editions  of  the  following  works,  by  A.  Bolmar,  forming,  in  connection  with  "  Bolmar's 
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A  SELECTION  OF  ONE  HUNDRED  PERRIN'S  FABLES,  accompanied  by  a 
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A  COLLECTION  OF  COLLOQUIAL  PHRASES,  on  every  topic  necessary  to 
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32  LEA  &  BLANCHARD'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


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render  it  equally  valuable  in  all  the  States,  embracing,  as  it  does,  the  peculiar  modifica- 
tions of  the  law  alike  in  Massachusetts  and  Missouri,  New  York  and  Mississippi.  In 
this  edition,  the  statutes  and  decisions  subsequent  to  the  former  one,  which  are  very  nu- 
merous, have  all  been  incorporated,  thus  making  it  one-third  larger  than  the  original 
work,  and  bringing  the  view  of  the  law  upon  the  subject  treated  quite  down  to  the 
present  time.  The  book  is  recommended  in  the  highest  terms  by  distinguished  jurists 
of  different  States,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  subjoined  extracts. 

Judge  Story  says: — "  I  think  the  work  a  very  valuable  addition  to  our  present  stock 
of  juridical  literature.  It  embraces  all  that  part  of  Mr.  Cruise's  Digest  which  is  most 
useful  to  American  lawyers.  But  its  higher  value  is,  that  it  presents  in  a  concise,  but 
clear  and  exact  form,  the  substance  of  American  Law  on  the  same  subject.  I  know  no 
work  that  we  possess,  whose  practical  utility  is  likely  to  be  so  extensively  felt."  "The 
wonder  is,  that  the  author  has  been  able  to  bring  so  great  a  mass  into  so  condensed  a 
text,  at  once  comprehensive  and  lucid." 

Chancellor  Kent  says  of  the  work  (Commentaries,  vol.  ii.,  p.  635,  note,  5lh  edition)  : — 
"  It  is  a  work  of  great  labour  and  intrinsic  value." 

Hon.  Rufus  Choate  says : — "  Mr.  Hilliard's  work  has  been  for  three  or  four  years  in 
use,  and  I  think  thai  Mr.  Justice  Story  and  Chancellor  Kent  express  the  general  opinion 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bar." 

These  volumes  have  been  so  much  enlarged  and  improved  by  the  introduction  of 
recent  American  and  English  statutes  and  cases,  that  they  may  be  regarded  as  almost 
a  new  work.  The  peculiarity  of  its  embracing  so  completely  both  the  general  princi- 
ples and  practical  minutiffi  of  the  Law  of  Real  Property,  renders  it  equally  valuable  to 
the  student  and  practitioner. 


WILL  BE  READY  IN  SEPTEMBER,  1846, 

A  FOURTEENTH  AND  SUPPLEMENTARY  VOLUME 

OF  THE 

ENCYCLOPAEDIA  AMERICANA. 

BY  HENRY  VETHAKE,  Esq.,  LL.  D., 

ONE  OF  THE  PROFESSORS  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OK  PENNSYLVANIA,  ETC.,  ETC. 

Thirteen  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the  last  additions  to  th« 
Encyclopaedia  Americana,  and  the  numerous  important  events  which  have  transpired 
since  then,  the  advance  made  in  all  the  sciences  and  arts,  and  the  number  of  distin- 
guished men  who  have  become  legitimate  subjects  for  biography,  render  a  supplement 
necessary  for  the  numerous  readers  of  this  widely-diffused  and  popular  work.  In  the 
hands  of  Professor  Vethake,  this  difficult  task  has  been  faithfully  executed,  and  in  a 
short  time  those  who  possess  the  Encyclopaedia  will  be  able  to  complete  their  sets. 


LAW  BOOKS 

PUBLISHED  BY  LEA  &  BLANCHARD. 


NOW  READY, 

EAST'S  REPORTS. 


REPORTS  OF  CASES 

ADJUDGED  AND  DETERMINED 

IN  THE 

COURT  OF  KING'S  BENCH. 
TABLES  OF  THE  NAMES  OF  THE  CASES, 

AND  PRINCIPAL  MATTERS. 
BY  EDWARD  HYDE  EAST,  Esq., 

Of  the  Inner  Temple,  Barrister  at  Law. 
EDITED,  WITH  NOTES  AND  REFERENCES, 

BY  G.  M.  WHARTON,  ESQ., 

OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  BAR. 

In  Eight  large  Royal  Octavo  volumes,  bound  in  best  Law  sheep,  raised  bands  and 

double  titles. 

PRICE  TO  SUBSCRIBERS,  ONLY  TWENTY-FIVE  DOLLARS. 
In  this  edition  of  East,  the  sixteen  volumes  of  the  former  edition  have  been  compressed 
into  eight — two  volumes  in  one  throughout — but  nothing  has  been  omitted;  the  entire 
work  will  be  found,  with  the  notes  of  Mr.  Wharton  added  to  those  of  Mr.  Day.  The 
great  reduction  of  price  (from  $72,  the  price  of  the  last  edition,  to  $25,  the  subscription 
price  of  this)  together  with  the  improvement  in  appearance,  will,  it  is  trusted,  procure 
for  it  a  ready  sale. 

Twenty-seven  years  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the  last  American  edition 
of  East's  Reports  by  Mr.  Day,  and  the  work  has  become  exceedingly  scarce.  This  is 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  great  value  of  these  Reports,  arising  from  the  variety 
and  importance  of  the  subjects  considered  in  them,  and  the  fulness  of  the  decisions  on 
the  subjects  of  Mercantile  Law,  renders  them  absolutely  necessary  to  the  American 
Lawyer.  The  judgments  of  Lord  Kenyon  and  Lord  Ellenborough,  on  all  practical  and 
commercial  points,  are  of  the  highest  authority,  and  the  volumes  which  contain  them 
should  form  part  of  every  well-selected  law  library. 

These  considerations  have  induced  the  publishers  to  have  a  new  and  improved  edition 
prepared,  to  supply  this  obvious  deficiency.  The  editor,  G.  M.  Wharton,  Esq.,  has  added 
brief  annotations  on  the  leading  Cases  of  the  Reports,  with  reference  to  the  more  impor- 
tant decisions  upon  similar  points  in  the  principal  commercial  States  of  the  Union.  At 
the  head  of  each  case  will  be  found  a  reference  to  the  volume  and  paging  of  that  case  in 
the  English  edition;  and  the  original  Indexes  and  Tables  of  Cases  have  been  arranged 
to  refer  to  the  volumes  of  the  present  edition. 


A  NEW  WORK  ON  COURTS-MARTIAL. 


A  TREATISE  ON  AMERICAN  MILITARY  LAW, 

PRACTICE  OF  C  0  URT  S-M A E T T A L. 

WITH  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THEIR  IMPROVEMENT. 
BY  JOHN  O'BRIEN, 

LIEUTENANT  UNITED  STATES  ARTILLERY. 

In  one  Octavo  volume.    Extra  cloth,  or  law  sheep. 
"This  work  stands  relatively  to  American  Military  Law  in  the  same  position  that 
Blackstone's  Commentaries  stand  to  Common  Law." — U.  S.  Gazette. 


LAW  BOOKS, 

PUBLISHED  BY  LEA  &  BLANCHARD. 


WHEATON'S  INTERNATIONAL  LAW. 

ELEMENTS  OF  INTERNATIONAL  LAW. 
BY  HENRY  WHEATON,  LL.D., 

MINISTER  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  THE  COURT  OF  PRUSSIA,  ETC. 

Third  Edition,  Revised  and  Correcled. 
In  one  large  and  beautiful  octavo  volume  of  six  hundred  and  jiftij  pages.    Extra  cloth, 

or  Jine  law  sheep. 

"  In  preparing  for  the  press  the  present  edition  of  the  Elements  of  International 
Law,  the  work  has  been  subjected  to  a  careful  revision,  and  has  been  considerably 
augmented.  The  author  has  endeavoured  to  avail  himself  of  the  most  recent  questions 
whicli  have  occurred  in  the  intercourse  of  States,  and  has  especially  sought  for  those 
sources  of  information  in  the  diplomatic  correspondence  and  judicial  decisions  of  his 
own  country^  which  form  a  rich  collection  of  instructive  examples.  He  indulges  the 
hope  that  these  additions  may  be  found  to  render  it  more  useful  to  the  reader,  and  to 
make  it  more  worthy  of  the  favour  with  which  the  previous  editions  have  been  re- 
ceived." — Preface. 

Hon.  Chancellor  Kent  says: — "The  book  is  admirably  got  up  as  to  paper,  type,  and 
binding,  and  the  merits  of  the  work  were  well  worthy  of  all  that  attention  and  care. 
I  entertain  no  doubt  that  the  demand  will  equal  your  expectations." 

Professor  Greenleaf  says  : — "  It  is  a  beautiful  book,  and  does  great  credit  to  the 
publishers,  as  the  work  itself  has  already  done  to  the  distinguished  author." 

"  We  are  not  surprised  that  a  third  edition  of  this  profound  and  invaluable  work  has 
been  called  for.  Its  appearance  at  this  juncture,  when  the  exigencies  of  the  country 
have  directed  every  intelligent  and  inquiring  mind  to  the  study  of  the  mutual  rights 
and  duties  of  nations,  is  opportune. — To  the  study  of  this  glorious  science,  Mr.  Wheaton 
has  brought  a  powerful  and  enlightened  mind,  vast  energies  in  research,  and  a  compre- 
hensive and  philosophical  spirit.  He  is  profound  without  being  heavy  ;  and  his  style, 
while  it  has  all  the  dignity  which  the  subject  demands,  is  animated  and  agreeable. 
The  work  is  especially  valuable  in  this  country,  as  it  treats,  with  great  fulness,  of  the 
American  decisions  and  views  bearing  upon  the  subject.  Mr.  Wheaton's  work  is  in- 
dispensable  to  every  diplomatist,  statesman,  and  lawyer ;  and  necessary  indeed  to  all 
public  men.  To  every  philosophic  and  liberal  mind  the  study  must  be  an  attractive, 
and  in  the  hands  of  our  author  it  is  a  delightful  one.  The  work  is  'got  up'  by  the  pub- 
lishers in  a  style  that  might  be  adopted  as  a  model  for  that  class  of  publications.  We 
are  glad  to  see  that  the  war  against  eyes,  so  long  prosecuted  in  printing  professional 
works,  is  being  abandoned  ;  those  who  have  not  been  already  blinded  by  the  mote-like 
minuteness  of  the  type  in  the  publications  of  some  years  back,  will  appreciate  and  enjoy 
the  clear  and  expanded  pages  now  before  us." — North  American. 

HILL7)N  trustees. 

A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE 

LAW  RELATING  TO  TRUSTEES;  THEIR  POWERS, 
DUTIES,  PRIVILEGES,  AND  LIABILITIES. 

BY  JAMES  HILL, 
of  the  inner  temple,  barrister  at  law. 
EDITED  BY  FRANCIS  J.  TROUBAT, 

OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  BAR. 

In  one  large  octavo  volume. 
»  As  to  the  merits  of  the  author's  work,  the  editor  can  confidently  say  that,  in  his 
opinion,  it  far  surpasses  any  other  on  the  same  subject.  Every  lawyer  who  peruses  or 
consults  it  will  most  certainly  discover  that  Mr.  Hill  writes  like  a  man  who  has  a  repu- 
tation to  lose  and  not  to  build  up.  Such  writers  are  few  and  precious.  The  editor 
begs  leave  to  iterate  the  important  observation  made  by  the  author,  that  his  work  is 
principally  intended  for  the  instruction  and  guidance  of  trustees.  That  single  feature 
very  much  enhances  its  practical  value," — American  Preface. 


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